New Composter Turns Manure Into Money

New Composter Turns Manur Into Money ENERGY Alternative Fuels 3-5-28 New methods for handling manure are busting out all over. One of the most promising alernatives is composting, an ancient process for decomposing manure fast to be spread as rich, odorless organic matter. Latest new development in composting is a compost turner manufactured by Mehlhaf Mfg., a South Dakota firm headquartered at Freeman. Looking like a hybrid between a roto-tiller and a giant egg beater, the implement shreds and turns manure, and other organic waste, as it's pulled by a tractor over a composting windrow. By letting oxygen into the waste material, bacterial activity is stepped up reducing the waste to humus. "Manure becomes a stable product after 10-12 days. It's reduced to half its volume and has no manure smell," explains Charles Mehlhaf, president of Mehlhaf. "During decomposition, the pile heats to temperatures that kill weed seeds and any harmful bacteria." The composter requires a 94 hp or larger tractor. It weighs 2,500 lbs. and will straddle a row 12ft. wide and 4 ft. high, turning it at a rate of 400-500 tons per hour. Transport wheels and a tractortowing hitch are optional equipment for road travel. Composting starts by turning windrowed manure the first day. It works best when moisture is at 50%. Higher moisture manure can be dried down by turning it every day, or by adding sawdust or straw. Nozzles on the unit can spray water, dampening too-dry manure. The windrow is turned every 2-3 days until the manure is reduced to a stable product, at 10-12 days. Then, the loose, mellow material can be spread on fields with a conventional manure spreader. Mehlhaf claims that composted manure contains more valuable nutrients, that the minerals are more available to plants, and that it increases the soild water-holding capacity. The machine, which is called the Easy Over Compost Turner, is made in two sizes - a farm model, which has a price tag of $6,000 and a commercial model that sells for $9,350. The 50 flail-type knives which churn the manure have to be replaced every 1-2 years and sell for $500 a set. The commercial heavy-duty model is designed for industries or municipalities who have a waste disposal problem. One of these is in use at the Omaha stockyards, and another is used by the city of Yankton, S. Dak., at its landfill. As of last spring, the Mehlhaf company has built 20 composters and had about 20 more on order. Farmers are using them in Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, California and South Dakota. For more details, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mehlhaf Machine and Mfg. Co., Highway 81, P. 0. Box 523, Freeman, S. Dak. 57029 (ph. 605 925-4512).

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