Manure Management on a small acreage

[StarPattern]

While shopping for acreages, I’m also learning and educating myself about proper horse keeping, etc etc. I’m no stranger to horses, but have always boarded so I don’t really have the hands on knowledge of the finer aspects of manure management.

I worked at one barn that used a manure spreader - We would throw dirty shavings into the spreader and after stalls were done, we’d spread the shavings on the racetrack and harrow it.

Another barn had a dumpster dug into the side of a hill. We’d drag our wheelbarrows up the hill, tip them into the dumpster and a truck would come weekly to take it away. It was a gigantic dumpster.

My current boarding barn uses a bobcat to level the runs, effectively taking the worst of the manure out every week. Then, they harrow. The pastures are dragged every Monday/Tuesday and the grass in them is amazing. They have a manure pile that they compost and use to fill low spots in the property. It’s maybe not the most graceful solution, but it seems to work beautifully.

All of these barns had a lot more for space than SO and I are looking at. I don’t want to have a manure pile since we’ll be in a country residential area, but what is the best way to manage manure in such a small scale? My horses will be kept outside most of the time, but I’m also planning to build stalls into the garage so I might have dirty shavings occasionally. Personally, I like the dumpster idea, but I hear people will also buy/take manure for their gardens. I’m not much of a green thumb, so I have absolutely no use for the manure myself.

Any thoughts for me?

[Kati7095]

We have 5 1/2 acres with a 4 stall barn. 3 of the stalls get cleaned multiple times a day and we have a 3 yard dumpster from Waste Management (Florida). They come and empty it once a week. It costs $135/month. They also have a 2 yard dumpster available for $95/month.
We live in an equestrian community and spreading it is not an option with such little land. Some neighbors have piles, but I think the money is well worth it to have a clean barn/yard.

[SmartAlex]

You may luck out and find a serious gardener to take unrotted manure, but if you have a pile and a tractor with a loader to turn it regularly so it composts into pure “black gold”, you will have to fight the gardeners off with a stick.
If you go that route I’d recommend putting the pile on a concrete slab and making some sort of back wall to hep contain it and make turning it easier and tidier. For example, my compost area

Now that is sort of fancy because it is part of my garden area in a suburban setting not a farm setting for handling large daily quantities. We bring in manure (as rotted as we can get it) and continue to turn it with the loader until it is suitable compost.

[caper]

I am lucky we have a neighbour/retired now hobby farmer who takes it away for us. He spreads it on his fields. I currently have 8 horses. He had a backhoe and a dump truck. This summer we saw the pile leave. We try to remove it yearly now.

So lucky to have him as a neighbour. He takes it for FREE!

[ElementFarm]

In my experience, it’s very difficult/impossible to find people willing to take sufficient amounts away for free (especially ‘raw’, unmatured/uncomposted manure).

Your best bet is probably a dumpster. Since you’ll have minimal shavings mixed with the manure, you’ll be able to go with a smaller size or less frequent emptying than someone like Kati. The nice thing about having the manure taken away is that it does reduce your fly population!

You didn’t specify the number of horses or acres of pasture you’re looking for. For 2 horses in 3+ acres, and no shavings/stall mess, you might be able to just get away with dragging the field to break up the piles, then let it sit and get rained on while you rotate horses to next pasture. If you have more than 1 horse to 1.5 acres ratio, or soil considerations (really wet/boggy for example), or a small sacrifice area you are stuck with for months at a time (winter) then either a dumpster, or a pile, that you pay to have removed periodically, are your best bet for small scale/small acreage horse farms.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

[QUOTE=StarPattern;8952213]
While shopping for acreages, I’m also learning and educating myself about proper horse keeping, etc etc. I’m no stranger to horses, but have always boarded so I don’t really have the hands on knowledge of the finer aspects of manure management?[/QUOTE]

Depending on your local laws, there could be a significant difference in your daily life if you choose to comply fully depending on how you handle manure.

In my county, spreading manure requires a nutrient management plan and data to back up your notes. This gets time consuming and expensive, plus if you have more poop than acreage you could still have manure left over.

In any case, figure out your county’s laws and also their BMPs (Best Management Practices). The county conservation districts in my area have material ready and easy to read and understand on their websites. You’d be a fool to simply remain ignorant of what is requested of you, even if you can’t afford to comply completely.

Our county conservation district folks actually visited this fall and discussed things with my wife. (I was busy). I was quite wary of this but she attended a manure management workshop put on by them and they seemed pretty reasonable. So far, after the visit it seems they are reasonable. I’m sure it helps that we availed ourselves to the information they offered in advance and were not gruff about the whole “clean water” concept. I mean this seems fair to me, considering I don’t do what I’ve seen others do: spreading manure on a snowy driveway in winter (!?!?!), creating a big pile out back right next to the bank to the creek, etc.

