[compost_tea] Re: AACT and Pasture

From: David Hall <dchall8_at_texas.net>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 17:20:00 -0000

Am I the only who sees this message differently?

While it is nice to picture the end result of your undertaking, you
still have to start at square one when it comes down to making it
work. You have 24,000 tonnes of waste to start out with. That
converts to 53,000,000 pounds of waste (for us Yanks). Assuming you
drop that weight by half in the composting process, you'll have
27,500,000 pounds of compost. A pound of compost makes about 5
gallons of tea. So are you talking about brewing 137,500,000
gallons of tea? That's nearly 400,000 batches with your current
equipment. Even if you get enough equipment, how are you going to
move all that water out to the users?

I suggest you forget about tea. You'll never get rid of your tonnes
of wastes by making tea out of it. Compost your waste and sell it
in bulk directly to large scale users or bag it for small scale
users. Unless you want to go into business selling compost,
contract this project out. Be sure you have good specifications for
testing, turning, temperature, time, and for ultimate use of the
compost so it doesn't turn into an anerobic mess and fall back into
your lap.

Don't overlook recycling phone books in your municiple compost.
Soak them in molasses water for a few days first and they'll
decompose
nicely.

You can also compost your dairy's excess milkfat if you inject it
deep, cover it deep, or turn right after spraying. You just need to
cover up the smell with aerobic compost.

And when the dairy loses cows, you can bury them deep in the (hot)
compost and they should be gone in a week. Allow for not turning
during that week.

David Hall
San Antonio, TX

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "Brian Gallagher" <briang_at_t...>
wrote:
> Dear All,
> I have been a member of this site for sometime gathering
information but have not been able to offer much input until now. So
bear with me while I give you some background.
>
> I am the Solid Waste Manager for the Timaru District Council which
is located in the South Island of New Zealand. I am currently trying
to assess what to do with upwards of 24,000 tonnes of compostable
waste (eg. garden prunings, grass, weeds, food scraps). My approach
has been to look at potential markets and work backwards determining
processing and collection systems. Most waste management people
offer a waste solution without considering what the end compost
product may be or what the potential markets could be.
>
> Agriculture is an important input to our local economy and our
local dairy company is estimated to become the second largest in the
world when the expansion programmes are finished in 2 years.
>
> With my investigations at all the different processes for
compostable waste, one of the niche products that shows a lot of
potential is ACCT. The long term sustainability of our soils and
groundwater is an important issue, because it is the life source of
our economy.
>
> Before I can convince my politicians that we should embark down
a "biological" pathway for processing our waste some
> "local proof " is required by them, but also for potential market
expansion.
>
> During our southern summer we will be conducting an initial ACCT
trial on 12 hectares (30 acres of pasture). In-conjunction with this
we will also be engaging the "Crop and Food Research Institute if
New Zealand" to monitor a trial block at their research centre. I
also will be applying ACCT to grassed landscaping plots so that this
may attract some attention during our dry summer. (Annual rainfall
760 mm, 30 inches). Dr Elaine and Cherryle from NZ Soilfoodweb plus
Richard from the Compost Tea Company of NZ have been instrumental in
helping us establish our trial
>
> I have purchased a 1000 litre (260 US Gallon) brewer from the
Compost Tea Company in New Zealand. Also we have purchased a 400
litre (105 US gallon) spray unit for the trial. The spray unit
operates an Imovilli M50 diaphram pump rated to 49 litres
> (12.9 US gallons)/Minute open flow _at_ 580 PSI max pressure. Mounted
on the rear of the unit is a KLC18 FieldJet liquid fertiliser nozzle
capable of spraying a width of 6.7 metres (22 feet) at a spraying
pressure of 2.5 BAR, (37.5 PSI), which equates to an application
rate of 195 litres(51.5 US gallons) per Hectare (2.5 acres).
Initially we are trying to achieve 80 litres/hectare. The unit also
has a spray gun to allow us flexibility for other applications.
>
> We expect to get under way mid October with the trials. We have
completed one test brew with promising results, however we need to
increase our fungal levels and this needs to be with our compost.
With the remnants of winter and snow still lurking, we will need to
heat our brew overnight. We are using a mix of vermicast and woody
compost along with molasses (1 litre) and humic acid (1 litre) as
the inputs.
>
> I will endeavour to keep you informed with our progress and will
post data as we have more to offer.
>
> In the meantime I would appreciate any comments, contacts or
grower experiences with ACCT and pasture/grass.
>
> Regards
> Brian Gallagher,
> Solid Waste Manager,
> Timaru District Council,
> e-mail : briang_at_t...
> Ph. 0064-3-6848199, Ext 8065
> Fax. 0064-3-6842206
> Mobile 0064-27-220-5545


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Received on Fri Nov 14 2003 - 13:44:46 EST

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