Utilisation of Compost at Sheepdrove Organic Farm

Summary

Organic soil management focuses on optimising soil biological activity, recycling nutrients, water retention and drainage. Composting the FYM materials derived from within the SOF system was thought to be insufficient to supply the nutrient requirements across the entire farm. Organic standards permit the importation of some supplementary nutrients, if these are in the form of organic matter then composting is required for at least six months prior to being spread on organic land. Composting is a recommended practice for organic farming systems, as there is ample evidence that a good composting process effectively kills weed seeds and pathogens.
The wider sustainability issues that SOF are concerned with lead to the development of composting stable waste from Lambourn, green waste from a number of sources and coffee waste to proved a N source to balance the high C substrates of the other two waste streams.
The objectives of this report were to examine how the compost has been used on Sheepdrove and to make recommendations for 2003/04 applications.