Onward: Composting refuse from CAFO's (poultry houses
especially). I think this is one of the scariest topics today. We're
going to see a huge problem with the waste from these operations
in the future. Already, the ground water surrounding many (in my
area) is contaminated. Chicken litter, spilled feeds, dead chickens,
everything is scraped out of the houses at the end of the feed
cycle, usually every 7 weeks between batches. This stuff is either
baled and compacted or turned into a slurry. Either way, it usually
ends up back on the land as 'compost'. The antibiotics in the feeds
(and now back in the soil) are mostly broken down, but residues do
survive.
I bought a load of hay for my horses and goats. Couldn't figure out
why nothing would eat it so I went to the grower to see how the hay
had been baled. He operates 8 broiler houses and said, well, the
grass was irrigated and WELL fertilized. I don't know any labs that
do the kind of tests I'd like to see, but I certainly would like to know
the residues of 'fertilizer' from the chicken scrapings that
transferred to the grass. Another scary scenario: I worked this
past summer at a local Medical Center, rewriting their hospital
procedure books. Many references to 'antibiotic-resistant strains'.
The hospitals are blaming doctors for overprescribing antibiotics in
general, but some background work revealed the patients who
showed the diseases with the most resistance had recently
consumed more poultry than normal.
And on a lighter note: The meat in compost: Yes, it may take too
long to break down, and 'coat' the rest of the compost but the real
reason is that most folk who garden in town share a fenceline or
two with someone else. If they put meat scraps in their compost, it
has the potential of drawing flies and all the neighborhood strays.
Since we live a mile from our neighbors, I have the luxury of being
able to make a compost pile out of whatever I want and still don't
like the idea of putting meat or fat or grease in my compost. I have
enough trouble with coyotes and skunks, I don't need to bait them.
(And yes I have BIG dogs, but the wildlife is either faster or
smarter, probably both.)
Martha, (Texas)
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/5505/index.html
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