The Rural Voice, 1989-12, Page 50I
COMPOSTING MANURE
IN THE BIG LEAGUE
Dee Kramer interviews an American farmer who
finds Canadians are his biggest customers
n 1985, the Chicago Bears won
the Superbowl on Soldier Field. Three
weeks ago, Craig Holden, of Holden
Farms in Minnesota, won the contract
to fertilize Soldier Field with his
granulated composted manure, which
he markets under the name of Sustane.
"A sports turf takes a tremendous
amount of abuse, especially at the
five -yard line," Holden says. "Soldier
Field is very sandy and it is particular -
"We produce
enough to feed about a
million Americans a year
with turkey meat, and
about half a million
citizens with pork."
ly difficult to keep a healthy turf
growing." Sustane has a high nutrient
level with a 5-2-4 NPK nutrient ratio,
and its advertising brochure aimed at
professionals in the turf business also
says that Sustane will "contribute to
the building of soil structure."
But fertilizing turf is only one of
Sustane's market targets. Because
Sustane has been certified by the Min-
nesota Organic Growers and Buyers
Association, customers include organ-
ic farmers. Sustane is registered and
sold as a fertilizer in 38 U.S. states
and in Canada. Canada is now its
largest market.
Holden made contact with his
biggest client by giving a talk recently
in Toronto, at the Recycling Council
of Ontario's 10th annual conference,
called "The Next Decade," which was
attended by more than 650 people
involved in waste management.
Sustane is Holden Farms' top of
the line compost product. Two other
lines are sold as soil amendments, not
as a fertilizer. Holden's Agri -brand
compost is sold to conventional cash -
crop farmers growing the standard
crops for Minnesota — corn, soy,
wheat, and snap beans. It's sold at
$25 a ton with a recommendation to
apply it at 1 1/2 tons per acre.
"This is a rough material," Holden
says. "It has a high odour level, and is
very hot and high in nutrients. But it
has a finely reduced texture that lends
itself to land application.
Holden Farms also has a horti-
cultural grade compost with a low
nutrient analysis, which is sold to
landscapers by the cubic yard in the
same way that peat moss is sold. "It is
very mellow. It's the kind of material
you just love to get your hands into."
All in all, Holden Farms is man-
aging about 50,000 to 60,000 tons of
manure a year. This is no ordinary
back -yard composting operation.
When asked how many barns are in-
volved, Holden comes to a dead stop.
"You have to understand, I know
where the barns are, but not how many
there are. We manage the waste from
Holden Farms and two other turkey
companies, and between them there
are 50 to 60 farms and each farm has
anywhere from 5 to 10 buildings."
Holden Farms itself, now managed
by the fourth generation of Holdens, is
1,000 acres of gently rolling, fertile
soil, 50 miles south of Minneapolis -St.
Paul. Until 1955, it was a dairy farm.
Holden's grandfather was one of the
first to import purebred Holsteins from
the Netherlands to the U.S. But now it
is hogs and turkeys, about 70,000 hogs
and three-quarters of a million turkeys
a year. "We produce enough to feed
about a million Americans a year with
turkey meat, and about half a million
citizens with pork."
The four Holden brothers are not
cropping the land. The 1,000 acres
could only supply their livestock with
grain for about a week. "It became a
matter of choosing what you want to
do and what you feel you can do best.
Be it right or wrong, we have special-
ized in livestock, but this effort in
composting is to broaden the base of
Holden Farms and give a little more
diversity."
Holden also looked into compost-
"... it is very complex and
you get to the point where
you really have to feel the
material and let your nose tell
you. It is much like wine
or fine cheese making."
ing because it was a way to recycle
manure better. Underlying his land
are fractured sandstone and limestone
strata, and the aquifers can easily be
contaminated with leached nutrients
and pesticides. "The livestock oper-
ation grew, and the land base did not.
The nutrient concentration in our soils
went up dramatically."
On the advice of a agrologist, the
Holdens tried to give the manure away
for free to neighbouring cash -crop
farmers, but the farmers did not want
it, and the problem became urgent.
"We produce birds year-round and
have to clean the barns year-round.
We had to store the manure and we
were running into problems. There
were disease vectors that could re -
contaminate young flocks on the farm,
odour problems, leaching and runoff,
and the list goes on and on."
In 1979, a friend suggested that
Holden attend a conference on com-
posting, and one thing led to another.
Holden has built a compost site
48 THE RURAL VOICE