The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) and the New Jersey Composting Council (NJCC) are organizing two free events in July to promote NJ ManureLink. This initiative aims to connect farmers, composters, and users with local manure or compost resources through the website njmanurelink.rutgers.edu.
The first event is a webinar scheduled for July 10 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. It will cover composting basics, manure handling, nutrient management, and introduce participants to local technical and financial resources.
A second event, a field day on July 17 from 5 to 8 p.m., will take place at Copper Creek Landscape Management and Nursery in Kingwood, Hunterdon County. This session offers hands-on demonstrations of composting techniques and discussions on incorporating compost into various agricultural operations. The NJDA, NJCC, USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, among others, will assist with demonstration stations and answer questions.
Demonstration stations during the field day will focus on locating a composting site, developing recipes for composting materials like horse stall waste, measuring important criteria such as moisture content and temperature, reviewing curing time for finished composts, and providing an overview of nutrient management.
Both livestock farmers and urban farming producers are encouraged to attend these events. While there is no limit on webinar registration, field day attendance is capped at 45 participants.
Launched earlier this year, the NJ ManureLink website lists available manure and compost by geographic location within New Jersey. It also notifies users when their desired resources become available. This project assists farms with limited land capacity by distributing their manure to those who can utilize it effectively.
