The Rural Voice, 2019-05, Page 21the composting process at work in an
old bank barn on the facility. The
former pig barn is used to keep
rainfall off the cooking mixture.
Dale explained he is to compost
what a brewmaster is to good beer.
After reading dozens of articles and
researching his old Ridgetown
College material (which Dale says
was incredibly valuable), Dale began
experimenting with the best recipe to
ensure the perfect compost that a)
works with the leftovers of poultry
processing and b) meets stringent
Ministry of Environment regulations.
“Making good compost is a
science,” says Dale. “If it gets too
wet it makes a mess.” Other
problems that can affect successful
compost-making are a lack of carbon,
lack of turning, a pour size that is too
shallow or too large or carbon
particles that are too small because
then the pile can’t “breathe.”
“When this first started I used
grain screenings and hay as the
carbon source because I felt I could
not afford a wood-based product,”
remembers Dale. “But bark mulch on
a carbon basis is cheaper than low-
cost hay or grain screenings.”
The right recipe is needed to
create the ideal biological
chemistry that has the pile
reaching temperatures of 164 degrees
fahrenheit after seven days. “I had an
egg roll out to the pile once. In 24
hours, it had cooked through,” says
Dale.
Having years of experience with
the process, Dale doesn’t need to
measure the temperature daily
anymore but it is still done for
record-keeping purposes “so that
when one of those white cars drive
in, we can show our records.”
Due to the high nitrogen content
of the compost, the next level of piles
(some seven feet high) “make big
heat” says Dale. He calls these curing
piles. The bigger piles will still see
temperatures of 162 degrees ensuring
all harmful pathogens and bacteria
have died. In return, the cooling piles
grow mushrooms and healthy fungus.
“Sometimes we see a big seam of
fungus growing through a cooler
section of that pile. The old school
farmers love to see that white area
knowing it will inoculate the soil
with healthy, beneficial stuff.”
May 2019 17
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