methods,” said Forge. “It could be that many other methods could induce the same sorts of benefits. It may not necessarily be unique to composts.”


Forge said the characteristics for compost must include material that is stable and well decomposed. A person can have a wide variety of organic wastes that can go into producing compost but the end product can vary, depending on the types of feedstocks that are used.


These include manures, prunings, municipal yard trimmings, kitchen wastes, food processing waste, old hay and wood mill waste.


Forge said an emerging trend is municipal diversion programs (green bin collection) as most major municipalities are


beneficially without messing up the nitrogen situation.”


Forge noted a couple of important


items for growers to consider before using


Salt and nitrogen content, as well as frequency of application are important to consider when using compost to build soil health.


adopting organic-diverse programs, where about 50 per cent of total waste is organic.


“All that organic material that ends up in landfills, it turns into methane and it’s a huge carbon footprint for the municipality so this is what’s driving it,” he said.


“The heat generation that is associated with true, proper composting kills contaminates such as weeds, insects, plant pathogens and most importantly, reduces the likelihood of fecal contamination in larger ecosystems.


“It makes the material safer to use directly on crops.


Forge pointed out that sometimes there is confusion in distinguishing between compost and manure or poorly composted manure. Composted manure already contains lower nitrogen levels but very little of that is in the form of ammonia because it has been converted to stable and organic forms of nitrogen. The carbon-to- nitrogen ratio is between 15 to 25 grams per kilogram of material as a result of the earlier decomposition process. This results in a product that releases nitrogen slowly once it has been incorporated into the soil. “If you’re using the compost as an amendment you’re able to put on a lot more of it without exceeding the nitrogen requirements of your crop,” said Forge. “It kind of gives you greater latitude for using it


18 British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2014


compost. The first is to consider the salt content of the


materials. “This is most often the problem that people get into whenever there is a problem with using their


compost,” he said,


adding compost should be tested for salt prior to its use.


The second item relates to nitrogen and establishing application rates.


“We’re often asked about


application rates relative to nitrogen content,” he said.


Work has been conducted using compost as a nitrogen fertilizer and in the case of stable compost most of the nitrogen is unable to decompose. In the first year between zero and 20 per cent of the total nitrogen content is released.


“In general, we’re starting to think


less about using composts as fertilizer and more just simply as soil amendments for soil health benefits,” said Forge. Nonetheless, the composts do have nitrogen in them and they will affect the availability of soil nitrogen in the long term.”


He recommends using compost for soil health and to consider salt content, the frequency of application and the overall cost. In addition, Forge advises having a nitrogen analysis performed on the compost. “Once you’ve done that, it’s important to go back in, do some calculations, talk with your specialist and see if you can get a guesstimate on the potentially available nitrogen. You might consider backing off on your fertilizer input on the basis of how much compost you put in,” said Forge.


Hank Markgraf, coordinator for this year’s convention said it was a very successful event which drew more than 300 participants. “A lot of local growers came and participated which was good,” he said. “We were able to show our part of the world to the rest of the world and I think that was good. The education sessions went really well. It flowed and I think a lot of people walked away with some take-home points and some key drivers for their own farms to start their own seasons.”


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