Composting with the No-Turn Method

What can you do with all of that leftover hay, manure and vegetation that you keep cleaning out of your cattle areas (I.e. round bale areas or shelters?) Make compost that can be used all over your farm. For example, compost is great for improving your pastures, gardens, flowerbeds and much more. You have already paid for hay, and all that went into making that cow manure, so why not capitalize on your investment! If you are looking for a fantastic composting style that does not require heavy machinery, then you have found your method below.

This No Turn method has been a huge success at Walnut Springs Ranch. Included below, is a pictorial description of the process.

Compost bins constructed with purchased materials. They are very durable and have lasted indefinitely.

Walnut Springs cleans out their Dexter barn everyday throughout the winter months. The hay and manure is placed in homemade compost bins. Each bin holds approximately one cubic yard of material. The bins have significantly increased the composting capacity, and have vastly simplified it by reducing the necessity to turn the pile to get it finished. The bins are filled throughout the winter, and do nothing else until August. At that time, the bin is slide up and off of the pile, and placed next to the pile. Next the aged pile is run through a chipper-shredder, to finely grind down the material. The product is shoveled back into the bin to rest a little longer. By the time November/December arrive, it is time to turn the compost in the garden and the compost is completely finished, with a wonderful texture that really improves the soil.

The bins made below are very large bins. The length of the welded wire in the photo is approximately 15 feet.

When it is joined together into a circle, it holds approximately one cubic yard of material, which will hold approximately one month of barn cleaning from 12 Dexters of various ages. However, the wire can be shorter for a smaller bin, or longer to hold even more. The height of the wire is about 4 feet. The size of the wire holes is 1” x 2”. They purchase the wire by the roll from our local lumber yard, as it is cheaper that way.

You, too, can purchase the “woven geotextile fabric” from many online vendors, including Home Depot, Amazon, but you may also find it at your local landscape supply yard. Note that geotextile fabric is different from “weed barrier” that is sold at Home Depot (weed barrier deteriorates very rapidly, while geotextile fabric will outlive us all). Use aluminum electric fence wire to attach the fabric to the welded wire, as the aluminum wire won’t rust. It is a light gauge wire, as that is all that is needed. Next, use a hole punch to create holes in the fabric, and then weaves the wire through the holes. Alternatively you can use a soldering iron to melt holes in the fabric, as it seals the weave as it melts the hole.

On this particular ranch, a “MacKissic Mighty Mac 12P” chipper shredder is used to grind the composted material into a final form. It is a messy operation, and takes a while, but worth it in the end. Walnut Springs believes the Mighty Mac is probably the very best chipper shredder on the market, as it is well built and easy to maintain, and it has a large open hopper on the top that makes is easy to get the material down into the shredder. Many other brands have a much smaller hopper, and thus will require much longer to get the work done, and will clog more easily. The Mighty Mac costs more initially, but it pays for itself in the long run.

We thank Walnut Springs for sharing their process. We appreciate the willingness to share new ideas, experience and creativity, which helps us all be more successful in our agricultural journey.