DAIRY COMPOST MAY ENRICH STEPHENVILLE LAWNS

STEPHENVILLE — The grass may be greener on the other side of some lawns in a Stephenville city park next summer as a result of using dairy waste compost.

Texas A&M horticulturist Dr. Nancy Roe, working with the city parks department, has spread composted dairy manure on an area of Jaycees Park. She is evaluating its effectiveness in keeping lawns healthy during the hot summer months.

“The city doesn’t water lawn expanses, so next summer when the grass is heat-stressed, we’ll be able to tell if the turf areas treated with compost stay green longer than the untreated parts,” said Roe. “Visible results usually show up when grass becomes stressed. This means the composted areas may not be obvious in the spring, when everything is emerging, but when mid- to late summer heat begins, we should be able to tell the difference.

Roe has another site at the Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Stephenville where she will compare results of no treatment to a lawn receiving the dairy compost.

“This new use of a by-product of Erath County’s active dairy industry has considerable potential to improve soils and turfgrass growth, not only here on our demonstration sites, but in other places too,” she said. “By next summer, we should be able to evaluate results. We really didn’t expect to see any results this fall. But, here at the center, because of the late arrival of cold weather, before it went dormant, the turf appeared greener where the compost was applied.

“The composting process gets rid of smells, weed seeds and disease organisms, so it’s a very nice product to work with. The amount needed is barely visible after spreading on the lawn, and it has no unpleasant odor that people often associate with manure.

“Compost increases the water-holding capacity of soils, adds slow release nutrients, helps prevent erosion and leaching of nutrients and even suppresses some plant diseases. It has far greater benefit to lawns than fertilizer. For example, its water- holding properties could reduce costs in lawn watering.

“Several companies in the dairy-producing counties around Stephenville are creating another force in the local economy using dairy manure. Most companies sell it in bags priced from $2.50 to $3.50, as well as by the cubic yard for people who want to load a pickup and apply compost to a larger area.”

The dairy manure compost used on this project was produced in nearby Dublin by Earth Perfect Compost. Cooperating in the compost project with the City of Stephenville and the Extension Service were Winrock International with a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wilcox Dairy Lot Cleaning Service. Their trucks delivered the compost and their drivers spread it.

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