critterair2
Well-known member
Covered 12 acres with dried sludge today, 1000lbs/acre. We'll see how it does, on our rye. Cost for 12 acres was less than 5 acres of 21-7-14 fertilizer. Now if we can keep the flies away, lol.
Didn't mean to fill your bucket Use what ever you like. But for others that may be reading this thread, who might be considering the premiums paid in organic agriculture, So called organic sewer sludge is not approved. And for good reason, one of which is the concern for heavy metals. If I were to use it in an other type of agriculture production system I would not use it on a yearly basis.critterair2":38cv5kpu said:I guess since its not approved I shouldn't use it huh, blue. How bout chicken litter is that approved? I can have it shipped in from over 100miles away that should be economical at 3.50/gallon. In our county the best resource for spreading services either herbicide, fertilizer etc, recommended it. He has been in the business 40 years, we have used him for years so I trust his opinion. Haven't heard about the possibility of cows dying thanks for the tip, i'll look into that, sure don't want that to happen.
critterair2":218uv00c said:Covered 12 acres with dried sludge today, 1000lbs/acre. We'll see how it does, on our rye. Cost for 12 acres was less than 5 acres of 21-7-14 fertilizer. Now if we can keep the flies away, lol.
critterair2":17gbgbhy said:I guess since its not approved I shouldn't use it huh, blue. How bout chicken litter is that approved? I can have it shipped in from over 100miles away that should be economical at 3.50/gallon. In our county the best resource for spreading services either herbicide, fertilizer etc, recommended it. He has been in the business 40 years, we have used him for years so I trust his opinion. Haven't heard about the possibility of cows dying thanks for the tip, i'll look into that, sure don't want that to happen.
novatech":18e0bom8 said:At the predicted price of fertilizer we may all be going in the chicken business just to get the byproduct. Besides that I like chicken soup and fried eggs. ;-)
what about other drug's like meth and cocaine. i heard awile back were a experiment was done. checking a sewer system in a neighborhood that one teaspoon of water from it contained 11 different drugs including caffeineheaflaw":2otqghmy said:I have been having sludge spread on pasture and hay land for free for several years, as had a neighbor of mine. It is spread as a wet solid(not pellitized). They spread about 8 or 10 acres a year and will go over the same ground about every 6 years. The company tests for lime and spreads it for free if it's below 6.0. I get a copy of the test for nutrients and metals every time it's spread. Trace metals are always less than 1/100th of what North Carolina says is acceptable. With covering the same land every 5 or 6 years, it will be a very long time before I have to be concerned about a toxic build up of heavy metals. Before the land was accepted, NC did extensive testing. Agronomists with NC Dept of Agr. that I have talked with think it's a great use of a product that would otherwise have to be put in a landfill.
In my opinion, it is far better than commercial fertilizer. The company that spreads says it releases 1/2 of the nitrogen in the first year and the rest over the next 2 years. I believe they are right.
There are 2 drawbacks that I see. The first is that it contains some antibiotics. That is not tested for(maybe it can't be). My understanding is that that is the reason it cannot be used in a certified organic operation.
The second drawback is that it stinks like S___. I'm not as popular in my neighborhood as I used to be.
boy the mental visual i got going on right now :| aint pretty, sorta like the tomatoe plant growin wild outside the outhouse. looks great but know'in where it came from just ruint it :lol: .TexasBred":1y0pfwxx said:My brother use to be public works director in a small town. He would go down to the sewer treatment plant and pick him a mess of tomatoes, squash, corn,watermelons, cantelopes and quiet a few other vegetables in the summer. Would also find an occasional marijuana plant growing as well.