Friday, February 7, 2014

Dealing With Different Manure Storage Options

By Lianne Derocco


Amongst the many tasks confronting farmers - both operating and owning small-scale and large scale hog farms, dealing with manure is one inevitable task. Farmers can expect a "not so good" effect on the animal population within the farm and the surrounding environment once they fail to address this agricultural waste issue.

Manure needs to be contained no matter how many hogs you have, and there are different waste containment systems to consider depending on how large of a farm you operate. A small hobby farm with a just a few pigs might need a small waste pit, whereas a large scale factory farm typically will store their manure in a waste lagoon.

If you have a small farm, a manure pile can be built on your property. This needs to be built away from wells, ponds, streams and all other sources of water so as not to contaminate these water sources. For a small scale operation, you also will want the waste pit to be fairly far away from your own housing as well as the homes of any of your neighbors.

Waste pits need to be lined and covered. Covering waste is especially important because if it rains heavily, the waste will be washed out of the pit, which spreads toxins as well as removing nutrients in the waste that help make the waste a good source of fertilizer. You can compost the manure by using a product such as Compost Plus, which contains natural microbial remediation isolates, enzymes and composting activation factors. This will accelerate the rate of decomposition. Another option would be to contact a livestock manure recycling company and have them come and collect the accumulated manure in your waste containment system. If you opt for this route, often you can toss other compostable materials into the pit, such as sod, grass cuttings, vegetable waste, egg shells and even used kitty litter.

Aside from containment, waste lagoons should also be with a method of liquefying waste and transforming it to become useful fertilizer. There will be problems like sludge build-up, top crusting and foaming if your waste lagoon come poorly managed and this could be dangerous, even explosive. And so, in order to prevent such problems, treating your waste lagoon with a product like Agra Sphere should be considered.

Helpful bacteria are contained in Agra Sphere - the ones responsible for eating away organic waste solids. No chemicals can be found in this product and in activating it, no mixing is actually required. As this product address the problem with sludge and crusts, it also eliminates odors and flies which are most likely to be present in waste pits and lagoons while consequently enhancing the manure's nutrient value when you convert it into fertilizer for sale or your own use, thus increasing possible profit.




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