I buy turkey litter from the nearby Jennie-O Turkey "plant". They dumped the litter in piles in the fields last fall, intending to spread it then, but the weather was bad. They came back yesterday and spread it at a rate of 2.5 to 3 tons/acre. In the video I think there are 8 semi-loads. At 22 tons per load that's about 175 tons. I pay by the ton to have it spread. For the relatively small amount I need there's no way to justify buying my own spreader and loader. Unfortunately that means I need to wait for them to come and spread it. It was so wet this spring, even if I had my own equipment I couldn't have got out into the field any sooner.
Now, weather permitting, I'll work the litter into the top layer of soil using a field cultivator, killing any weeds at the same time. I'll follow that up by drilling, the same day, a mixture of red clover and oats. This is what I'll grow on these fields for the next two years as part of the transition to organic production. If all goes well, in the third year, 2021, I'll plant corn, which will be harvested as a certified organic crop in the fall of 2021.
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