permaculture

[Marimike6@cs.com]

In a message dated 6/19/2003 11:12:59 AM Eastern Standard Time, rmwj@soonernet.com writes:

>There is also manure. It's high-powered stuff, and can be put to much
>better use than it is now, since the current paradigm is still pretty
>much that this is bad stuff we need to just get rid of. That is
>changing, big time.

If you are talking about humanure, you're right, but I would not bet
much on animal manure.  The days of the giant Confined Animal Feeding
Operations that are producing such large mountains of manure are
numbered. The first problem with them is that they are entirely
dependent upon producing large amounts of corn and wheat, and as the
energy decline hits, corn acreage in particular is likely to shrink
considerably.  On a small farm, which is the future of animal husbandry,
no manure goes to waste.
>
>So we start out with a program to more effectively utilize hog poop.
>We don't start with a program to make everyone on earth into a Vegan,
>because that just ain't going to happen.

Yes, but those large mountains of hog poop are dependent upon large
mounains of corn, and without the corn, there will be no large mountains
of hog poop.
>

I'm packing right now to attend a conference on exactly this issue. I have an idea what they'll be describing is a closed circle between CAFO's and animal feed production methods, where the same economy converts the hog poop into something healthy, like spirulina, and feeds it back to the hogs. The loops in design right now are not simple, but include anaerobic digesters to provide power for the operation, soil amendments for the hayfields and a variety of products for sale that offset the purchased inputs that confined-animal feedlot folks have to fork out cash for under the current system design. This field is moving ahead with the times-- I'm trying to keep up with it.

Mike Elvin