NCDCTA News/Ask the Experts – June 2010
Q: How do you dispose of manure? I don’t have enough land for spreading. Any suggestions? Sincerely, Buried
A: As if we don’t have enough to worry about, now we have to be concerned about where our manure goes. I mean where our horse’s manure goes. Well, we always have to be concerned about proximity to water supplies, proximity to the barn (flies), proximity to neighbors (especially non horse loving neighbors). So, proper disposal of horse manure is of concern to all horse owners, or should be.
One good answer to this problem is, or was, composting. Composted horse manure is good for our gardens, vegetable or otherwise, pasture and/or landscaping. Or so we thought. Thanks to the ambition of certain chemical companies, that option is now over. In their pursuit of excellence, they have, allegedly, produced the ‘perfect’ herbicide, in the form of aminopyralid, clopyralid, and picloram. The brand names of these products are Forefront, Milestone, Curtail, Redeem R&P, Grazon P&D and Surmount. Some hay growers are using these products on their fields to take care of the weed problem. These products are so effective that they stay active through the horse’s digestive system and are excreted in the urine and feces. They remain active even through the composting process. The compost may then damage your plants in the garden or landscaping. These herbicides will not harm your horses, nor will they hurt your pastures. In all conscience you cannot sell or give away manure, composted or otherwise unless you know for sure it is not tainted with these herbicides.
We had a composting business, selling to a local landscaper, until this new development. So, what do we do now? All of us, who purchase hay, should ask our supplier what chemicals have been applied to the hay. Encourage hay growers to use a herbicide that does not stay active through the composting process. Until then, unless you are confident of the history of your hay, do not apply horse manure, composted or otherwise, to gardens or landscaping. Do not give away old hay or grass clippings for use as mulch or in compost. The herbicide will still be active on the hay itself.
If you suspect your manure or compost, you can test it:
Take 2-3 pots, mix some of the suspect manure or compost with normal potting mix and plant 5 beans in it. Do a comparison with 2-3 pots with only commercial potting mix (no manure added). If the beans in manured pots die or grow more poorly than the untreated pots, your manure is tainted and should not be used.
Product labels can be found at the following website: http:www.cdms.net/LabelsMsds/LMDefault.aspx
For more information contact your local agriculture extension agent.
Nanci Lindroth’s accomplishments speak for themselves: she was long-listed for the 1980 Olympics, and was a member of the 1987 PamAm Games Eventing Gold Medal Team. Lindroth is a Level 3 ICP Certified Instructor with over 20 years of experience training horses and riders; her past students include USET riders Dorothy Trapp Crowell and Teresa Hover Koral. A breeder of Irish horses for two decades and a USEF “r” Judge in Dressage and Eventing, Lindroth has shown FEI dressage and is currently competing at fourth level on Farah Diba F. She is based at Windfall Farm in Derby, NC. For more information, go to www.windfallfarm.com.