Cattle Manure

[headfullofbees]

I'm getting some tomorrow.
Three and a half tons.
How do you rate it?

 

[marlingardener]

Being in Texas, I am fairly familiar with cattle manure. It contains a lot of weed seeds, so needs to be composted. Also, if you use it "straight" without mixing in grass clippings, shredded newspaper, etc. it tends to clump and form concrete blocks.
That said, it is absolutely great for the vegetable garden (I don't waste my amount, much, much less than your 3 1/2 tons) because it is relatively mild and the plants get a good mix of nutrients from it. Composted cattle manure also adds quite a bit of tilth to the garden, improving the soil.
Lucky you to know so many cows!

 

[Chuck]

I'm getting some tomorrow.
Three and a half tons.
How do you rate it?

On a scale of 1-10 an 8. But before you spread it or compost it test it just to be on the safe side. Put a shovel full into a bucket of water and soak it for a day and then pour the water on a broadleaf weed like a dandelion or something. If the plant is still alive after 2 days it will be fine. Trust me. I have been there and didn't do that and it was not a pretty outcome.

 

[Owdboggy]

There is about 200 tons of it in the field next to our garden and it can stay there. We had trailer loads of it when we started here and most of the weeds we now have came in it.
Chuck is correct to warn. There are farmers who use a weed killer based on amino acids 'Aminopyralid. It is extremely persistent and can and does go through animals grazing on land where it has been used and is still toxic to plants, especially Potatoes, Tomatoes and beans.
Definitely do the test he suggests to be on the safe side.

 

[CanadianLori]

I will never use manure again. Too many weeds.

I was given some alpaca poo last year and was upset with the free weeds.

that said , there was a big intact turd that I stuffed in the rat hole, take that you dirty rat!!

 

[Chuck]

Let's not get too down on manures. They can be a tremendous benefit to a garden. Cow, horse manure and other hoofed animal manures are seedy. It all depends on what the animal was fed.. For instance grain fed cattle manure-----there will be no seeds but something much more disturbing and dangerous can be prevalent. Salmonella. A few years ago in California an extremely virulent strain of Salmonella killed a few people and sickened scores here in the US. There was a big rain event and the cause was tracked to an organic spinach farm. The spinach farm was blamed until it was found that a cattle feed lot had over flowed and the raw cattle feces had washed into the spinach farm contaminating the spinach. There was a big investigation and it was found that some sort of enzyme in the cows stomachs caused the problem. Cows are ruminants and are not designed to eat grains. It has been scientifically proven that grass fed cattle cannot transmit Salmonella. But they can and do transmit a bunch of seeds. Having said that, cow manure is a fantastic addition to a garden. Personally, I would not spread raw cow manure, green or dried over or into my garden. I would compost it with a high temperature and a little more than normal moisture thus mitigating the seed problem. How to do this? MOLASSES

 

[headfullofbees]

There is about 200 tons of it in the field next to our garden and it can stay there. We had trailer loads of it when we started here and most of the weeds we now have came in it.
Chuck is correct to warn. There are farmers who use a weed killer based on amino acids 'Aminopyralid. It is extremely persistent and can and does go through animals grazing on land where it has been used and is still toxic to plants, especially Potatoes, Tomatoes and beans.
Definitely do the test he suggests to be on the safe side.

I am well aware of the dangers of aminopyralid and other hormone-based broadleaf weedkillers, but thanks for the warning.
Aminopyralid and its ilk are now strictly controlled in the UK.
This manure is from cattle which have been kept under cover, is mixed with straw, and as such, should be relatively weed-free.

 

[headfullofbees]

As an aside, the original ethos of "drip-down" neo-liberal economics was, "Feed enough oats to horses, and some will make it through to sparrows."

 

[hummingbird]

I've used horse manure for a lawn. We got a lot of mallow weeds.

 

[gata montes]

To be honest although I would agree that animal manures can be excellent for the soil - I'm not very keen on using them myself - as apart from the additional weed problem - bacteria infested " organic " natural fertilizers is becoming a wide spread problem where I live.

In fact if the rare occasion does arrive and I do have to buy some - I will only buy animal manures from a reputable source and only those that are certified as organic, properly composted and sterile.

Although we too - do have a problem with the over use of chemicals - as animal manures are hay based and normally combined with large quantities of animal manure and here are often sold fresh and not properly composted or aged - using them can present far greater problems than worrying about whether they may contain toxic waste - as apart from the fact that animal manures normally smell pretty pungent if fresh - they can burn plants due to the high mix of soluble nitrogen compounds and ammonia - but more importantly are a health hazard - due to the fact that animal manure is known to contain high amounts of bacteria and not only Salmonella but E-Coli - unless it has been properly composted and aged for at least six months.

 

[Owdboggy]

Not only do we have a huge set of mounds of cow manure, we also have the same amount of the waste from intensive chicken rearing sheds within 50 metres of the house. We were advised not to eat anything raw from the garden. Bit of a problem when we grow a lot of salad stuff and enough fruit to feed us for a year.
The smell when one walks down the lane is pretty awful too.
The pheasants love it though, they spend hours rummaging through it.

 

[headfullofbees]

To be honest although I would agree that animal manures can be excellent for the soil - I'm not very keen on using them myself - as apart from the additional weed problem - bacteria infested " organic " natural fertilizers is becoming a wide spread problem where I live.

In fact if the rare occasion does arrive and I do have to buy some - I will only buy animal manures from a reputable source and only those that are certified as organic, properly composted and sterile.

Although we too - do have a problem with the over use of chemicals - as animal manures are hay based and normally combined with large quantities of animal manure and here are often sold fresh and not properly composted or aged - using them can present far greater problems than worrying about whether they may contain toxic waste - as apart from the fact that animal manures normally smell pretty pungent if fresh - they can burn plants due to the high mix of soluble nitrogen compounds and ammonia - but more importantly are a health hazard - due to the fact that animal manure is known to contain high amounts of bacteria and not only Salmonella but E-Coli - unless it has been properly composted and aged for at least six months.

Isn't it the case that you are more likely to catch E-coli from a public toilet door?

 

[gata montes]

Isn't it the case that you are more likely to catch E-coli from a public toilet door?

Its not NO - in fact its quite the opposite - as because the E-coli bacteria is not on the surface of the plant but enters through the cells of plants and therefore no amount of washing the vegetables can remove the hazard - you are actually far more likely to get E-coli from vegetables grown in animal manures than you are from a public restroom - especially as all animal manures are known to contain E-coli bacteria - as well as many other potentially hazardous bacterias like Salmonella and Listeria.

 

[headfullofbees]

Its not NO - in fact its quite the opposite - as because the E-coli bacteria is not on the surface of the plant but enters through the cells of plants and therefore no amount of washing the vegetables can remove the hazard - you are actually far more likely to get E-coli from vegetables grown in animal manures than you are from a public restroom - especially as all animal manures are known to contain E-coli bacteria - as well as many other potentially hazardous bacterias like Salmonella and Listeria.

Indeed, but how long do the bacteria survive prior to contamination?

 

[Chuck]

www.ext.colostate.edu/foodnut/09369