Production and Marketing of Organic Fertilizer and Compost Manufactured at the Çamli Besicilik Composting and Pelletizing Facility

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1 Production and Marketing of Organic Fertilizer and Compost Manufactured at the Çamli Besicilik Composting and Pelletizing Facility Lewis M. Naylor Black & Veatch Corp. International Executive Service Corps Gaithersburg, MD Hasan Girenes Çamli Besicilik Izmir, Turkey Introduction The Çamli Besicilik animal husbandry and breeding facilities, established in 1987, in Kuyucak and Oren care for up to 18,000 beef animals and nearly two million turkeys each year. These are fed specialized diets to maximize weight gain and animal health. The purpose of this efficient operation is to provide animals for the Pinar Meat company which is part of the Yasar Group family of companies. A second essential activity that is maintained at the Çamli Besicilik animal farms is the environmentally sound and economically productive management of the up to 125,000 tons of manure produced by the animals each year. This quantity translates to as much as 342 tons, fresh weight, of manure each day. Handling this material proficiently and in an environmentally responsible manner, while operating in a positive cash flow mode is a daunting challenge. The manure management program consists of manure collection, composting, pelletizing the compost, and marketing the compost as well as the pellets to agricultural and horticultural farms. This well-coordinated plan backed by a remarkable vision is matched in only a few places on earth. Each week manure from the feed lots, holding pens, breeding facilities, and growing houses is collected and transported to the temporary storage and windrow composting facilities at Kuyucak and Oren farms. There the windrows are mechanically turned with Komptech Compost Turners (Austria) as water is added to enhance the composting process. After six to eight weeks the drying and composting process has slowed, and a white layer of fungi commonly forms, indicating the boundary where optimum growth conditions (moisture, aeration, and temperature) exist. The fungi are essential to the composting process, and their absence would greatly retard the composting process. In fact, their removal would be difficult. The dry compost can be screened through an 8 mm Çamli Besicilik: Organic Fertilizer Manufacturing and Marketing p. 1

2 trommel screen in preparation for further processing or direct marketing in bags or in bulk. If the screened compost is to be pelletized, the material is transported to short term covered concrete storage bunkers until it can be converted into dry (>90% dry matter) pellets. The pellets are placed into plastic bags that contain 25 kg or about 30 liters of material. The bags are stacked onto wooden pallets under cover until shipping to the customer. The entire process from manure collection until stacking the bags on pallets is handled in an efficient and economical manner. While external advisors and consultants have provided valuable assistance, the central responsibility of the success of this program has lain upon the shoulders of the Çamli Besicilik staff: the managers, the technical staff, and the operations staff. Scope The purpose of this project was to advise and assist Çamli Besicilik regarding manufacturing of organic fertilizer from the manure, and formulating and composting of the raw materials. Assistance with formulating the fertilizer with respect to minerals and trace elements for specific types of plants was also requested. Facility Operations Managers do things right. Leaders do the right things. Çamli management must be both conservative and progressive. While quick acceptance of bold new technologies and marketing schemes is unwise, the leaders should have a healthy disregard for what has not worked in the past. Quality Control. The composting process as now operated is appropriate for the purpose of production of compost for pelletizing and manufacturing an organic fertilizer. The Quality Control Laboratory located on site has the staff and analytical capability to monitor the quality of the organic fertilizer, and make process adjustments as necessary. Compost Chemical Properties. Over 30 sample of the compost were tested in the Çamli Quality Control Laboratory. From this data, the compost averages about 2.3% total nitrogen, 2.5% P 2 O 5, 3.7% K 2 O, a median ph of 7.8, E.C. of 7.5, and 72% organic matter. These are desirable properties for the compost. A typical bulk density of the compost is 450 kg/cu m (450 g/l), and of the pellets is 875 kg/cu m. The composition and bulk densities are similar to those of composts produced worldwide. Two additional analyses that would be of interest are: ammonia and nitrate. Nitrate and ammonia are immediately plant available forms of nitrogen. Plant available nitrogen enables the rapid green up or initial growth of a crop. Available nitrogen moieties such as ammonia and nitrate are water soluble and can be readily absorbed by the plant. Products of six of other producers of pelletized fertilizer products were tested in the Çamli Quality Control Laboratory as a quality comparison. The products were tested for Çamli Besicilik: Organic Fertilizer Manufacturing and Marketing p. 2

