It makes economic and environmental sense for feedlot operators to start composting their manure, says a soil conservation researcher at the Lethbridge Research Centre.
“I think a lot of feedlots are now realizing that they should look at composting because you can only rely on your neighbours for so long to take the raw manure,” said Frank Larney.
Producers of potatoes, sugar beets, beans and other row crops in southern Alberta often apply manure from nearby feedlots. But they, too, would gain by switching to composted manure.
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“I think the onus is on the feedlot owners to hopefully ensure than these nutrients are spread out over a wider area so that we are not getting high nutrient loadings on land close to feedlots,” said Larney. “One way of doing that is to go the composting route because it is much more economical to transport nutrients in the form of compost than as raw manure.”
Chin-area potato grower Harold Perry, who has purchased compost-turning equipment, has been impressed by the significant weight reduction in the composted material.
“Good compost has about 60 per cent of the weight of raw manure,” said Perry. “If you get too far away from the feedlot, then the trucking (of manure) just kills you.”
Compost offers other benefits. Perry said he’s seen productivity gains when applying compost to land where potatoes have been grown previously.
That’s not surprising, said Larney, as potatoes, sugar beets, beans, “and a lot of these crops don’t return organic matter to the soil.
“If the rotations have a lot of these row crops, organic matter can become depleted and the addition of compost is a very good way of replenishing soil organic matter in these soils,” he said.
That’s a significant benefit in southern Alberta, which has less organic matter than soils in central Alberta. Organic matter also boosts the water-holding capacity of soils, and makes them less prone to wind and water erosion.
Compost also provides nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as micronutrients not found in commercial fertilizers, Larney added.
Federal researchers in Summerland, B.C. have found adding compost seems to help to thwart a destructive potato pathogen called verticillium wilt, also known as early dying syndrome. Potato crops infected with this pathogen will typically see the tops of potato plants die off between early August and September, which can have a devastating impact on yields. The pathogen enters the plant through root lesions caused by nematodes that live in the soil that feed on the roots.
The B.C. research indicates adding compost enhances the presence of a fungus that feeds on the nematodes, thus preventing root lesions and closing the pathway for the verticillium wilt pathogen.
“That’s what we think is happening, but we actually haven’t proven that yet,” said Larney.
