The Rural Voice, 1998-09, Page 29Expanding Our Line Of Equipment
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Another concern expressed was
whether large amounts of nitrogen
were lost in the composting process.
Fleming responded by saying, "if we
keep the carbon -to -nitrogen ratio
right we won't get nitrogen loss." He
said, more water and carbon are lost
in the system.
In a handout given to all
participants at the Ridgetown
demonstration tour, Fleming
calculated that a 300 -sow farrow -to -
finish operation would produce 1.6
million gallons of manure annually.
To compost that manure, he
calculated it would require a three -
channel system with channels
running 12 feet wide and six feet
deep.
In the best case scenario he
calculated the channels would have
to be 82 feet in length and would
require 1,250 tonnes of straw per
year in order to produce 3,770 tonnes
of compost.
Fleming said in the worst case
scenario the channels would be 270
feet long, would require 2,490 tonnes
of straw per year and would produce
4,310 tonnes of compost per year.
What to do with all the compost?
According to Tom Smith president of
Global Products, the company plans
to purchase compost from farmers
and process it on the farm into a dry
or granular form. It would then be
sold as an organic product to improve
soil conditions. Smith said Global
Earth plans to develop this carbon -
based soil amendment as a nutrient
source for farm and urban markets.
Another benefit of the system
would be that once it is running,
there is no longer a need for long-
term storage for liquid manure.
Before the benefits can be fully
realized some of the problems have
to be solved. One of the major
annual costs of composting the
manure is the straw. Fleming said,
the research team is trying to find
alternatives to straw, such as sawdust
and combinations of dry materials.
Above all, with composting the
controversial odour is gone —
neighbours stop calling to complain,
the environment is cleaner and
ground waters are unaffected.
Composting may be the way of the
future.0
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R&R
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