3 ph, electrical conductivity (E.C.), and salts. The values ranged from ph 5.86 to 8.36, E.C to 11.01, and salinity of 1.5 to In comparison the range for testing five Çamli compost samples over time was ph 7.16 to 8.45, E.C to 9.29, and salinity of 3.8 to 5.1. Thus, ph, E.C., and salinity of Çamli compost compares favorably with those products. Operations Turning and Water Addition. The composting operation requires formation of long windrows by dumping successive loads of manure with a width of about 3 m at the base and a depth of a little more than 1.5 m. Either a tractor drawn Komptech turner or a selfpowered over the top (Scarab style) turner is used to mix the manure and turn it completely. Water may be added during this turning process either using a water wagon or by attaching an 8 cm hose attached to a reel with a take-up mechanism to the selfpowered turner. The moisture content of the compost now produced averages 38% with a low of 19% and a high of 60%. The composting process is managed to maintain the higher moisture content for the first three weeks to maintain the composting process, and then allowed to drop for the last three or four weeks to dry the compost prior to pelletizing. Adequate moisture is essential to the composting process, and once the moisture content drops below 40%, the composting process is slowed. On the other hand, compost with more than 50% moisture does not screen well in a trommel screen, and the compost can plug the screen. Screening efficiency generally increases with lower moisture content. Furthermore, no more than 30% moisture is appropriate for pelletizing. Thus, moisture control is important to both the composting process and the screening and pelletizing operation. Temperature Control. The compost temperatures and moistures are satisfactory for the current product formulation. The temperatures now being achieved are least 55 degrees C for more than three days. These high temperatures are essential for the complete destruction of human and animal pathogens, and all weed seeds. Producing a pathogen and weed-free product is one of the strongest selling points of the compost. Ammonia. The sealed bags of the pellets when opened after being closed for some time have an ammonia odor. This odor can be either positive or negative depending on how it is perceived by the customer. Process adjustments such as adding bark or ammonia absorbing zeolite can minimize the ammonia odor release when in a bag. Thus, the compost process as now practiced is effective for manufacturing the pelletized organic fertilizer product. Adjustments in moisture, temperature, and turning to improve the stability of the compost would likely produce a somewhat different product. Product Marketing. The sole product now manufactured by Çamli Besicilik is the composted manure and pelletized organic fertilizer. The Çamli products BioFarm Organic Fertilizer and BioFarm Compost are different products and are marketed for different purposes. The Pellets are a more concentrated Çamli Besicilik: Organic Fertilizer Manufacturing and Marketing p. 3

4 source of plant nutrients, N-P-K, whereas the Compost can be used as a good source of organic matter for the soil. While both of these products possess plant nutrients and organic matter, each should be marketed for its own specialty. Comments on application of Pellets and Compost. If the pellets will be used as a fertilizer for small grains, then the pellets should be broadcast applied at fertilizer rates. These rates should be based on the present soil fertility (P 2 O 5 and K 2 O) and the previous manure applications on the field, and crop grown in previous years as well as for the current year. On the other hand, if the farmer or grower desires to enrich his entire field or greenhouse soil with organic matter, then the compost should be purchased for broadcast application, not the pellets. For both pellets and compost, broadcast application should precede any tillage and planting operation. The tillage will place the organic matter and plant nutrients within the soil rooting zone, will retain more of the volatile ammonia nitrogen, and these materials will be used more efficiently by the plant. Water must flow through the pellets in order to extract plant nutrients and carry these nutrients to the roots of the plant. Water also is required to enable the pellet to soften, activate the microbes naturally present, and physically break down the pellet. If the materials are surface applied after tillage and planting in a dry land farming area such as Ismir, inadequate moisture may fall to extract the plant nutrients from the pellets or compost lying on the surface. The only situation where compost application should follow tillage and planting is where the compost (not the pellets) will serve as a mulch to reduce moisture loss and help prevent weeds from growing. Pellets. The pellets are an important product with a high commercial value, but also a relatively high production cost. Not only must the product be derived from manure that has been composted, but it must also be pelletized and dried to about 10% moisture. This subsequent processing requires extra labor, a substantial capital and operating investment in equipment, and higher energy costs. The advantages of the pelletized product are its low moisture content, and hence its low bulk density per dry ton delivered to the customer. As a result, the marketing radius is increased as compared to the unpelletized compost. The pelletized product is easy to handle, store, and use for agricultural purposes. These are valuable qualities, but the price and sales quantity must justify the cost of production. Costs. Production of a less stabile product will lower composting costs as a consequence of less frequent turning and less water addition. This lower costs do help to offset the cost of production of the pellets. Two consequent benefits are a somewhat higher nitrogen content (including ammonia, an immediately available nitrogen source), and a drier product. The dry pellets contain greater nutrient density in terms of kg N, P, or K per kg of product (as delivered and used,) Both of these properties are beneficial to the manufacturing (screening) and selling of the pellets. Çamli Besicilik: Organic Fertilizer Manufacturing and Marketing p. 4

