An on-site compost operation reduces organic waste by 50 percent at Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lethbridge.
“Ever ything organic on the (research) farm is composted,” said research technician Andrew Olson, who explained the process during an Oct. 19 County of Lethbridge tour that highlighted beneficial management practices including waste disposal.
Organic waste produced at the centre includes manure from the feedlot, animal carcasses and material from field operations and greenhouses.
Olson said the centre uses some of the compost in its own fields and markets the rest through a local firm.
Read Also
Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
He said heat generated in the compost kills most weed seeds and pathogens and produces a good soil amendment.
The Lethbridge area is home to many intensive livestock operations, which generate large amounts of manure.
Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus are often found in fields surrounding feedlots because manure is heavy and expensive to transport.
Composting reduces manure volume and makes waste more affordable to haul for longer distances.
“I don’t know why it hasn’t caught on the way it should,” said Olson.
It might be partly because composting requires a clay base, an effluent-catching ditch and a compost windrow turner that can cost $40,000 or more.
Olson said the basic ingredients of compost are manure, oxygen, water and a carbon base such as straw or sawdust. Much of the nitrogen contained in manure is lost in the compost process, but what remains is in a more stable form.
Soil responds slower to compost than to raw manure, but the soil nutrition benefits of compost can be seen in fields over three or four years.
Temperature and moisture levels are key to producing good compost efficiently.
“Composting is a lot like making wine,” said Olson. “Sometimes you get good stuff, sometimes you get vinegar.”
