ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service

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ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
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ATTRA Question of the Week

Is it safe to use manure on my vegetables?

K.D.
Florida

Answer: In general, it is best not to use raw manure on leafy green vegetables that will be harvested 60 days or less prior to application. The National Organic Standards requires a 120 day window for application of raw manure to harvest time.

Composting the manure is an option that makes the manure safer to handle, and provides a more stable nutrient source. If the manure that you use comes with bedding, the correct Carbon to Nitrogen ratio would exist for developing compost on your farm. A great deal of information on composting is available through our Farm-Scale Composting Resource List.

The ATTRA publication Manures for Organic Crop Production discusses specific procedures required by the National Organic Program, and gives in-depth safe manure handling recommendations, as well.

Posted: October 23, 2006

About the Question of the Week

Each "Question of the Week" is an actual research query submitted by a farmer or rancher and answered by an Agriculture Specialist from the USDA-funded ATTRA program, managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology.

For more information on sustainable agriculture, visit our "Publications and Resources" pages (located in the upper-left navigation area of the page), where you will find ATTRA publications and additional Web links.

Want to ask your own sustainable agriculture question? Then Ask a Sustainable Agriculture Expert.

ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and is funded under a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Visit the NCAT Web site for more information on our sustainable agriculture projects.

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