The Rural Voice, 2002-10, Page 12SUPER DISCOUNT
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L:. Delaval
Robert Mercer
Trying to close the farm nutrient cycle
Robert
Mercer was
editor of the
Broadwater
Market Letter
and
commentator
for 25 years.
I can remember the comment I
heard a number of years ago that
"there is nothing so useless as a pile
of manure". when the discussion was
about the value of spreading manure.
Once again this past month
manure/compost was front and centre
in a farm tour where the owners were
attempting to recycle all surplus soil
nutrient wastes to the benefit of the
land, livestock and the environment.
The farm was an unusual
combination of activities even for
Vancouver Island. with the main
source of income coming from a
land-based fish hatchery coupled with
a fallow deer raising operation.
The compost discussion centered
on the need to dispose of thousands
of young fish — about smelt -sized —
that either died or were surplus
production. Also, there was'the added
problem of disposal of all the fallow
deer offal since the slaughterhouse
waste disposal company was no
longer allowed to take sheep or dear
offal. A result of the scare over mad
cow disease.
The composting aim was for near
complete reduction of the material
with no lingering odour — not easy
with fish and offal which included the
heads and antlers.
The approach was a normal
compost pile on a slab to which was
added a fine grade of zeolite* and
wood chips. The zeolite acted and
looked like lime. In this instance
Mildmay (#308 Bruce Cty. Rd. 16) 519-367-5595
8 THE RURAL VOICE
David Groves. part owner of the
farm, said that the combination
increased the heat in the pile and
almost immediately reduced the
odour to a minimum. There was no
comment on possible application to
hog manure.
Currently there is no ready source
of this industrial chemical in bulk
form to the island farmers. Neither is
there any agricultural research results
to indicate the nutrient composition
of the finished product. But the
Groves family who use it on their
pasture note a very distinct growth
improvement where it has been
spread.
The main use of the zeolite on this
farm is in the hatchery where it is
used to clarify the water before it is
recycled. The zeolite retains the
nutrients and along with any solid
waste is spread on the pastures by
irrigation.
Dr. David Groves estimates that
he recycles 80 to 85 per cent of the
water used in the hatchery operation
with the rest used for irrigation
purposes. By reducing the volume of
additional groundwater needed
through the hatchery, there is less
chance of polluting the aquifer with
the waste. The aquifer is only 40 feet
below the soil surface.
Dr. Groves likes to say that he
sees the deer as the nutrient burners
of the farm, by consuming the fish
water waste as an enhanced
vegetation supplement.
This farm is very much a mix of
the old and the new. The farm has
been in the family since 1947. It is
300 acres of mixed alluvial soil and
rocky mountain slopes. However, the
hatchery (on 14 acres) has the very
latest in equipment and technology
while the land-based equipment is
proudly discussed because of its long
life span, which in some cases
exceeds 40 years.
*Zeolite: A common name of a Targe
group of secondary minerals, soluble
in acids, often occurring in cavities
and veins of eruptive rocks — usually
a hydrous silicate of aluminum and
sodium.°