5 An additional benefit of the less well composted material is the production of a less stabile, more biodegradable product. Two characteristics that result from the more biodegradable product are the potential for odor generation in the product and more readily available nutrients, especially nitrogen. Biodegradability. The more biodegradable product carries all of the organic matter that is important to good soil tilth, but equally importantly the product will release its nitrogen more rapidly than a very well stabilized, well composted product. Some research has shown that young (less stabile) compost will result in better crop yields than the mature (more stabile) compost. Thus, there are good reasons to not produce an overly stabilized compost product that will be used in the manufacturing of pellets. Odors. Odor generation is likely in a poorly stabilized compost. However, drying the pelletized product will minimize formation of such odors so long as the product in the bag or in storage remains dry. New Organic Fertilizer Formulations. One of the objectives of this work was to develop different formulations for Organic Fertilizer based on the composted manure product and various additives. I have concluded that some, but not all, of these formulations are primarily for the purpose of marketing. A quick survey of the book Commercial Vegetable Production 2001 from Cornell University will reveal that that most recommendations for N-P-K fall into the range of 100 lbs per acre (about 90 kg/ha) of the active nutrient. The main variable is the amount of the nutrient already in the soil. In general if at least 90 kg/ha of available nitrogen is applied to the soil, the plant needs for the other nutrients will be met. Thus, an organic fertilizer with roughly equal amounts of each nutrient can be used on most plants and most soils. Marketing Opportunities While the BioFarm Pelletized Organic Fertilizer and BioFarm Compost are the principal composted manure derived materials marketed by Çamli, other marketing opportunities may exist. Compost Based Top Soil. Compost can be added to soil in a ratio of one part compost to two parts soil. A few experiments during my stay appear to indicate that the Çamli compost has a very low phytotoxicity under the conditions of the test. This is an important consideration as it suggests that the compost can be used in very close proximity to the plant roots and seeds during germination and early plant growth stages. The compost based top soil will have excellent growing capabilities with higher nutrients, organic matter, water holding capacity, greater porosity and lower bulk density, than the native soil. With proper handling and experimental basis, the compost may also be able to be used similar to peat as noted below. Experimental Use of Compost on Grass. Several brief experiments were performed to test the phytotoxicity of the pellets and compost. This involved only grass seeds and application to germinating grass. To test Çamli Besicilik: Organic Fertilizer Manufacturing and Marketing p. 5

