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  • From: BCLuton AT aol.com
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] fungal compost?
  • Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 07:58:57 EST

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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