Expanding Large-Scale Manure Composting Expertise in Illinois and Wisconsin

Short term goals of the Bi-state Equine group are: (1) to increase the awareness and best management practices for composting of our target audience stable owners/ landscapers in NE IL and SE WI; (2) Composting workshop teaching curriculum will be developed including handouts for participants; (3) Short and Long-term participant evaluations will be established to measure change in practices; (4) We have already created a Small Farms Manure Management website with information about how to compost manure, rules and regulations, and what to do with finished compost; (5) Our Manure Share website is about 15 months old and has almost 50 people signed up looking for manure and approximately 120 looking to get rid of excess of manure or compost statewide; (6) We will be setting up a gateway Composting web page to promote the workshops, links to the Small Farms Manure Management web page composting information and Manure Share websites. Both websites will be heavily promoted to workshop participants, along with our new ManureCentral web page. Workshop materials will also be posted at the website.

Longer term we would like to replicate this Bi-State Composting program and set up several composting demonstration sites elsewhere in the two states. Passage of Illinois SB-99 (composting rule changes) in the spring of 2009 has made it a little easier for facilities that compost landscape waste to compost manure and food waste allowing new opportunities for composting businesses.