Manure Exchange Programs

Today I learned that my county's Conservation District has a Manure Exchange. It consists of a contact list of farms that have more manure than they can use. The spreadsheet also says if the farm has a way to load the manure, how much is available at a time, and what kind of animal it comes from. They don't allow manures if certain toxins were used on the hay fed to the animals. A quick google search shows that many Conservation Districts in Oregon and Washington have similar programs.

Has anyone had an experience with a Manure Exchange? For my part there is a farm about a mile from my house that has a sign advertising free manure. So I have made several trips over there. It's always been straightforward. I go over when a farmhand is there. He fires up the Mahindra tractor and loads some manure into the back of a pickup. Then I bring it home and spread it by hand. My potatoes love it.

I do not have any experience in this but I am incredibly jealous.

I think its fabulous how simple yet effective the system is. How did you hear about your program? I'm curious how they advertised it to get both producers and takers.

They made a post on their Facebook page, which I follow. I had not heard about it before today, though it has been around since 2003.

It seems to me that most anyone could start a list like that. Maybe a local gardening club or a farm store. It doesn't have to be run by a big institution. Permies could probably host some in our regional forums for places that don't have a list yet.

The Clark County program also rents out a manure spreader. It costs $150 per week and they rent from Thursday to Thursday. It is ground driven, so just about any vehicle with a hitch can pull it.

Conservation District Manure Spreader

 

Our fairgrounds dumps all their manure into a mountain in the parking lot that anyone can shovel into all year round. The stuff is gold-my plants are growing themselves this year!