Question Cow Manure Alabama-USA

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Feb 16, 2021
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Location
Massey, AL
Climate
Temperate (all seasons)
How long does cow manure need to "rest" before it's safe to use? I have a huge mixture of dry and fresh. I don't want it to burn my plants up. I will be planting between April 22-24 this year.
 

daveb

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Oct 22, 2020
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not sure but ive used fresh in compost heaps and used it after three months without any issues. A farm here has piles they do for gardeners and wont wont sell for use anything less then 3 to 5 months old. I personally would compost it so it heats up real well for no less then three month this will help kill off anything like bacteria of the e-coli family so less change of contamination to food crops plus the aging gets rid of the acid level of the manure so if you can apply it to soil 3 to 4 month before planting to let the sun bake it the UV will help kill off bacteria and microbes in soil will help break it down, then when ready to plant if it doesn't smell like manure not sticky like manure and more a crumbly texture you should be ok that's what i basically do but a bit longer , i put the muck out from stables on the garden in fall lightly break the top soil to mix it in at very top with tiller, then it sits over the winter to break down. ( muck out = straw - chaff - manure raked out of stalls )
 
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