New York City used their Humanure on Colorado crops

I just listened to this 22 minute story on how New York City shipped it's processed humanure to Colorado for use on field crops. The farmers were very happy with it but NYC stopped last year due to cost. Definetly worth listening to. I didn't realize that any modern cities have done this recently. The farmers said the praire dogs left their fields after application of the humanure so that relieved pest pressure. They also mentioned higher yields than before. I assume they were using chemical fertilizers before.

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/radiolab-new-york-poop-train-fertilizer-sewage.html

there are a few problems with that kind of humanure. Its not composted and its chemically treated. It also contains alot of things other than sh*t that people flush down the toilets that are considered environmental pollutants.

not this Colorado farm

edit to add- I too think humanure is a great solution to many problems. But the way it is done on a municipal level, and trucked across the continent sounds pretty poor. I feel like in Colorado we get all the crap goods that wont sell elsewhere. Now we get their poop too.

With 51% of the world population being Urban dwellers (79% in USA) this can be a positive development. Possibly in land reclamation or greening desert areas?

This coupled with education of not using harmful products and maybe fungal composting would help with toxins.

Edit: it would be nice if cities could manage their problems locally, too.

Adam Klaus wrote:not this Colorado farm

ditto.

although i think the humanure idea is a good one.

In the audio they mentioned that they add several different kinds of bacteria to the waste. I wonder if NYC was using a different process than the normal chemicals most cities use? Even with how they process the waste I wonder if it's still better than the chemical fertilizers conventional farmers are using now especially if it could be used local? Not that I would want it on my garden, lol.

Another engaging, entertaining, provocative 23 minutes from Radiolab. I will say rumors of dead horses and cows besides - I don't know how I like the sound of gophers and insects up and leaving coupled with no mention of blossoming beneficial life forms. The guy at the bio-digester didn't sound like someone to fool around with.

More New Yorkers@ 300 thoughts per second

[youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcSL2yN39JM [/youtube]

[youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XZUidbcwuc [/youtube]