Wood ash

CORK

Member
I saw someone using this on their land recently. It’s burnt soft wood sawdust-chips from a large burner. It’s from a sawmill so nothing else is burnt with it.

Contains P&K apparently. 4-5tn/ha is spread on the land. It also has a liming effect.

Has anyone else used this in the past?

45812CD4-DBC8-46E5-AD3F-4792660B902B.jpeg
 

CORK

Member
It doesn't look very 'burnt' imo. I'd be careful it doesn't use nitrogen itself.
I agree, there does appear to be some larger chips in it, if I’m back there I’ll try a cut a few to see how they look inside.
There did seem to be a lot of well burnt small bits through it and it smells like it’s well burnt if you sniff it. There’s no smell when you’re beside the heap.
 
That had occurred to me too, I’ll chop a few bigger bits if I’m nearby to see how they look internally.

I know they co-fire powerstations up north with 'recycled' wood- the very same stuff is often used locally by farmers as a form of cattle bedding. This is timber that is shredded/ground into tiny pieces. All old timber rather than virgin material. You see trucks hauling it up and down the M5 a lot, but I've never seen the results of the actual burning. If it was being burnt alongside coal I'd be a bit more wary though as fly ash will contain heavy metals that were in the coal.
 

CORK

Member
I know they co-fire powerstations up north with 'recycled' wood- the very same stuff is often used locally by farmers as a form of cattle bedding. This is timber that is shredded/ground into tiny pieces. All old timber rather than virgin material. You see trucks hauling it up and down the M5 a lot, but I've never seen the results of the actual burning. If it was being burnt alongside coal I'd be a bit more wary though as fly ash will contain heavy metals that were in the coal.
I think this stuff does contain a level of Cadmium so rates have to be controlled.
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
Seems to be an awful lot of alternative organic matter,soil building waste products being spread. I do wonder if it’s actually that good if it contains even low levels of contaminates, I know we are all looking to save or have something fir nothing but has anyone seen any I’ll effects of theses after a few years. Reason I ask as I was offered the chance to have local sewage settlement pond waste spread for free this coming autumn,was given various nutrient numbers that were going to be applied but when I asked about heavy metals,waste oil, tampons and plastics it kinda went quiet.
 

CORK

Member
Looks like sewage filter chip or exhaust filter chip. Either of which will contain some nasty heavy metals. Certainly does not look like biochar or torrefied wood.
This stuff was definitely burnt. There’s a lot of combusted material through it. Not completely so though. I was there yesterday and had a second look. The smaller chips while looking quite intact are black right through. Some of the larger ones aren’t burnt right through. It’s from a sawmill that burns it for energy.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
What quantity is the mill talking about? A lab analysis would be safest. This side of the the Irish Sea, we would be talking about Environment Agency deployment licences if you wanted to stay on the right side of the law. PAS 110 is the standard for most wastes like this but many composts on higher testing frequencies would need to pass the PAS 100 standard to avoid a deployment licence. All mainland UK laboratories will know these standards and have approved test procedures.
 

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