This community model demonstrates potential for partnerships between rural communities and livestock farmers to resolve common organic waste issues utilizing local resources.  The pilot project redirected industrial, commercial & institutional, and domestic organic (10 metric tonnes) from a small rural community to a livestock farm with 500 metric tonnes of chicken and hog manure.  These organic were processed through a windrow composting operation to assess possible economic, sustainability and environmental opportunities.  The discussion includes the animation process; waste assessments; establishing source separation and collection regimes; site requirements and permitting; windrow composting methods and management; problems and solutions; costs; uses of the finished compost; field trial results, market opportunities and potential adaptation in other rural communities.

John Cline, MBA in Applied Economics and an MS in Education are trained as a Systems Analyst and Designer and a Master Composter.  He is a worker owner and a principal in the consulting firm Amaranth Co-operative Enterprises, Ltd. and owner of Amaranth and Associates.  John is a trainer and developer of compost related educational programs. As a consultant, he designs and develops centralized windrow composting facilities for private sector firms and municipalities
 

Vernon Rodd is an MSc in Soil Science with a BSc in Biology and Chemistry. He is a Soil and Cereal Research Biologist with Agriculture Agri-Foods Canada at their Nappan Research Farm in Nova Scotia. Currently the main emphasis of his work is on improved sustainable utilization of organic (manure and compost) and inorganic nutrient sources in field crop production systems and increased utilization of dykeland soils in annual cropping systems.