I get our manure hauled out by a local farmer who mixes our manure with other compost material and spreads it on his fields. In my county, I need a manure management plan which basically documents this plan and does not require any data other than notes about how much was hauled out, and when.

Will you have a bobcat or tractor with a loader? This gives you more options without the backbreaking labor. We dump manure beside the pile and push it up with the tractor. Then when the farmer brings his dump truck we use the tractor to load it too. That said, not all farmers are looking to import nutrients - I consider myself lucky to be working with one.

Some observations about manure piles, as they are a necessary evil for many of us.

• They don’t stink like poop if you turn it regularly and keep the digestion going. They have an odor but IMHO it’s nothing like sewage or other manures.
• They must be located on a local high spot, so that rain water does not drain into it and leach out the nutrients.
• An improved floor (concrete) and covering (roof or durable tarp) help keep odors and things in control.
• Running the tractor around it will tear up the ground. It helps to locate it on very durable, dry soil or improved surface that can handle the abuse.
• Don’t scrape the bucket against the ground when pushing up the pile. You will create a low area before long.
• Know your tractor’s height under the bucket so that anyone who comes to pick up stuff can measure their trailer or dump bed. My current pick-up guy has a bed with sides just a few inches shorter than my tractor can reach - any closer and it would be a no-go.
• Locate your manure storage as far from drainage ditches, gullies, streams, or ponds as practical. If there is marsh or other dense plant matter along the way it’s better because these will help absorb the nutrients.
• It may be possible to deodorize / improve your compost by adding lime or other things to it. Like I said, if you turn it frequently the odor is not bad, and if you do more it may effectively be “gone”.

Dumpsters sure are convenient but they cost more money. You might need to empty your wheelbarrows into a tractor bucket or build a ramp to dump into one.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

[QUOTE=SmartAlex;8952289]
You may luck out and find a serious gardener to take unrotted manure, but if you have a pile and a tractor with a loader to turn it regularly so it composts into pure “black gold”, you will have to fight the gardeners off with a stick.[/QUOTE]

While this is sort of true, the average gardener shows up with a few empty buckets to fill and each person takes a little chunk of your time. If you have more than a couple horses, this never adds up.

Even if when a more serious gardener takes a couple of small trailer loads, it barely makes a dent in my pile.

[StarPattern]

At present time, I have two horses. Both are older and in the future, I may only have one horse and a donkey/goat/some other small companion type animal. But there will never be more than two horses because that is what the bylaw states I can have on that plot of land.

I don’t mind paying $100/month for a dumpster since we’ll also have normal house garbage to get rid of too. I will have a smaller John Deere type tractor to use and with the way my dad collects farm equipment, getting anything else is as simple as asking him to keep an eye out for X equipment.

In the particular area where we’re shopping, the land has a high water table and the soil itself is less fertile and more clay/sand based. When it gets wet, it stays wet and we average about 7 months of snow/winter weather. This summer, I think we have about a month of nice weather and the rest was rainy and gross. Mud everywhere.

[TheJenners]

I found someone who would take it, he runs a septic company and makes his own topsoil. So I bought a dump trailer, my monthly payment is about what you guys are paying for a dumpster, I load my dump trailer and haul it off approx once a month when it’s full. And now I also have a dump trailer for other tasks too, like hauling rock

[Pennywell_Bay]

[QUOTE=StarPattern;8952521]
At present time, I have two horses. Both are older and in the future, I may only have one horse and a donkey/goat/some other small companion type animal. But there will never be more than two horses because that is what the bylaw states I can have on that plot of land.

I don’t mind paying $100/month for a dumpster since we’ll also have normal house garbage to get rid of too. I will have a smaller John Deere type tractor to use and with the way my dad collects farm equipment, getting anything else is as simple as asking him to keep an eye out for X equipment.

In the particular area where we’re shopping, the land has a high water table and the soil itself is less fertile and more clay/sand based. When it gets wet, it stays wet and we average about 7 months of snow/winter weather. This summer, I think we have about a month of nice weather and the rest was rainy and gross. Mud everywhere.[/QUOTE]

I went from a larger farm to a smaller farmette. I use a dumpster and the cost is pretty reasonable. $ 30 rental a month plus $100 when they come and get it, which for me isn’t often.

I also keep a small manure pile (far from the barn, I get there w/ my tractor). I turn it, and use it for anything we may be doing around the house. Inevitably 1 or 2 people ask for manure- but don’t bank on it.

Also, in some areas you can’t use the manure dumpster for trash, either. Mine is manure only.

[AKB]

How much acreage will you have? We have 3 horses on 5 acres. Every week or two, we use the tractor loader to scoop up the manure pile and use it to fertilize trees. Our trees look great. Our horses are not locked in their stalls, so the manure pile is smaller than it would be if the horses were confined and using lots of shavings.

