wood chip on the land

[farmer phil]

I know a lot of folk use wood chip / sawdust / pulverised timber for cattle bedding which ultimately gets spread on the land. Does anybody spread the stuff direct on the land without it first being used as bedding, and are there any likely disadvantages of it. Looking to use it as a soil improver, would get incorporated in with either Sumo or plough.

 

[Exfarmer]

locks up Nitrogen , makes the soil acid, would not do it by choice.

 

[nick...]

Big plus one @Exfarmer is correct
Nick...

 

[Irish NZ]

When were convert land from forestry to agricultural we spent a lot of time and money getting any wood off the land. Wouldn't recommend spreading it.

 

[Castle Farm]

I use a lot of woodchip as a mulch on the shrub and flower borders where I work and have done for years with no problems. With muck in it and if allowed to compost down I think it would be fine as a top dressing..People put poultry manure on around here and that has all sorts of nasties in it.

 

[renewablejohn]

We compost it in tonne bags for minimum 2 years then through steam sterilizer to make excellent compost media. Far to good to just spread on the land. Only use fresh chip on footpaths as it will supress and weaken weeds.

 

[Shep1]

I do it. When I clean out the sheds in Spring, mix the wood chip up with strawy cattle dung and pile it high. Spread it in Autumn, and you would hardly notice the chips.

It only locks up N when its rotting. The N is available again by the time I spread the dung. No problems at all

 

[Brisel]

It would be OK to spread if done thinly and incorporated but as above it locks up N and may be acidic (a bonus on high pH chalk).

 

[Will 1594]

Brisel. Used to put it on real thin sand along with pig muck just used to tip loads on field and push it about. Sometimes up to a foot thick it improved it over a few years from blowing dust into a reasonable soil and some on heavy to open it up. Ea rules now limit amount applied

 

[Farma Parma]

Talking to rep from LANCROP at a recent crop trials day & they were death on using anykind of sawdust on the land.
Just like others have said...
Any kind of Organic Manure is the best tho..

 

[caveman]

Have put down a bed of chip beside hard track to stack my silo bales on this year.
Probably put it in the bottom of the cattle yard in a year or two then it will end up being mixed and middened with the straw and muck that's on top of it after that.
It's delivered free to me as the guy collects more than he can sell but can't afford to stop taking it.
Just looking for ways to make full use of it whilst it deteriorates.

 

[Flat 10]

It would be OK to spread if done thinly and incorporated but as above it locks up N and may be acidic (a bonus on high pH chalk).

Shavings on chalk seems to work quite well

 

[Osca]

We compost it in tonne bags for minimum 2 years then through steam sterilizer to make excellent compost media. Far to good to just spread on the land. Only use fresh chip on footpaths as it will supress and weaken weeds.

How do you compost it in tonne bags, renewablejohn? How do you get it started and get it hot enough? Do you mix anything else with it?

 

[renewablejohn]

How do you compost it in tonne bags, renewablejohn? How do you get it started and get it hot enough? Do you mix anything else with it?

Just use fresh green chip and fill bags to overflowing. Lift and shake with excavator to make sure there compact. Also bags are ex tillage bags so have the spout hole in the base which allows them to drain. Initially made the mistake of using ex builders sand tonne bags but they held water and we ended with a slimy mess.
We mix and blend at the end using normal John Innes principals depending on the needs of the plant.

 

[Wastexprt]

Shredded waste wood can no longer be spread to land. It used to be able to go under the old exemption system from the EA but no longer. In the past I have done work on it and it had good results on bottomless sand.