Compost for Farmers

Great Compost — it doesn’t just happen!

The benefits of compost are well known; early agriculturalists learned they could grow more with the addition of well-rotted manure. Today, we have a better understanding of how composted organic matter affects much more than just crop yield. It can alter the water infiltration rate while increasing the volume of available nutrients and the biological communities that make healthy soils. However, making high-quality on-farm compost and using it in a way that maximizes its benefits takes a bit of know-how and planning.

Join us Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, 9am-noon, for a workshop on Compost for Farmers at Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center, 10819 Carnation-Duvall Rd NE, Carnation, WA. You’ll learn what constitutes a high quality compost, how to make and apply it, as well as the lessons learned during WSU Extension’s extensive on-farm compost research trials. In addition, Oxbow Farm will share their experiences making and using compost along with a tour of the farm’s large, three-bin composting system.

Speakers include: Tamara Thomas, general manager of Terre-Source LLC of Mt. Vernon. Since 2002, Ms. Thomas has focused on organics recycling and composting, helping farms and businesses start and expand composting facilities around the northwest. A licensed environmental engineer, she has decades of experience on projects ranging from hazardous waste remediation to construction and geotechnical engineering investigation.

JB Bennis from the WSU Extension Compost Outreach Project will share the results and lessons learned during the last five years of on-farm compost trials conducted throughout Snohomish and King counties.