6 the germination effect, pellets were mixed with soil in a 1 part pellet by volume to 5 parts soil, and a second experiment with one part of compost and two parts by volume of soil. These two well-mixed growing media were placed into a plastic bucket in the Çamli Quality Control Laboratory. A standard surface seeding rate was placed on the surface of both media. The media was carefully watered, and the container was covered with a damp newsprint. The media and newsprint paper were kept moist to maintain good germination conditions. The grass germinated well within one week in both containers. There was no yellowing or appearance of phytotoxicity to the grass in either of the experiments. A similar experiment was conducted on the newly seeded portion of the grass area adjacent to the Çamli Besicilik Laboratory. The compost was applied to a newly seeded area where grass was just beginning to germinate. The application rate was 0.5 cm, 1.0 cm, and 2.0 cm. All plots were watered daily. After one week, grass was growing the best in the 0.5 cm and 1.0 cm treatments. The application of 2.0 cm of compost tended to smother the germinating grass. However, even at the highest application rate, no blades of grass exhibited any yellowing or phytotoxicity. Thus, marketing of the BioFarm pellets as a lawn and garden fertilizer is recommended. Greenhouse Use of Pellets Substantial effort was applied to discover the most efficient and least costly way to use the BioFarm Pellet Organic Fertilizer for production of greenhouse crops. Broadcast application of the pellets after tillage and planting is would be costly for some growers. Thus, the Pellets must be treated specially as an organic fertilizer for each plant. Plus, this process must be acceptable physically and economically to the grower. Experimental work discussed above suggested that neither the compost nor the pellets appear to be phytotoxic when used as discussed above: maintain a moist condition and apply no more than one-third of the media as compost or one-sixth of the media as pellets. Higher utilization rates may be possible, but were not tested here. Applying pellets to greenhouse soils at the recommended rate to supply plant available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash would likely be too expensive for most greenhouse growers now using chicken manure or cow manure in bulk. The pellets will have to be applied to each individual plant as would be the case with any other fertilizer. If we target the Pelletized Organic Fertilizer to each plant, we can increase the nitrogen per plant while avoiding application of fertilizer on the non-productive soil surrounding the plant rooting area around the main stem. The greenhouses we visited indicated that plants are grown in rows about one meter wide, and the individual plants are alternated in any one row. If we assume a 1 m wide row, with the effective rooting area equal to a circle of 30 cm diameter, and the plants separated by 30 cm, we can determine the actual soil area occupied by the growing plant. The remaining area is in walkways, non-productive soil surrounding the growing plant, and other areas. While this area may not be appropriate for every greenhouse, Çamli Besicilik: Organic Fertilizer Manufacturing and Marketing p. 6

7 the indication is that a substantial soil surface area is not involved for a specific plant for plant rooting. The most logical location for placement for the pellets is under the plant. In this position, the fertility will be directly in the root zone, and water placed on the plant by hose, bucket or drip irrigation will or should flow to the roots and from there through the pellets. This water flowing through the pellets will encourage the release of plant nutrients and the physical breakdown of the pellets. As the plant grows, the roots will grow to the pellets and extract the nutrients from them and from the underlying and surrounding soil. The actual weight of pellets to be used per plant is 74 g of pellets per plant. Using a typical bulk density noted earlier, this weight would amount to 85 ml of pellets per plant, that is curiously the volume of the common tea cup used virtually everywhere in the country. The strategy for using the compost in this way for peat cups containing the plant grown from a seed would be to make a hole in the soil larger and deeper than the peat cup. The required quantity of pellets is placed in the hole. At least the equivalent tea cup of water should be placed on the pellets to initiate their activity and service as a fertilizer. A small quantity of soil may be placed on top of the pellets, perhaps one or two cm. The peat cup is then placed directly on top of the soil, more water is added, and more soil is placed around the peat pot to fill the hole completely. If more fertility is desired, some pellets can be placed around the sides of the peat container while backfilling soil. Water is again added to the plant making sure the peat fully absorbs water, and some flows through the peat cup into the underlying soil and pellets. This procedure should be considered experimental until fully tested by Çamli Extension and Research Staff with a cooperating farmer. The results must be recorded and corrections or adjustments made in the practice. While the focus for this procedure was cucumbers, trials should also be made for tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetable crops. Thus, while the focus of Çamli Besicilik is the production of the organic fertilizer pellets, other important products can be derived from the same production facility at relatively low or no additional cost. However, innovative marketing and use will promote the successful use of the Çamli BioFarm Organic Fertilizer. Çamli Besicilik: Organic Fertilizer Manufacturing and Marketing p. 7