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Texas Develops a Market for Composted Feedyard Manure by Jill J. Dunkel The state of Texas is in the manure business -- well, sort of. Two state government agencies, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) are working together to provide a market for composted manure. The project began by trying to decrease the amount of manure applied to farmland in impaired watershed areas. Water in these areas contained high levels of Phosphorus due to land application of manure. "If we found another use for compost from that area, less would be placed on cropland," says Scott McCoy, head of the Compost Initiative project for TNRCC. Enter TxDOT, who maintains thousands of miles of right of ways alongside state highways. "TxDOT was interested in placing compost on the right of ways to decrease the need for fertilizer and water," says McCoy. The two agencies got together and decided to try using feedyard and dairy compost on some of the right of ways. They started a demonstration plot in Big Spring, Texas, using feedyard manure blended with grass seed and wood chips, and spread the mixture on an overpass that hadn't grown grass in 30 years. Mix in a good, soaking rain a few days later, and in one month, the overpass was growing a good stand of grass. "The partnership between TxDOT and TNRCC is great," says McCoy. "Manure is not a waste. It is a valuable product. But we just developed a new market for that product. We're making a connection between two government agencies and one private industry to develop a new 'industry,'" says McCoy. The partnership has drawn a lot of attention from both other state and national agencies. McCoy has conducted sixteen composting workshops across the state, and this fall he has been invited to Washington, D.C. to inform a national audience about the benefits of this program. With the increased popularity of the project has come government funding, and presently the state pays for any hauling related to the compost project. "Dairies or feedyard operations within the Bosque and Leon Watersheds can now have their pens cleaned, and the manure is hauled to the composter at no charge," explains McCoy. Working with seven TxDOT districts, finished compost is utilized along Texas highways. The project allows TxDOT and other governmental agencies to receive a $5.00 per cubic yard reimbursement for the transport of the compost to its final location. Anyone can compost the manure -- not just a composting company -- but the compost must meet state set specifications for the program. Compost is put out for bid by government agency, like TxDOT, for both construction and maintenance projects. TxDOT has agreed to purchase 200,000 cubic yards over the next three years from the targeted watersheds. "I've seen it work so well," says McCoy. "Whether it's a right of way or a city's baseball field, the program works." Presently the program is not utilized state-wide. "This partnership between TxDOT and TNRCC is a great but slow one. Texas is a big state, and we initially focused on the problem watershed areas. But we're planning more work into the Texas panhandle, where there is a large concentration of feedyards and manure available." |
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