[Market-farming] fungal compost?

BCLuton at aol.com BCLuton at aol.com
Wed Jan 9 07:58:57 EST 2008


Hi John...
 
Let me start by saying if it sits long enough it will decompose.  That  said 
I've dug into ten year old pile of horse bedding and been able to make out  
saw dust.
 
It certainly can be difficult to achieve a thermophilic process(heat) with  a 
really high carbon compost feedstock such as horses being bedded clean on  
sawdust.  The ideas to add low carbon high nitrogen sources in some form  are 
valid ones but as you mentioned source and quality can be an issue.  In  some 
areas green grass clippings from landscapers/etc. can be incorporated with  
horse bedding to good result.  Liquid dairy manure would also work well if  you 
had a good way to handle, incorporate and turn the stuff.  The cost of  blood 
meal seems prohibitive and the concerns with poultry litter can be  
valid.(although often times the stuff is fine)
 
Beyond the carbon to nitrogen ratio the biggest inhibiting factor with a  
uniform feedstock like sawdust bedding is maintaining moisture levels and  
keeping the pile well aerated.  Both will greatly assist with decomposition  
irregardless of whether you add additional nitrogen.  The piles should be  moist but 
not wet.  Think fresh cake like and with no free water.(not  dripping)  You 
can irrigate the piles initially if need be.  Or  perhaps natural rainfall will 
be adequate.  Turning the piles will help  incorporate moisture(if the guts 
are dry - as is often the case with sawdust)  and will additional aerate them.  
On a farm scale a loader bucket can be  used quite effectively to turn a pile. 
 One method is to lift and  drop.  You'll actually be moving the pile 
laterally.  You scoop from  the bottom and drop over the top.  Keep on working down 
the row until its  turned and moved.  Another good way if you have an extra 
bucket is to weld  a few bale spears onto the bucket.  They protrude by a few 
feet at the  end.  Now you can more easily lift and "sift" the action of lifting  
the material while allowing it to pour out the bucket and thus be aggitated  
by falling past the protruding spears works pretty well.
 
The biggest issues with not achieving active heating in the pile is  the 
duration of decomposition - concerns over weed seeds - and potentially not  
immediately killing any manure pathogens/etc.
 
In terms of time turning will help, weed seeds may be a problem but just  
incorporate the compost into your rotation accordingly (and maybe do a test  
area) there may not be a lot of weed seeds in the feedstocks and you could be  
fine.  Research on pathogens in compost piles is beginning to suggest that  its 
actually the curing phase when the pile cools and it becomes fungally  
dominated that the pathogens are in decline.
 
In terms of "creating" a fungally dominated pile.  We've done some  
experimentation associated with carbon decomposing fungal varieties.(primarily  around 
wood chips)  And have had limited success.  In theory there are  some fungal 
organisms that are very effective at breaking down carbon and  cellulose and in 
theory innoculating a pile with these organisms would seem like  a good way 
to handle high carbon composts.  In practice I'm finding the  process is an 
added expense that doesn't always seem to work.  The reality  is that a compost 
pile tends to be already dominated by an array of bacterial  and fungal 
organisms and its awfully hard to throw a newbie in the neighborhood  and expect them 
to thrive.  
 
Inherently the high carbon piles will naturally lean towards fungal  
dominated decomposition.  I personally think there is a great roll for both  types of 
composts in the field.  A great deal of soil benefit can be  associated with 
healthy fungal populations and the carbon retained in a fungal  compost is more 
annalogous to active carbon in the soil(which is now being  associated with 
better soil aggregation / disease resistance / mineralization /  etc.) as 
opposed to the more highly decomposed humic substances  associated with fully 
finished thermophillic composts.
 
Apologies for the lengthy drivel...hopefully something worthwhile.
 
The gist would be to....watch the moisture, turn the piles, and spread the  
stuff.  
 
Good luck.
 
Brian
 
 
In a message dated 1/8/2008 10:00:33 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
xkarmafarmerx at yahoo.com writes:

 
Hi all,
I have a friend farming next to a large horse operation who  has lots of 
horse bedding in windrows in hopes of having a good source of  compost for the 
coming seasons.  However, the horses are bedded on  sawdust, and he's having 
great difficulty getting any heat generated.   He's considering adding blood meal, 
which is expensive, or conventional  poultry litter, which he has concern 
about the content of non-desirable  chemicals in.  My thought is that if you 
could turn the compost pile  fungal, it would break down the sawdust.  Or just 
give it time and plenty  of turning.  I was wondering if anyone has any 
suggestions about dealing  with such a material, or how you would veer a pile towards 
fungal  development.
Thanks,
John DiZazzo
Roundabout Farm
Keswick,  VA



 
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