Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - [Market-farming] Re: Manure and fertility

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Mayapple Farm and Gardens <mayapplefarm AT yahoo.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Re: Manure and fertility
  • Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 06:25:51 -0700 (PDT)

Art, I would take issue with some of this:

"Making compost burns nitrogen. If you apply raw
manure, it will compost
in the
soil, taking nitrogen away from the crop until it
turns into compost.
Decomposition has a higher priority than crop growth
for available
nitrogen.
The second year, you will see an increase in total
fertility that is
greater
than that accounted for by the manure, as it releases
nutrients from
the soil
that were unavailable before."

First off, applying raw manure is not making compost.
Composting is the conversion of simple sugars, basic
nutrients and cellulose into biomass and complex humic
and fulvic acids, hopefully under conditions of
appropriate carbon to nitrogen ratios in a pile that
allows a succession of microbes that accomplish this
task, in a nutshell. Applying manure is more like
applying a slow-release fertilizer.

Manure by itself has far more nitrogen than is
required to break down the undigested cellulose.
Nitrogen in manure is largely in the form of proteins,
which readily degrades under bacterial activity. This
nitrogen is not tightly held and is subject to
volatilization and leaching, making itself available
to crop roots as it moves through the soil column.
The only limiting step making the nitrogen available
would be the rate of manure breakdown. What will
likely limit this rate are the numbers of soil
microbes, especially if the soil is low in organic
matter.

I would certainly agree that the first year's
application might disappoint somebody who was
expecting a huge result. The second and following
years will show better results because of this reserve
of slow-release nitrogen, but also because of the
improvement in the soil "health" from increasing
organic matter and soil microflora.

Kevin


=====
Krystyna L. Prochocki
Kevin L. Strohmeier
May Apple Farm and Gardens
4020 N. Grandview Church Rd.
Big Spring, KY 40175
270/828-4953
mayapplefarm AT yahoo.com

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!
http://sbc.yahoo.com



  • [Market-farming] Re: Manure and fertility, Mayapple Farm and Gardens, 07/07/2003

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page