These guidelines have identified many issues to consider when planning a poultry waste composting operation. Careful planning and process monitoring are the main keys to success. Avoid technology suppliers that promote solutions that appear ‘too good to be true’. Composting does not need to be a complex process, but at the same time, taking too many short cuts can have serious consequences to biosecurity and your licence to operate. We can briefly summarise the main steps as follows:
- Study the science of composting
- Make better decisions with sound knowledge
- Identify all relevant regulations
- Talk to your local EPA/regulatory agency and local government
- Develop a Compost Management Plan
- Plan for success
- Identify a suitable site for composting
- Is the site appropriate for the intended composting system and feedstock?
- Pay careful attention to site design
- No short-cuts
- Identify critical control points for composting
- Do not take short-cuts
- Establish a robust monitoring protocol
- Keep records to comply with regulations and to improve processes
- Take a consistent approach to process control
- You cannot improve what you cannot control. Avoid haphazard ‘management’.
