On-Farm Composting Handbook (NRAES 54)

This 186 page publication (NRAES-54) was originally published by the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES, previously known as the Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service), a multi-university program in the Northeast US disbanded in 2011. Plant and Life Sciences Publishing (PALS) was subsequently formed to manage the NRAES catalog. Ceasing operations in 2018, PALS was a program of the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University. PALS assisted university faculty in publishing, marketing and distributing books for small farmers, gardeners, land owners, workshops, college courses, and consumers.Published in 1992, this book remains a staple in composting education programs. The 11 chapters cover: benefits and drawbacks of composting; the composting process; raw materials; composting methods; composting operations, management, site and environmental considerations, using compost, marketing agricultural compost, farm composting economics, and other options for waste management and composting. Fifty-five line drawings show equipment for feedstock handling, equipment for creating and turning windrows, site layout and construction, and compost application. It also contains 32 tables of useful information, a troubleshooting guide, and glossary. The book is intended for farmers, waste producers, environmental regulators, and public health officials