Wood chip compost!

lostdog

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
I have been offered some untreated chipped willow.
It could well be a regular thing. We already compost our hop and grain store waste albeit a little haphazardly.

My question is would it be worth composting?

It could be mixed with fym or chicken muck even to help break it down.
Obviously we would have to charge to take it and we would fall under waste management regs which I haven't looked into yet but hope would not be too onerous or expensive.

Just keen to add add much organic matter back to the soil as possible really.

Any thoughts, am I Barking up the wrong tree?

P.s. Sorry couldn't resist that one
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
@360farmsupport understands the rules & regs of wood chip.

I used to take properly composted PAS100 green waste that had a lot of wood chip in it. Good stuff but needs to be spread thinly so it wouldn't lock up too much soil N as it decomposed. Mixing with manure would help but you'd lose a lot of N in the composting process. Excellent for organic matter though.
 

lostdog

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
We have access to chicken muck and thought that would take care of the N lock up.

Spreading chicken muck is fine but to utilise it properly it wants to go on in the spring and that comes with its issues. Its often quite damp in the spring and we're moving slowly to a dd system and running about with spreaders and the like in the spring might not be the best for compaction and the like.
Was thinking that compost would be a more balanced OM for the soil.
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
Do you turn it out just let breakdown by itself? Do you add anything to it?

Bag up in tonne builders bags but make sure you use the ones with the tie spout bottoms as it allows the compost to drain. Using ordinary builders bags you end up with a stinking mess. Just fill bag up then shake well with digger to firm and refill to top then store outside for 2 years and it will naturally decompose into lovely compost. We then mix as base compost in normal John Innes formula. For seedling compost we sieve and sterilize then add fertilizer and water retention gel.
 

Wastexprt

Member
BASIS
I have been offered some untreated chipped willow.
It could well be a regular thing. We already compost our hop and grain store waste albeit a little haphazardly.

My question is would it be worth composting?

It could be mixed with fym or chicken muck even to help break it down.
Obviously we would have to charge to take it and we would fall under waste management regs which I haven't looked into yet but hope would not be too onerous or expensive.

Just keen to add add much organic matter back to the soil as possible really.

Any thoughts, am I Barking up the wrong tree?

P.s. Sorry couldn't resist that one

What sort of volumes?
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
I have been offered some untreated chipped willow.
It could well be a regular thing. We already compost our hop and grain store waste albeit a little haphazardly.

My question is would it be worth composting?

It could be mixed with fym or chicken muck even to help break it down.
Obviously we would have to charge to take it and we would fall under waste management regs which I haven't looked into yet but hope would not be too onerous or expensive.

Just keen to add add much organic matter back to the soil as possible really.

Any thoughts, am I Barking up the wrong tree?

P.s. Sorry couldn't resist that one

Certainly barking up the wrong tree if you think you can keep it under the radar of the Environment Agency exemptions. Read VERY carefully what your allowed and not allowed to do in relation to collection, processing, and storage of waste within the EA rules. You will soon realise specific problems.

How do I make money if I cannot charge gate fees.
How do I get around the very low storage tonnage.
How do I get around the 12 month storage rules.
How do I control the waste run off from the woodchip.


Find a solution to all these problems and you may have a business.
 

Wastexprt

Member
BASIS
I hate being the harbinger of doom, but if the operation doesn't fit within the exemption framework (Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010), it will need to be permitted. As part of the permitting process it requires the following;
  • Planning permission
  • Permit (cost from £1670)
  • Environment Management System
  • WAMITAB qualification
  • Bioaerosol monitoring plan
  • If the operation requires a bespoke permit, the information required escalates, as does the application and annual subsistence charge.
 

lostdog

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
What sort of volumes?

Not enough to be worth complying with the regulations set out in your next post. I wouldn't want to try and get away with it, it's really not worth it. hadn't really thought of it as a business either. More an opportunity to add more OM to the soil for nowt! Or maybe a small return. I'll have a look at the regulations and see if I can make any sense of them. @360farmsupport I guess you might be the ones to ring?
 

Wastexprt

Member
BASIS
Not enough to be worth complying with the regulations set out in your next post. I wouldn't want to try and get away with it, it's really not worth it. hadn't really thought of it as a business either. More an opportunity to add more OM to the soil for nowt! Or maybe a small return. I'll have a look at the regulations and see if I can make any sense of them. @360farmsupport I guess you might be the ones to ring?

Certainly we can help. If you drop me a pm I'll send you my e-mail address.
 

lostdog

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
East Sussex
These regs are quite daft really aren't they. All I want to do is speed up a natural process and return it to the soil. They keep banging on about making our world more sustainable and capturing carbon and then they put a load of obstacles in the way that really mean it's only possible if your into it in a massive way. They were carting these chips to France ffs how can that make any sense! They would travel less than a mile to me!
 

Joe Boy

Member
Location
Essex
Defiantly take it if you make compost. It's invaluable as most farm waste is too high N to make good compost.

The wood chip calms the compost down so you can make better stuff and as you say, you are getting free OM for your soils.

You won't lose total N from composting you just lose ready available/leachable N for a more stable slow release form. Test before and after to see what's going on.
 

Wastexprt

Member
BASIS
These regs are quite daft really aren't they. All I want to do is speed up a natural process and return it to the soil. They keep banging on about making our world more sustainable and capturing carbon and then they put a load of obstacles in the way that really mean it's only possible if your into it in a massive way. They were carting these chips to France ffs how can that make any sense! They would travel less than a mile to me!

Tell me about it. I am currently doing a couple of Poultry permit variations and the stuff the EA need is getting more and more in depth by the day. I wonder how many of the units that produce chicken for Asda (and others) to import from Vietnam have a permit, let alone a Dust Management Plan, an Odour Management Plan, a Noise Management Plan and all the other stuff......

There's a balance to be had to make sure that all these things are done correctly, but at the moment it isn't tipped in the operators favour at all.
 

N.Yorks.

Member
Tell me about it. I am currently doing a couple of Poultry permit variations and the stuff the EA need is getting more and more in depth by the day. I wonder how many of the units that produce chicken for Asda (and others) to import from Vietnam have a permit, let alone a Dust Management Plan, an Odour Management Plan, a Noise Management Plan and all the other stuff......

There's a balance to be had to make sure that all these things are done correctly, but at the moment it isn't tipped in the operators favour at all.
If there weren't the hoops to jump through you wouldn't be very busy?;)
 

N.Yorks.

Member
I have been offered some untreated chipped willow.
It could well be a regular thing. We already compost our hop and grain store waste albeit a little haphazardly.

My question is would it be worth composting?

It could be mixed with fym or chicken muck even to help break it down.
Obviously we would have to charge to take it and we would fall under waste management regs which I haven't looked into yet but hope would not be too onerous or expensive.

Just keen to add add much organic matter back to the soil as possible really.

Any thoughts, am I Barking up the wrong tree?

P.s. Sorry couldn't resist that one
Can't you drop it into livestock sheds as a bedding material/moisture absorber with straw, so that it just ends up as part of the FYM? You can then muck out the sheds as normal with the wood chip already part of the FYM, which you just store in a 'suitable' location and turn as necessary to maintain oxygenation of the heap. It would then be probably classified as 'well rotted' FYM, which you'd analyses to make sure you understood the nutrient value and importantly the C:N ratio.

No further hassle, just need to comply with NVZ regs and Code of Good Agricultural Practice.
 

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