Animal Waste Problem

[Johnboy]

Although most people have great difficulty sourcing manure it may surprise you to know that this country has a very great problem with the surplus of animal waste.
Unless you are a very large farm it is not possible to provide sufficient foodstuffs to satisfy your requirements to sustain you livestock. With large Dairy Herds and Cattle Rearing Units the surpluses mount up at an alarming rate. These surpluses are generally taken by totally Arable Farms that have no manure produced. And normally when these units have sufficient manure stored that can reasonable used on their land available for spreading the surpluses are sold to the Arable Farms that in part produce the animal foodstuffs. So that part of the industry is generally in balance. If a farmer chooses to sell to a gardener or allotmenteer that really is the only way that manure leaves that cycle.
The difficulty comes with Stables, Racing Stables and Riding Schools where the greater majority of the foodstuffs are bought-in and there is insufficient land to spread the amount of waste that they accumulate. In this area again it all goes to the Arable Farms and that is in balance but in areas that have these units and insufficient spreading land herein lies the problem. Riding Schools need to be reasonably near places where there are sufficient people and probably there is no spreading land available. I feel if these units are contacted they will normally be only too pleased to fulfil your requirements. Recent Government Legislation has classified Manure as “Hazardous Waste” and all the needs for these units have to comply fully with the Law.
There is a clause that Gardeners and Allomenteers can purchase manure on the basis that the manure is strictly for horticultural purposes and the person must collect the manure themselves. Failing that surpluses have to be cleared by contractors licensed to handle Hazardous Wastes and that is mighty expensive. There is a limit set individually as to how much manure each of these units may store above which the surplus must be removed from site. The reason for the grower having to collect themselves is that only people fully licensed to carry Hazardous Waste are permitted to transport manure and it is very doubtful that the unit owners are licensed to transport it.
The Poultry Industry has absolutely massive surpluses of manure and to the point where one Poultry Meat producer in this area has found it economical to build an incinerator to burn the waste to produce Electricity to the Grid. Their only problem is disposing of the resultant ash. The ash still has got nutritional value and that is spread on land in the surrounding area where appropriate. When burnt, the firing changes the chemical composition so poultry ash has an entirely different set of characteristics poultry manure.
The Pig Industry is another one in massive surplus but since the end of swill feeding Pigs now enjoy a vegetarian diet and the manure is more user friendly and if suitably well composted with plenty of straw if good to use. The composting takes considerably longer than other manures.
Such are the surpluses, the legislation was really brought in to combat illicit dumping.
Perhaps now people may understand why I described a recent posting as absolute nonsense because to suggest that farmers get rid of their manure and use chemicals in its place is totally ludicrous.

[oldherbaceous]

Well i have got a huge trailer load of really old horse manure being delivered soon, i think i will tell them they are not allowed to transport it after they have tipped it.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fools like them old fools.

[Jenny Green]

I saw a tractor towing a trailer load of the most beautiful manure yesterday. I was pretty jealous of whoever that was going to!

[Johnboy]

Hi Jenny and OH,
I am not sure if the legistration that I refer to has yet come into full effect. Transfers from farm to farm are permitted and although I refer to the legislation I am not 100% sure of the ins and outs of it. What I was trying to convey is the inaccuracy of the previous posting.

[Lottie Lou]

I own horses and it is a big problem to find someone to take the muck heap away - each horse generates a wheelbarrow full a day so that is alot of waste!

[peter]

Round here we tend to see Estate Agents advertising "Equestrian properties", sadly, though these run to a few acres, their owners never seem to run to a JCB and large trailer to go with the Chelsea Tractor, they just have an evergrowing pile somewhere out the back.

[vivie veg]

I believe that the legislation ONLY applies to COMMERCIAL premises, so a private owner of 20 horse would not qualify, but a small owner RENTING out one stable would qualify! and the maximum size of the muck heap would be 5 tonnes, before registration? action is needed...again not sure of the exact rules as I'm a user, not a maker of said heaps! My 30 ducks and 6 chickens barely make a barrowload! The chicks tend to scratch out the sheds on a regular basis, and the straw gets scattered around their enclosure. All I have to do is top the sheds up with fresh straw when it's getting low.

Unfortunately a lot of horse waste is mixed with shavings and is therefore of little use until matured well.

Interestingly I noticed an ongoing advert in our local paper...FREE Cow manure (I bet it isn't delivered though!)

[Johnboy]

Hi Vivianne,
The thing I am not sure is with this new Legislation as you quite rightly say certain things are and certainly commercialism comes somewhere into the equation. I somehow feel that there would be a set amount of manure that even at which a private owner would come into it because of the quantity involved but laws do not seem to follow patterns of logic.
Certainly Farmers are allowed to deliver to other farms for agricultural purposes so maybe farmers are still allowed to deliver to allotments and gardens for horticultural purposes. I think mainly the law will cover the end use bit. I have yet to fully appreciate the ins and outs but by all that I hear it will eventually be tightened up. You generally have to wait until some poor bugger gets prosecuted before we realise that you were not allowed to do this and that.

[Chantal]

I've just met someone with a horse and he's promised me as much muck as his horse can deliver. I'm going to be out there and shovelling on a regular basis from now on and he's also promised me that the aforementioned horse doesn't get to eat thistles or docks.

[DahlisMarie]

We're very lucky that we have a few cattle and put their cowpats through a shredder, so we have a constant supply of cow manure.
If you'd like to pop round I'll give you a bag.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Chantal i take it you don't have to follow the horse round with a bucket.

Dear DahlisMarie i take it that your cowpats are dry when you put them through your shredder.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool

[DahlisMarie]

[quote="oldherbaceous"]
Dear DahlisMarie i take it that your cowpats are dry when you put them through your shredder.

Yup! learned that from experience - makes a hell of a mess if you don't duck

[peter]

DahlisMarie, most of what I put through my shredder is OldHerbaceous material.

[Johnboy]

Yes Peter they say Bulls is better than Cows so you may well be correct.
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Charming Gentlemen, i must say.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.