Converting Residual Livestock and Deer Bones into a Locally-Produced Char/Fertilizer Soil Enhancer and Measuring Benefits for Small Farms in Southeast Ohio

Commodities

• Fruits: persimmon
• Nuts: chestnuts, hazelnuts
• Animals: bovine, deer
• Animal Products: bone char, bone broth

Practices

• Animal Production: meat processing
• Crop Production: fertilizers

Problem

Our project seeks to address two main problems:

1. There is not currently a way for small producers to realize revenue from residual livestock bones derived from custom slaughter operations.

2. Soils in our region are poor and necessitate farmers to import fertilizers and other amendments from external sources; this is especially the case for reclaimed strip mined land, which is basically an unused resource that needs significant input and effort to be restored for agricultural purposes.

Our current approach to avoiding disposal fees for our bones processed at custom slaughtering facilities is to take them along with our processed meat and sell them as pet bones at our local farmers market.

Livestock production and farming in general is a marginal enterprise in our region of Ohio’s Appalachian hill country, so any new ways to generate revenue from available resources can enhance viability of farms in our area and for other small producers across the North Central region.

Solution

Our project proposes to investigate the use of pyrolized bones to bring back marginal soils for productive purposes. We will use a machine called an Exeter Charcoal Retort to convert our livestock bones into a locally-produced soil amendment that is rich in calcium and phosphorous. While developing a value-added product using our own residual livestock bones provided the initial impetus for our interest in bone char, we will also use deer bones on a seasonal basis since it may prove to be an important locally-available soil enhancement resource that would otherwise be landfilled.

We will undertake growing trials looking at potential improvements in survival and growth of hazelnuts, chinese chestnuts, and persimmons on reclaimed strip mined lands. We will plant half of our planting stock directly into the field in the spring, and plant the other half in pots for fall transplanting. In both cases, we will use different amounts of bone char mixed with the soil on site. Since one of our goals is to investigate the potential market for bone char in our region, we will also conduct growing trials in more common farming and gardening settings, for instance in raised beds for vegetables and salad greens. Our initial thinking is that the bone char will have a greater benefit in the particularly marginal conditions of strip mined settings, but we want to see how production is influenced in the other settings in case that also provides a market opportunity. While we will not be able to learn about actual production of the nuts on reclaimed mined land due to time constraints, for this project we are specifically interested in how the bone char may enhance survival and early growth of plantings during the particularly difficult time of establishment.

1. Investigate the use of pyrolized bones to bring back marginal soils for productive purposes.
2. Convert livestock bones into a locally-produced soil amendment that is rich in calcium and phosphorous.
3. Conduct growing trials looking at potential improvements in survival and growth of hazelnuts, Chinese chestnuts, and persimmons on reclaimed strip mined lands. We will plant half of our planting stock directly into the field in the spring, and plant the other half in pots for fall transplanting.  
4. Conduct growing trials in more common farming and gardening settings, for instance in raised beds for vegetables and salad greens.
5. Investigate the potential market for bone char in our region.