Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

How much of the original nutrients remain is the question, and whether it's 
more practical to extract methane and then compost or just compost directly. 
I don't doubt their end product is still useful as organic soil amendment.  
The concept of composting semi-anerobically in a manure pit is brought up in 
Rodale Press' Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening under the topic of Manure. 
I'm looking at my 1978 hardcover edition (my later editions are all somewhere 
else). They state there is little or no loss of nitrogen or other elements 
when manures are fermented in a properly constucted enclosed pit. It is 
especially important to prevent the manure from drying out.  If fresh manure 
is applied directly to a field instead of composting, it should be turned 
under without delay to keep nutrients in the soil.  And so on. They note that 
large digesters for municipal use are mostly aerobic, which I believe would 
lead to nutrient loss to the air.

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not 
television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only 
those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it.
   - Aldo Leopold in  Round River, 1933
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 4/28/2006 at 11:38 AM Kathy Moore wrote:

>The manure extraction/methane plant in Tillamook said the nutrients
>remained
>after the gas was extracted.  They said they had the residual fibers and
>liquids analyzed, but, I don't have the results available.  I remember
>that
>they had spin off horticulture businesses spring up around them as a
>result
>of the available compost.
>
>Maybe I should try to contact them again for more information?  BioCycle
>arranged the tour so they may have the information also.  I'll inquire
>with
>Biocycle first to see if they can refer me to some other resources.
>Thank you,
>Kathy Moore
>
>
>From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
>Reply-To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
><livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
>To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Fertilizer use by crop in Brazil
>Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:52:35 -0600
>
>
>Don't know on that. Of course cleaning up the rivers and the nitrate
>runoff
>is highly desirable.  I do agree corporate farming will go on in some form
>in some places. I believe however that composting manure after the biogas
>removal process would require added nitrogen in some form for complete
>breakdown.
>
>paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
>---------------
>The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all
>our
>most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster
>its renewal is our only hope.
>    - Wendell Berry
>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
>On 4/28/2006 at 8:19 AM Kathy Moore wrote:
>
> >Thank you, I will check out my copy of Rodale's book.  However, what I
> >was
> >actually trying to figure out is if under factory farm conditions where
>in
> >OK and TX I see large mountains of malaordorous manure that are piled
> >without composting efforts, if it would be preferable to promote methane
> >capture then composting to reduce the nitrogen, etc.  runoff or leaching
> >into the ground water?
> >
> >I don't think corporate farming is going away and it would seem methane
> >extraction, etc. could be  a collaborative method of reducing the
>negative
> >effects of the manure mountains while promoting composting after methane
> >extraction.  I saw this in Tillamook, Oregon with multiple dairy farmers
> >and
> >it cleaned up several rivers and the bay.  If I'm missing something,
> >please
> >steer me in another direction.
> >Thanks,
> >Kathy Moore
> >
>