[Kareen]

Manure management is a key issue over here in Germany due to the gross issues we already have in parts of the country with nitrogen emissions from agricultural ‘hot spots’.
I’d try to avoid using wood shavings as the manure-shavings mix commonly referred to as ‘manure’ from horse-farms generally needs to be considered waste not manure. Not sure how nitrogen sensitive your area is but if you are in a residential area or close to one your regulations and emission control restrictions are probably higher than ours here in the German countryside.
If you had a place to properly rot it you could factually sell it as fertilizer but not the kind of manure you get from cleaning out stalles with wood shavings bedding. The wood is high in phosphorus and if you spread that onto any field it’s going to decrease not increase the fertility as it will also need a lot of chalk/lime to compensate for the pH-drop caused by the wood shavings going down.
You might be best advised to just pay someone to take it away for disposal on a regular basis.

[js]

I would either rent a dumpster or buy some kind of small utility trailer and haul it to the dump yourself. Composting is great but Kareen brings up some good points about how shavings effect the mix (which are often soaked in urine). Also, medications, wormer etc. that you might be giving your horses could also pass from them into the manure, gardener’s might not want some of those things in the manure they use if they are doing organic.

[Libby2563]

I have a small farm and went the dumpster route. There isn’t space to spread it and I didn’t want to have to deal with composting and trying to find takers. I’m lucky that there’s someone local who provides smaller homemade wooden dumpsters that are perfect for just a few horses, and hauls them off for $60 when they fill up. The fastest I’ve ever filled one is probably 3-4 weeks and I often go 6-8 weeks in summer, so it’s quite cost-effective. If you can find something like that, that’s what I would do. Many providers here only have enormous metal dumpsters but require monthly pickups at $100+ a pop regardless of how full they are so they don’t rot through. I hope my guy never goes out of business…

[SmartAlex]

[QUOTE=Kareen;8952789]
If you had a place to properly rot it you could factually sell it as fertilizer but not the kind of manure you get from cleaning out stalles with wood shavings bedding.[/QUOTE]

This reminds me: Back in the 80s I knew a couple who quit their jobs and went into full time manure production. And not rotted manure either. Fresh clean steaming road apples picked immediately from their immaculate stalls. Then they put it in fancy printed paper bags and sold it as “gourmet” manure.
I honestly don’t know how that turned out for them. But it was funny to hear about.

The only time I’ve heard about anyone wanting fresh manure is a person I knew who started her garden plants in a hot bed and she needed the fresh manure to generate the heat while it “cooked”. She’d come every spring and get two muck tubs of it. She’d even pick the stalls for it.

[ohiogreenbelt]

We compost ours for a year and then put it on the garden. Two horses on 5 acres.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

There are NO dumpster options in my area. Our garbage collector forbids manure and he’s the only one who comes to our area. I currently have 2 donkeys and 2-3 horses (one is away at the moment for a winter indoor). 9 acres. They live out 24x7 but I collect manure from the sheds and dry lots. I have one month of used shavings in my pile, from a stall-rest situation, but otherwise it is horse and chicken manure and a little hay.

I have two compost bins. I rent a skid steer every year to take care of big chores and the pile gets (better) stacked and turned with that. I plan to do raised beds as the composting is complete. FWIW I try not to put the wormer poo in the compost pile, I dump those loads for a couple weeks in the shelter belt. It really reduces in size after a year. I would like to get a manure spreader and spread the remaining compost on my lawn/fields, but I don’t think there will be any.

[farak]

We have 3 horses on 3 acres. We pick the two pastures daily after we bring the horses in for the the night and use a dump trailer to haul the pasture and stall waste to our county landfill about every 2 weeks - they don’t charge for that. We tried to find people and farms interested in taking it but had no luck. We also tried composting and spreading it but it didn’t break down fast enough with the amount of shavings in it. We had no good place to put a dumpster (plus the gentleman who would have provided it said that without a concrete slab he’d tear up our ground each month when emptying it) so we invested in the dump trailer and are very happy with it.

[Mukluk]

I have two on a property which including house is barely over an acre. I wish I could compost because it breaks down fast but the HOA doesn’t allow it. So I put the poop in small garbage cans and pay to have it hauled off weekly. If I had a truck I could do it myself.

[tpup]

We Gator our stall contents (shavings & manure) to lower part of our lot/property where it’s not visible to neighbors, and is furthest from them - we are rural but near a neighborhood and our lot is fairly sloped so we take it to the bottom. 2-3 times a year a local guy hauls it away to various places. I pick my fields intermittently but we are on 10 acres - about 6 pastured. I especially pick fields in spring/summer and do one good load in Fall before it gets cold. The guy we used charges about $250 total and this last time that covered 3 dump truck loads (he brings bobcat to load dump truck, takes it away and comes back for 2nd or 3rd load). It’s so worth it for us!! I don’t have spreading equipment. I’ve thought about composting the straight manure from fields but haven’t done that yet. It’s a freeing feeling when he comes and takes it all away