Articles
USING A DRUM COMPOSTER TO PRODUCE COMPOST FROM CATTLE MANURE
One alternative is drum composting of manure, a method which is in use on ca. 80 farms in Finland.
Although the first prototypes were introduced to Finnish farms in the 1980s, this subject has not previously been reviewed.
In 1994, TTS Institute looked into the matter of users’ experiences of drum composters on farms by way of a mail questionnaire and farm visits.
Furthermore, the costs of drum composting were computed on the basis of farm data and information provided in the literature and compared to other manure treatment methods.
Peat was the most common binding material.
Some farmers mixed straw and/or wood shavings into peat.
The respondents estimated that the binding material amounted to ca. 0.8 – 1.5 times the volume of manure.
This mixture was kept in the drum for about a week, after which it was moved to a stockpile in the field or into a dung house.
One farmer out of two reported problems in the functioning of the drum composters, especially at first and during heavy frosts.
Most of the cases of malfunctioning involved the feeder and discharge conveyors or the functioning of the rotating equipment.
Odour problems also occurred.
Drum composting is considerably more expensive than slurry and bedding manure systems because of high costs of binding material, building, and machine use.
Composted manure is a marketable product, the sales incomes of which covers operating costs.
Despite some problems, 83% of respondents were satisfied with drum composting as a manure treatment method.