Items filtered by date: January 2017

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February 15, 2017

Ivermectin passed through in horse manure can harm environment unless composted

Ivermectin worming medication can pass through horses and kill beneficial insects in the environment.

This was the conclusion of a very careful study conducted by Cornell University 
 
This study found that fresh manure from horses wormed with invermectin killed beneficial insects.  Once the manure was composted to the heating stage (about 45 days) the invermectin was netralized and did no harm to beneficial insects.
 
Bottom line is that partially composting (45 days) or fully composting (180 days) removes any negative environmental impact of invermectin.   
 
Much better to spread either partially or fully composted horse manure on fields than fresh horse manure to eliminate the negative impact of the invermectin worming medication.

 

Published in Farm Stewardship Blog
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February 15, 2017

Persistent herbicides can negatively affect your composted manure.

Certain herbicides are used on hay that "persist," and can cause your composted manure to kill plants that it is used on.

What can I do as a horse farm owner/manager to reduce the risk of persistent herbicides in my horses’ manure and manure compost?

Ask your hay, straw and feed providers to confirm that the following products were not used in their products:

Tordon, Grazon, Access, Pathway – produced by Dow Agro Sciences and containing Picloram

Curtail, Redeem, R&P, Transline, Confront, Lontrel – produced by Dow Agro Sciences and containing Clopyralid

Milestone, Forefront, Chaparrel – produced by Dow Agro Sciences and containing Aminopyralid

Imprelis, Perspective, Viewpoint, Streamline – produced by Dupont and containing Aminocyclopyrachlor

Use your consumer power to eliminate these products from the food to manure chain and protect our valued compost.

Published in Farm Stewardship Blog
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February 13, 2017

Winter Farm Stewardship Meeting - Saturday, March 4th!

Published in Farm Stewardship Blog
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