Been thinking of picking up a small manure spreader so I can spread horse manure on my pasture each time I clean the stalls. Better half thinks it's a bad idea as it won't breakdown quick enough and eventually our pasture (10 Acres) will be covered with manure and be unusable. I do understand her reasoning, but I think 3 or 4 wheelbarrow loads of manure spread in different areas a couple of times a week will breakdown before it does any damage. What say all of you?

docgj 

We use a Kubota RTV with a hydraulic dump bed to haul manure to the fields. This happens about twice a week, with less than 1K# on each load. Every couple of weeks I take the tractor out and drag the piles with the back blade, spreading the manure into a few inch thick covering.

Within a week or so, the grass will grow through the manure and usually after the first rain, the manure will almost disappear. The area in which it was spread will grow grass much more thick and tall than the areas not treated. Once a year we take a soil sample to our 4H facility for testing. We are then told how many pounds of lime per acre are necessary, to provide the best ratio for the fertilizer.

In another posting, I was just told this may no longer be possible to do. I'll have to further research this issue .

Thanks gard! I see you are also from pa. I'm in north central pa. I also saw the comment on the other thread. With all the natural gas drilling happening in my area...I find it difficult to beleive that we will see any enforcement. I did do some checking on the other post. If I remember correctly we only have to have a plan on how we are spreading it(Nothing to file with the state). The regulations are on the number of horses/animals you have. I have six horses and only have to have a plan. Let me know how your research goes.

docgj

I found this power point show for all us Pa. people.

1. pacd.org/webfresh/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/EquineNM.ppt

It appears from this that most of us would consider an AO (animal operation) No approvals needed. Just need to be aware of distance to a stream and manure.

Please post any more information you might find.

docgj

I have a small pasture right behind that the house that I frequently bring the horses over leave them for short periods, like a week or two.  It has grass and I don't want 4 horses to turn it into mud,

I usually take my ridding lawn mower and mow the entire pasture ( it's only 1/2 acre) every two weeks.  The horses prefer to eat the young grass vs if I let the grass get taller and older. In the process of mowing, I pretty much break up and spread any manure.  Of course horses have their favorite potty spots and the manure may be too heavy in those spots for the mower to really spread.  And since the mower is set at it's highest setting, Some of the caked manure goes under the blades and doesn't get spread.  So I have a flexible tine harrow that I drag across the area after mowing to break up that manure and to spread out any wads of mowed grass.

If you can break up the road apples into the finer fibers they disappear very quickly.

In my other dry lot where the horses stay most of the time. I take my skid loader and just scope up the manure periodically and put it in a pile.  Every week I turn the pile with the skid loader.  With in 5-6 weeks it turns into wonderful compost that my neighbors love for their gardens.

As I said in the other post, the county extension office has experienced budget cuts, but is supposed to get all of this additional work done, besides. It is hard to imagine much enforcement by the DEP. Unless, of course, it is seen as a new source of revenue, going out and fining all of us for non-compliance!!

Yes we do use wood chip bedding. Guess I didn't think about them breaking down. It's been suggested we put lime on each load as we spread it. Anyone have thoughts on this?

docgj