PUFAs and GC bought compost.

Discussion in 'Allotments Discussion' started by Allex50, Dec 2, 2025 at 12:03 PM.

  1. NigelJ

    NigelJ Total Gardener

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    • Allotment Boy

      Allotment Boy Lifelong Allotmenteer

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      Use of human waste on farms was banned over 100 years ago in the UK due to public health issues. Prevention of TB, Cholera etc, was the reason. Now with heat treatment it may be OK again but I doubt it's use for food crops would be acceptable to the public. I know some councils used to make it available for non edible plants, a school friends father used it on his roses every year. Not sure of the situation nowadays.
       
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      • infradig

        infradig Total Gardener

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        I have never used this material but it is widely used on cereal land, especially where no livestock manure is available.It is regulated by the Environment Agency and requires special licence for storage. It is required to be incorporated (ploughed) within 24 hours of spreading.Contracts for vegetable crops usually exclude its use, not sure about potatoes. I have reason to believe it is permitted for grow bags but not ,I think in growing media compost.
         
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        • Adam I

          Adam I Super Gardener

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          Not manor farm, ages away. Only unusual as hes never done it before, at least not in my 26 years.

          Thanks for the info. I assumed the hay was dried with that herbicide, how else were the horses eating it? was it being sprayed on their grass fields or something?

          Hot fermentation can degrade drugs and hormones, and potentially some plastics, but heavy metals and really persistent things like pfas, yeah. And it could end up just super accumulating in our food chain, each year the fields get worse and worse.

          Solution to this is only to remove the source contamination! Anything to avoid the ultimate apocalypse: the slow building of a giant undegradable stinking pile of s-
           
        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          Pee is still the option in our garden :blue thumb:. When working out there we always pee on the compost heaps (don't take medication) but we are not overlooked by the neighbours :heehee: although next door's cat sometimes stands and watches!

          We make our own compost for use on the garden, sometimes mixed with bonfire ash, as we produce a considerable amount of grass, leaves and soft greenstuff (never use chemicals on the garden but can't claim to be totally organic as we are surrounded by farmers' fields where I'm sure there must be a little chemical drift). We don't put weeds on the compost heaps as we have lots of the rest so they go to the local council to compost. Our heaps don't get as hot as theirs although the bottom half of each heap does rot down sufficiently in 6 - 12 months. We don't add willow leaves (have plenty of them) as they take longer to rot but some of them are used if chopped up when mowing.

          For potting we buy in peat based composts. We used to use between 4,000 and 6,000 litres a year when we used to open our garden for charity, as we sold a lot of plants. We still get people wanting plants but need nowhere near as much.

          @Allex50 we buy Godwins peat based compost (they have their own peat beds) and it is quite a bit cheaper than peat free ones. They also sell peat free ones.
           
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          • Thevictorian

            Thevictorian Super Gardener

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            It's used to kill off anything that isn't hay/grass before its harvested for animal feed. I believe this is the biggest part of the problem because people don't know that the livestock was fed with it as it's very hard to trace. It's partly why I don't use manure down the allotment because several plot holders have bought in contaminated muck.
             
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            • Thevictorian

              Thevictorian Super Gardener

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              Sheep are a common sight around here browsing on brassica left overs. We are in sugar beet country and sheep do have a go at them as well but have to fend off the thousands of geese that come over for the winter. We have about 350,000 or so in the winter months grazing on sugar beet tops and leftover cereals. I'm sure their manure helps the fields.
               
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              • infradig

                infradig Total Gardener

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                Its the active in use for control of ragwort,thistles and other broadleaf weeds in grassland
                "Aminopyralid is sold under many brand names, primarily by Corteva Agriscience, for broadleaf weed control in pastures and rangelands, with key brands including Milestone, GrazonNext HL, DuraCor, Chaparral, Capstone, and TerraVue, often mixed with other herbicides like 2,4-D or triclopyr, and also appears in UK products like Banish, Forefront, and Garlon Ultra."
                It is a condition of sale that forage crops treated do not leave the holding.; but where there is a customer there is a willing supplier......
                 
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                • NigelJ

                  NigelJ Total Gardener

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                  Even if used on farm as forage any manure will be contaminated.
                   
                • pete

                  pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                  So does this weedkiller that finds its way into manure actually break down in time or is persistent.
                   
                • NigelJ

                  NigelJ Total Gardener

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                  Reminded me of a trip to Bulgaria in the early 2000's where getting towards the end of a two week trip water melon was served for breakfast; looked lovely but I don't like water melon. Others tucked in and by the end of the day severe diarrhoea affected the water melon munchers. On return to the UK one member of the trip got themselves tested and turned out to be shigella most likely from water melons irrigated with waste water from a sewage system.
                   
                • NigelJ

                  NigelJ Total Gardener

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                  • infradig

                    infradig Total Gardener

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                    It is stated to break down 'over time by action of soil organisms'. This implicates spreading on to soil, not just stockpiling in a heap.This would be subject to those organisms being alive and present in the growing medium/soil.. Chemical fertilisers as salts are toxic to such organisms; remediation to 'organic' status takes a minimum of 2 seasons, full recovery up to seven.Crop sensitivity varies; beans, tomato and peppers are especially sensitive to low concentrations of active.
                     
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                    • Adam I

                      Adam I Super Gardener

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                      I looked into biodegradability of pesticides including glyph, acetamiprid and some similar and they all varied a LOT depending on conditions, half lives ranging from a month to many years. Hard to say then
                       
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