Country Life
AgPhd Compost vs Manure #1074
Darren and Brian Hefty discuss the benefits and challenges of using both compost and manure fertilizer.
Cattle and hog manure an be spread fresh or it can be composted. In short, composted manure smells a lot less, and weights less due less water so you can spread more nutrient with less trips, but it takes a lot longer for the nutrients to be absorbed into the soil. Fresh manure delivers nutrients with a punch, especially liquid manures that get down in the soil or are injected with a drag line. Interesting, short video.
One chart shows just how badly Canadian wildfire smoke has fouled the air in Syracuse – syracuse.com
Breathing in wildfire smoke comparable to smoking 3 to 11 cigarettes a day | WSTM
Recent studies from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley have drawn comparisons between inhaling air pollution at certain AQI levels and smoking cigarettes. They mention although there are considerable differences in the specific chemicals found in wildfire smoke versus cigarette smoke, the comparison serves as a good analogy.
It's been approximated that someone who smokes a cigarette inhales about 22 micrograms of PM 2.5. PM 2.5 is what we use to measure the concentration of wildfire particulate matter in the atmosphere.
After further studies, 22 micrograms of PM 2.5 was then found to be equivalent to an AQI of 72 points after 24 hours of exposure. Using the calculator on the EPA's website, if you were to spend the next 24 hours outside in Central New York you'd expose yourself to air pollution as harmful as three cigarettes. And plugging in the current AQI of Ottawa, you'd be smoking a whopping 10.7 cigarettes!
New York air quality worst since 2002
New York is experiencing the worst effects from wildfires in over two decades, a state Department of Environmental Conservation official said at a virtual news conference Tuesday. Share 10 articles every 30 days with anyone — paywall-free! SHARE NOW
Margaret LaFarr, assistant director of the Division of Air Resources at the DEC, said air conditions have not been this bad since smoke from Canadian wildfires swept across the state in 2002.
“We are looking at an unprecedented fire season here — certainly unprecedented level of fire in the Canadian regions,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. “Today the sky is hazy. Visibility is terrible. And you can smell the smoke in the air.”
Syracuse’s air is the state’s most polluted right now by Canada wildfires haze – syracuse.com
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Central New York has the most polluted air in New York right now because of the thick haze of smoke from Canada wildfires.
That is expected to linger all day and likely into Wednesday as smoke streams in from fires in Quebec, the National Weather Service said.
An air quality alert has been issued for the second consecutive day. People with lung and cardiovascular problems are urged to stay indoors.
Schools across Central New York are keeping kids indoors and canceling outdoor activities. The Syracuse Fire Department is asking people not to call in a possible house fire simply if they smell smoke.
Onondaga County health officials urged residents to stay inside and close windows.
Cornfields make good neighbors. 🌽
If you want to live out in the country as I do eventually, I wouldn’t mind having a corn field or another farm field as a neighbor rather then a residential property. Great place to spot deer and wildlife, except for when a farmer is working the land, it is vacant and quiet. Sure, at times of year when manure and anhydrous ammonium is applied, it can be smelly, but cornfields don’t complain and aren’t bothered about what goes on your own land. Sometimes farmers work late into the night in fields, but it’s not an all year thing.
A cornfield ain’t going to complain about the smoke from your woodstove, your burn barrel or bonfire, they won’t care if you listen to music too loud, they don’t care if you leave a light on out back or make some noise when you have friends over. Cornfields don’t care about smelly livestock or your compost pile or your garden or your barking dog. Yes, you must respect private property, fence in your pigs and goats, and be fire safe, but the farmer just wants to grow his crop to feed his livestock, and if you leave him alone, he unlikely to bother you — and he probably does much on his land which you do on your own.