Farm Business

[Kay/NC]

I posted this on the women's page this morning, too.  Thought it woud be fun to see what people have to know to be farmers in 2012:

Google Guru

Mike has decided that this is my new job description. 

This morning's question had to do with his new rotary composter.  He checks the temperature gauges on the machine several times a day, to make sure it gets off to a good start. 

The equipment dealer has been advising over the phone...really good support...and says our C/N ratio is better than most of his customers.  We started the machine up with thirty huge tubs of horse barn litter.  Most people use clean wood shavings, to mix with the mortalities. 

We got the horse poop cooking, then added his recommended startup proportions.  Most hog farmers have to use the purchased shavings for C to balance out the N of the pig carcasses.  We've been paying for a rendering truck to pick up deads daily for years.  Daughter's stables generate tons of horse stable cleanings, which have been set in piles in the woods to rot.  This machine solves two issues with one strategy. 

There is a fine tuning of how many times the 30-foot drum should turn in a day, from two to five turns.  Mike has been trying to get the temp of the composting process up, but you cannot let it go too high, or you actually kill off the composting  microorganisms. 

The machine is set to turn on schedule, to keep the pile inside aerated.  I have composted in one way or another for years, but mostly in static piles, not doing a lot of turning.  Composting actively is an amazing process, now that I read more about it. 

I thought I needed to drag out some of my Celsius to  Fahrenheit conversion memory data this morning, then said, "Well, just let me Google that."   Now, we know that when he gets his machine to 140 degrees F., he needs to add another turn per day, to keep the pile from cooking itself to death.  Too many turns, and the composting process is slowed down too much. 

I have said for years that the average person has no idea what a farmer has to know and do to raise food.  Frankly, I never thought I'd need to know the optimum temperature range for composting.  Mike used to challenge me with planter plate ratios as I was waking up in the morning...my math skills usually peak after lunchtime. 

What is the oddest tidbit of information or trivia you've had to learn, in order to do your job of feeding the world?