[USCC] Need ideas for composting chipped wood

[David Schellinger]

Eugene,
I think attempting to compost large particle size materials in such small
windrows would not be advisable.  Porosity or aeration properties wouldn't
allow heating because excessive gaseous exchange would also remove heat and
moisture.  I have seen wood waste composting trials in windrows with
dimensions similar to yours in which the materials composted little over 120
days, even when moisture was maintained at near optimal levels.  

Swine manure would make a very good nutrient source, though a little
odorous.  The swine waste might help reduce overall porosity and, maybe make
composting in smaller windrows more possible.  Without additional nutrient
sources, composting will be slower.  The most successful wood waste
composting facilities would probably be those would compost in windrows ten
feet or more in height.  Even then, composting is slow and may take up to a
year, depending on management practices.  Overall, I think you will have a
significant amount of large pieces remaining even after composting under
very well maintained processes.

Even larger pieces of wood will degrade in soils after a period of time and
will provide soils with some positive properties such as aeration and
improved water infiltration.  The nutritional value of the end product will
probably not be sufficient to use the compost as a nutrient source, but the
product may significantly influence soil conditions in fields.  Depending on
the field and the crops grown, even materials with low nutritional value can
improve soil conditions.

Dave Schellinger
Alternatives, LLC  



-----Original Message-----
From: Eugene R. Moore [mailto:erm1586 at iowatelecom.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 12:24 PM
To: compost at mailman.cloudnet.com
Subject: [USCC] Need ideas for composting chipped wood

We are "production agriculturalists"------some would call us "farmers", 
using the non-politically-correct term..........."farming" a significant 
number of certified organic acres in Iowa.

We currently have access to a significant amount of trees, branches, etc. 
that came down during the recent ice storm in Iowa, which wood has been run 
through a Vermeer chipper.  The result is, for the most part, shredded wood,

but there are significantly large pieces also.  Those pieces could be as 
large as 12 inches long and two inches in diameter.

Our intention would be to compost the chipped wood, using our small compost 
turner, and then spreading the resulting compost onto our fields.  Our 
compost turner will eat windrows about 8 ft wide by 5ft high.  I do not 
believe that we would provide the care and attention needed to do a 
"perfect" job of composting-----we compost now to the extent needed to be 
able to preserve as much N and other nutrients as possible when we haul 
poultry litter during the late spring/summer and have to store it until we 
can apply it to the fields in the fall/spring.  In other words, we do not 
compost with the intention of having a final product which is perfect or 
saleable.......we compost in order to be able to store fertilizer until 
application can occur.

Question-  About how long would it take to compost the larger pieces into 
smaller pieces which would not tie up/cling to our tillage 
equipment......say, pieces about an inch in diameter by 6 inches long, or 
significantly brittle enough to be broken easily.  We currently have no way 
to sift these large pieces from the piles.  Would six to eight months be 
sufficient?

Question- Even after composting, how much nutritional and/or soil-building 
value would the composted wood provide?  Would it be worth the effort?

Question- if the wood chips were mixed with swine slurry this fall, would 
that make a difference in the desirability of hauling and storing the chips?

Currently the wood-matter that is in the poultry litter-----sawdust, 
etc.-------that we apply provides a considerable amount of carbon for the 
soils.  However, in the near future, we are going to have access to swine 
slurry, and therefore will not be putting down as much organic fiber. 
Therefore, is it possible that composting chipped wood with slurry would 
allow a resulting product better than the two components would be as 
separate items?

Thanks.

Eugene R. Moore
Spring Valley Farms of IA, Ltd.
1701 3rd Avenue East, Suite 7
Oskaloosa, Iowa  52577
Telep:  641 673 6964
Fax:     641 673 6551