Farmers turn to Sweet Peet for fertilizer

CORNWALL — Just when you thought Cornwall couldn’t find another way to go green, add to its efforts Sweet Peet.

The composted horse manure product is prized for the benefits it brings to the landscape — as well as for what it removes.  A limited-volume production site is currently being prepared at the top of Cream Hill, on the former Cream Hill Farm property.

When the Gold family sold the development rights to the dairy farm, and put much of it into conservation several years ago, they maintained a vision of finding ways to continue to promote agriculture on the land.

About three acres will now be used to compost large piles of manure and the wood shavings now used primarily for bedding in horse stables.

The Planning and Zoning Commission recently gave the project the go-ahead, determining that no special permit was needed. Ralph Gold told The Journal they applied for and received a driveway permit, and that the site will be monitored by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

That said, the operation serves the dual purpose of using a raw material that has become in itself a disposal issue. Litchfield County now has more horses than cows, Gold said. Unlike cow manure, waste from horses is not spread on planting fields. Horses only have one stomach. Seeds in the grain they eat pass through them intact and become well-fertilized weeds if left to their own devises. Some horse farms are buying swampy acreage where they can dump stall waste.

“Most are not large enough to have a dump site,� Gold said. “A lot of them are currently hauling manure and old bedding material to Bethlehem or Pawling for composting.�

The Staatsburg, N.Y.-based Sweet Peet company has a patent on a fairly simple process.  Piles are mounded and shaped to precise dimensional guidelines over clay-lined pits. They are sprayed with water, to release the tannins in the soft pine shavings. The fluid that drips into the pits is dark brown. It is collected and poured over the pile, staining it the same dark brown. Months of aging, including a thermal process that destroys weed seeds, turn it from acidic to alkaline, or what farmers call “sweet.â€�

The fertilizer value in Sweet Peet is not high, but it contains nitrogen, phosphates and potash that help regulate soil Ph, which in turn releases nutrients already in the soil. The biggest advantage, the company says, is that it is 100-percent organic (not all commercial mulches are) and has a significant nitrogen content. Many mulches draw nitrogen from the soil as they decompose, actually destroying the soil.

Since the product was endorsed by Martha Stewart on her television program, it has become much sought after, even at about $43 per bag. Much of it is bought by the loose truckload by landscapers.

Having a processing site here takes advantage of a local resource and offers a less expensive way to deal with it.

“That particular piece of property is not within the conservation area,� Gold said. “But even if it were, the easement allows for agricultural activities. I’m not sure if it’s written down anywhere, but the agricultural commissioner has said this use is definitely an agricultural one that fits. �

So, what might be the impacts on bucolic Cream Hill?

Less than when the dairy farm was operating, Gold said.

The DEP has limited material on-site to 5,000 cubic yards or less. That works out to about 200 standard dump-truck loads, but that doesn’t really apply to this process. Gold expects material will be brought in a little at a time, pretty much as it becomes available. He estimates two or three deliveries per week. As new material comes in, heavy equipment will be used to reshape piles. The nature of the process is that the material is left undisturbed most of the time. Months down the road, mulch will begin to be hauled out in batches.

As piles grow, they will be visible from Cream Hill Road. But the site is set back from the road, behind a tamarack grove and away from the long views up there. Gold visited a composting site in Bethlehem and said he expects the dark piles to fade into the background.

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