[AT] A really stupid question...

[Steve W.]

Dick Day wrote:
> Several times a month, when weather permits, I will scrape horse manure in 
> the corral to a large mound. Once the mound dries out enough, I will spread 
> it in the pastures.
> 
> The last time I scraped the corral, we also cleaned out stalls and some of 
> the barn as well, mixing in a good amount of hay, which is not normally in 
> the mound.
> 
> Today, I used my Boomer loader to start loading my New Idea spreader and 
> noticed what I thought was dust coming up from the mound.  After a few more 
> loads, the smoke was pouring from the mound.  I also remember thinking that 
> it smelled like silage, an aroma not normally associated with this task :)
> 
> I assume that the hay was beginning the fermentation process.  I quickly 
> unloaded the spreader for fear that the wooden floor in there would catch 
> fire.  I abandoned the project thinking it was not a good idea to be loading 
> smoldering material onto the wood floor of a spreader.
> 
> Was I over-reacting? Could there have been a fire?  Would this have hurt the 
> pasture? When I walked over the the mound, on the side where I had taken 
> several buckets from, it felt like a large outdoor furnace, the heat was 
> very noticeable.
> 
> How long will it be before the process is complete?  The mound is sitting 
> away from all structures and fences.
> 
> Should I break the mound up and spread it around?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Dick Day

What you have is the beginnings of good compost. If you look at most
manure piles in colder weather you will see steam rising off the pile.
That is from the manure/hay/bacteria all working on each other to create
good material.

Once you open it and let the heat out and air in the bacteria start to
die and the composting process stops.

It wouldn't hurt the pasture and won't start a fire.

It normally takes a couple years for it to completely become compost.

I love finding it once it is done cooking. It is great in gardens.


-- 
Steve W.
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