Food Plots Horse Manure Compost

[maclet24]

We've got a couple horses, and stack and compost their manure when they're in the paddock. I had rented a skid steer to do some heavy lifting on a new food plot I've been working on building out of the timber for the last year, and figured while I had it I might as well move the giant pile of compost out to my standing food plot behind my house and use it there.

I never hear anyone talk about compost or manure in general when it comes to food plots. Probably because it's a giant pain in the rear, but I'm pretty excited to see the results either way. I hope I didn't waste my time shoveling compost/spreading it all afternoon across my 1/4 acre plot. I'm not sure if I'll notice any difference at all, if it'll make a big difference, or what though. It's all no-till, I'm not sure if that makes any real difference.

Is there any conventional manure compost wisdom with food plots?

 

[DoubleRidge]

We use horse compost and chicken litter compost both in the garden and it absolutely makes a difference. The one warning with horse compost is you could introduce some weed seeds that were not killed in the composting process. But for me the benifits outweigh the risk.

 

[Popcorn]

Manure is always a plus, it's not the same as compost. Compost has gone thru a heat to kill seeds and been turned to introduce oxygen to prevent bad microbes from taking over.
Horse manure is low nitrogen but good organic matter due to the fact that horses have a poor digestive system. If you can incorporate it by some method you will get more out of it. A cultipack, aerator or a drag even.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Manure is always a plus, it's not the same as compost. Compost has gone thru a heat to kill seeds and been turned to introduce oxygen to prevent bad microbes from taking over.
Horse manure is low nitrogen but good organic matter due to the fact that horses have a poor digestive system. If you can incorporate it by some method you will get more out of it. A cultipack, aerator or a drag even.

When I say "horse compost" Im talking about piles of horse manure, old hay, etc thats been drug out of barn and piled up 5 to 6 foot tall...it sits for 1 year minimum....it gets hot and breaks down.
Turning occasionally and after a year its dark and rich with no stink...nothing but an earthy smell...Then we have a three bay compost bin that all our garden and vegetable scrap along with chicken litter goes in...after a year or so this gets blended with the horse compost and it goes on the raised beds.....sorry to side track main topic, guess I should jump over to the gardening page.

 

[maclet24]

Yeah, there is more in it than just manure. There is hay, straw, coffee grounds, eggs, table scrap veggies. Sometimes I'll throw some leaves in there from around the house, or small sticks. It typically sits for a year, and depending on how much exercise I want I'll turn it a few times. That being said it is mostly manure.

There is still some of the later hay that didn't get broke down so I do expect some grass seeds to take. I'll try to keep an eye on it, and manage those grasses as they come up.

I just dumped loads all around the plot, and then used a drag harrow behind my atv to spread it out. Areas where I dig up stumps I've been filling those holes left with it as well around the plot. I focused heavily on dumping around spots that don't grow as well.

Since I was doing that I dumped my piles out, broadcast my summer seeds (beans, lablab, buckwheat, sunflowers), dragged to spread the compost/get the seed to the ground/lay the rye+clover down, and then sprayed gly.

 

[redblood]

that should work. it will add organic matter and some nitrogen

 

[deerhunter10]

The biggest thing is where do you get your hay from and do they spray it? Other then that you're good to go.

 

[Popcorn]

When I say "horse compost" Im talking about piles of horse manure, old hay, etc thats been drug out of barn and piled up 5 to 6 foot tall...it sits for 1 year minimum....it gets hot and breaks down.
Turning occasionally and after a year its dark and rich with no stink...nothing but an earthy smell...Then we have a three bay compost bin that all our garden and vegetable scrap along with chicken litter goes in...after a year or so this gets blended with the horse compost and it goes on the raised beds.....sorry to side track main topic, guess I should jump over to the gardening page.

View attachment 319951

That's some great stuff right there!

 

[DoubleRidge]

That's some great stuff right there!

When younger we rode horses. Now with busier schedules they are basically lawn ornaments or pets. We still like having them around....but atleast they do contribute to the gardening process!

 

[kevin mays]

Be very careful with manure from horses.
I use to grow 15,000 sq bales of horse hay . Orchard grass.
To get what my customers expected quality wise I used an herbicide called Grazon Next. As do many farmers.
It has residual that last in the manure. So be careful and understand what the hay was treated with and do research before using the manure on plots.
I have heard many stories of the manure killing gardens for several years

 

[maclet24]

Be very careful with manure from horses.
I use to grow 15,000 sq bales of horse hay . Orchard grass.
To get what my customers expected quality wise I used an herbicide called Grazon Next. As do many farmers.
It has residual that last in the manure. So be careful and understand what the hay was treated with and do research before using the manure on plots.
I have heard many stories of the manure killing gardens for several years

Well that will be a question I start asking. What types of spray do they use on their hay fields…

I have no idea at this point, and it's already spread. If they had Grazon that persisted what exactly is that targeting?

Would I expect my soybeans, buckwheat, sun flowers, and clovers to fail if it was in there?
For fall, it's unlikely to affected grains like rye, wheat, and oats?

 

[MickThompson]

If you're truly testing it, you need a control that you don't apply the compost on

 

[deerhunter10]

Well that will be a question I start asking. What types of spray do they use on their hay fields…

I have no idea at this point, and it's already spread. If they had Grazon that persisted what exactly is that targeting?

Would I expect my soybeans, buckwheat, sun flowers, and clovers to fail if it was in there?
For fall, it's unlikely to affected grains like rye, wheat, and oats?

We tell our hay customers that we spray. your suppose to. The bad part of horse quality hay that everyone wants is it takes pesticides to make it. We spray duracor and it will kill all of those sunflowers, beans clover its a broadleaf killer. Very similar to grazon.

 

[backyardtndeer]

The one warning with horse compost is you could introduce some weed seeds that were not killed in the composting process.

This would also be my concern. I usually scoop manure from around where I feed our cows hay and cut that into my garden. We know we are going to have weeds in the garden though, unavoidable.

 

[kevin mays]

Your hay herbicides target broadleaves .

 

[maclet24]

Okay, so if my summer broadleaf come up then I dodged the bullet from the heavy hay sprays, and that's something I can look out for when buying hay.

If they fail, I'll try to plant something like sorghum, and go in with rye in the fall.

No harm no foul. I do get a lot of deer using that little plot, but it's just a 1/4 acre plot 300 yards behind my house. Gives me a place to go sit before and after work to when I have limited time.