It seems like any of the "large scale" composting operations that I have seen, are usually composting manures, instead of "crops" (hay, vegetable parts, etc...) .
Here is a place in TN that sells what they call "Royal Soil", made from horse manure/bedding ...
[url]https://www.compostfarm.com[/url]
Black Kow manure is composted in huge windrows ...
[url]https://www.blackkow.com/_html/howitsmade.htm[/url]
R-Grow is composted "chicken wastes and wood shavings" ...
[url]https://www.rollinsfarms.com/rgrow.htm[/url]
All of those web sites show some pictures of their production processes. So, that might at least give you some ideas.
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gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
One good way to start a large scale composting operation would be to get a tree service business going as well. there are several around here that grind all the debris from tree take downs and sell as compost or mulch.
You would need to get a machine to aerate the compost. You could put an add in to collect yard waste and that could than become a business as well, people will pay to dump their yard waste as well.
There are so many variables here, I suggest starting off small, you could make money doing this. I have thought about this myself yet I don't have the land to do it on at this time.
Again start off small and you will learn the in's and out's of how to do it big time.
It would be really hard t sell compost unless you are getting HUGE amounts of C:N brought to you. There is no way you could do it with just what you have on your own land. Remember that a fresh compost pile will end up about 1/4 the size in the end as good rich humus.
Good luck
As stated elsewhere in this post, most people give away there horse manure and bedding. The place I go to almost pleads to me to fill up the truck when I only want a little bit.
You would need to get a machine to aerate the compost. You could put an add in to collect yard waste and that could than become a business as well, people will pay to dump their yard waste as well.
There are so many variables here, I suggest starting off small, you could make money doing this. I have thought about this myself yet I don't have the land to do it on at this time.
Again start off small and you will learn the in's and out's of how to do it big time.
It would be really hard t sell compost unless you are getting HUGE amounts of C:N brought to you. There is no way you could do it with just what you have on your own land. Remember that a fresh compost pile will end up about 1/4 the size in the end as good rich humus.
Good luck
As stated elsewhere in this post, most people give away there horse manure and bedding. The place I go to almost pleads to me to fill up the truck when I only want a little bit.
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Sage Hermit
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 532
- Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:20 pm
- Location: Finlaysen, MN Coniferous Forest
my friend is a chef down at a local eatery. He drops off a garbage bags worth of egg shells and all that kitches scraps stuff every week. I have to look at it but its an ice cube. I'm going to thaw out some and add all this to my piles. I think I got a spot thats innapropriate for large scale so I will be relocating the site. problem is its too close to the river and it drains heavily in the spring and is too close to where the horses drink from the ground up hill after rains. Poor horse's water was blocked when I got my property so I opened their access to water by cleaning a ditch of sticks and leaves. Horses like tomatoes! The horses jump their gate and come poop on my farm its no problem I scoop it all up. some goats ran in my old sauna hehe they were so cute.
there is a plenty of animal manuer in my area thats prolly free so I will get it. Lots of Pine needles and grass clippings. good ammount of leaves. organic kitchen scraps. Tree chips. What else do I really need? I want to see how much I can produce this year.
I still don't fully grasp this issue. Its more of a low tech small scale but it could become large scale.
there is a plenty of animal manuer in my area thats prolly free so I will get it. Lots of Pine needles and grass clippings. good ammount of leaves. organic kitchen scraps. Tree chips. What else do I really need? I want to see how much I can produce this year.
I still don't fully grasp this issue. Its more of a low tech small scale but it could become large scale.
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toxcrusadr
- Greener Thumb
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- Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:50 pm
- Location: MO
I think the road to large scale leads through small and medium scale. Keep practicing composting, and you will learn what works and what doesn't. You definitely want to make sure you have a good grasp of materials, mixing, and pile behavior, and the right equipment to handle the volume material at any given time. If things get ahead of you, there could be trouble.
Compost is a bulky, low-dollar product so the way people make money with it is to sell large volumes. Possibly a person could sell in smaller amounts, say at a farmer's market, by the bag, and turn a bigger profit per pound. Or through a network of friends and maybe on Craigslist. But usually it's large scale with big machines in order to make it viable. Not to discourage you, just ruminating about the industry.
One thing about runoff: consider making a berm downhill of your piles, constructed of high carbon material such as wood chips or sawdust. Large operations do this to capture runoff before it hits a waterway. Compost leachate, while very nutritious to plants, is very bad for streams because of the high organic content which translates into oxygen deprivation and fish kills.
Keep us posted!
Compost is a bulky, low-dollar product so the way people make money with it is to sell large volumes. Possibly a person could sell in smaller amounts, say at a farmer's market, by the bag, and turn a bigger profit per pound. Or through a network of friends and maybe on Craigslist. But usually it's large scale with big machines in order to make it viable. Not to discourage you, just ruminating about the industry.
One thing about runoff: consider making a berm downhill of your piles, constructed of high carbon material such as wood chips or sawdust. Large operations do this to capture runoff before it hits a waterway. Compost leachate, while very nutritious to plants, is very bad for streams because of the high organic content which translates into oxygen deprivation and fish kills.
Keep us posted!