Poultry Science Penn State Poultry j Pointers I. ; COMPOSTING POULTRY MANURE Leon Ressler Environment And Agricultural Systems Specialist Composting poultry manure can be a viable option for poultry pro ducers who are looking for ways to improve their manure marketing opportunities. However, a number of advan tages and disadvantages need to be considered before one chooses composting over direct marketing or utilization of fresh manure. One of the primary benefits of composting is that it produces a saleable product with markets that would not be available for fresh manure. Potential buyers include the turf industry, landscapers, homeowners, highway and park Capital Region departments, and agricultural crop producers. Since the weight, volume, and moisture content of manure is reduced during the composting process, manure handling is improved. Properly produced compost stores well without fly or odor problems. Weed seeds and pathogens are destroyed during the composting process. Nitrogen in the manure is converted to more stable organic forms during the composting pro cess which is less susceptible to leaching and further ammonia loss. Some of the nitrogen is lost during this process, however. Compost has excellent soil con ditioning properties. When applied to soil, it improves soil structure and adds organic matter. The use of compost has been found to reduce soil-bome plant diseases eterinary Science without the use of chemical con trols. Although this is not well understood this is beginning to be widely recognized. Finally, farmers who use leaves or grass clippings in their compost ing operations may be able to col lect tipping fees from the munici palities who divert these products from the waste stream. Composting does have signific ant disadvantages as well which must be carefully considered. First, composting requires a signif icant amount of time, equipment, and management skill. Equipment costs will vary greatly depending on the system chosen. One may be able to get started using only a front end loader and a manure spreader to form windrows which may already be available on the farm. However, a sophisticated system may cost several hundred thousand dollars. Regardless of the system util ized, a major time commitment will be required to manage the sys tem. Although a properly pro duced finished product should be relatively odor free, there will cer tainly be odors produced during the composting process. This makes it important that the compost site be at a significant dis tance from neighbors. The site must be carefully designed and managed to prevent runoff. The Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 28,1992-D5 composting area, storage for raw manure, and storage for the fin ished product may take a large amount of land area or building space. Marketing compost successful ly requires special skills and inter ests which are different than the skills required to produce eggs or broilers. Many times, producers of eggs or broilers are not directly involved in the marketing of these products. However, to successful ly market compost, one must be aggressive in pursuing a niche market This involves making phone calls, personally visiting Soybean Disappointed Over Oilseeds ST. LOUIS. Mo. U.S. and European Community (EC) offi cials have reached an agreement in the five-year-old dispute over EC oilseed subsidies. U.S. oilseed producers are ob viously disappointed with and deeply concerned by the level of oilseed production the agreement will permit within the European potential clients with a sample pro duct, and making additional follow-up calls and visits. One may also need to work with clients in developing recommendations for use of product in specific niches such as the turf industry or the horticultural container industry. Composting has potential for increasing markets for poultry manure. However, many factors need to be considered carefully when evaluating this decision. It will be a good option for some operations but certainly not for all. Farmers Dispute Community (EC). This level is well above any position supported or endorsed by any U.S. farm group. ASA President and Florida soy bean farmer Steve Yoder said the agreement will not achieve the goal of the U.S. Section 301 com plaint filed by ASA in 1987 to open the EC market to exports of competitively-priced U.S. oil seeds and oilseed products. “U.S. soybean farmers will con tinue to suffer the loss of a $2 bil lion market in the EC, and will re ceive no compensation for this loss,” Yoder said. “Beyond these major shortcomings, though, the agreement has the potantial of gradually slowing and possibly re versing current trade-distorting trends in EC oilseed production.” The pact will limit the maxi mum area on which payments are made to stimulate surplus EC oil seed production, both for food and industrial purposes. Within the area restricted for food produc tion, it will establish a permanent 10 percent set-aside. “We see this as an important first step toward curbing subsidiz ed EC oilseed production and ex ports over the long term,” said Yoder. “Again, the differences be tween the terms of this agreement and ASA’s well-known position on the 301 case are clear. How ever, we recognize that even the limited constraint the agreement will impose on EC oilseed produc tion would not have been possible without the strong support and ef forts of Secretary Ed Madigan and his team at USDA. We also deeply appreciate and will continue to seek the views and guidance of many members of Congress who have stood beside ASA through these long and difficult negotia tions. The oilseeds dispute stemmed from the U.S. charges that the EC had nullified and impaired its 1962 duty-free commitment for soybeans and soymeal by offering lucrative subsidies to growers and processors of EC-origon oilseeds at the expense of U.S. soybean ex ports. A GATT Dispute Setde ment Panel twice ruled in favor of the U.S. position.
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