Products & Services

Compost

Equipment Services

Composting and utilizing compost are advantageous tools in nutrient management plans that, when managed properly, reduce the potential to pollute and benefit crops.

Compost is a mixture of organic residues (manure, straw, etc.) that has been piled, mixed and moistened with pure water or lagoon water to undergo thermophilic (high heat 113 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit) decomposition.

Composting requires routine introduction
of oxygen, which stimulates aerobic microorganisms that feed on the organic components and convert the piled organic material to a fairly stable nutrient-rich
soil amendment (Larney and Blackshaw, 2003).

Compost can be applied to agricultural fields as a fertilizer, added to improve soil structure, substituted for peat in horticulture and used as a microbial additive to increase enzyme activities (Steger et al., 2007).

Compost is best applied early to allow the microbial action to start working with your soil.

Logistics

Family owned and operated businesses include: Dynamic Ag which uses Backhus & Scarab turners to compost at our compost lot and local feedlots. Then Y-Bar delivers the compost using trucks with either belt trailers, side dumps or end dumps. Yost Spreading comes in with 8103 & 9203 Terra Gators to spread the compost on your field. Yost Spreading uses floater tires to reduce compaction on your field.

Other services available through Y-Bar:

~Dump Truck

~End Dump

~Lowboy -Can haul oversize loads

~Belt Trailer

~Side Dump

~Flat bed

~Loader Work

Compost Benefits

The soil benefits greatly from the addition of compost. Fertility, water-holding capacity, bulk density and biological properties are improved (Flavel and Murphy, 2006). Odors are reduced and fly eggs die due to the high temperatures occurring during microbial decomposition (Larney et al., 2006).

Certain weed seeds can pass through livestock and grow in manure applied on cropland. Few weed seeds remain viable in properly composted manure, which can reduce the amount of herbicide or tillage needed for weed control. Larney and Blackshaw (2003) studied weed seed viability in composted livestock manures. After 21 days of composting downy brome, false cleavers, foxtail barley, scentless chamomile, wild mustard and wild oat, weed seeds did not germinate. Some weed seeds were more difficult to kill. Those were green foxtail, redroot pigweed, round-leaved mallow, stinkweed and wild buckwheat. After 42 days of composting, those weeds did not germinate.