Recycled human waste on hay fields

[dcyrilc]

RIGHT! Way too dangerous for you to do . . . send your wife.:laughing:

Dear Lord, forgive me for that. . .

Ohhhh. Sure hope your wife doesn't get a chance to read over your shoulder today Jim.

That's one of those statements that makes you cringe while you laugh.

 

[sweettractors]

I think we are all concerned about the source of our food supply these days and rightly so. I would bet a big percentage of TBN posters and also my customers have a garden or buy produce from a local source, where crop history is a known factor. This trend has been going on for some years across this nation. Ken Sweet

 

[brin]

My Mrs. and I do not buy seafood from China or other foreign countries, we do not buy vegetables unless we are certain they are not from foreign countries. We will never ,ever use treated human sewage as fertilizer and especially if our government says it is OK..That would be a certain red flag...Most 3 rd world countries use human untreated fertilizer..not good and can kill you...!!!!

 

[CubMon]

My Mrs. and I do not buy seafood from China or other foreign countries, we do not buy vegetables unless we are certain they are not from foreign countries. We will never ,ever use treated human sewage as fertilizer and especially if our government says it is OK..That would be a certain red flag...Most 3 rd world countries use human untreated fertilizer..not good and can kill you...!!!!

I'll most certainly agree wholeheartedly with that Brin! It's the heavy metals, antibiotics and other drugs, and human borne lower gut parasites and worms that nasty humans excrete in third world untreated sewage used for plant nutrient. We in the USA are oblivious to what is really happening in our food. How about let's grind up that dead chicken or cow and feed it to the flock/herd for a food supplement?

My wife will go in tall grass but not in tall corn....she's afraid of those ****** deviant types stealing fresh ears :licking: in the tall corn.

Yes Lord, forgive Jim....for he don't mean it, really he don't....

 

[montyhp]

Surely it is composted. The traditional composting process cooks the waste (heck, I don't want to eat uncompsted cow or chicken manure either). They may be doing some chemical composting process that I am not aware of.

RE: lou gehrig's disease, the scientific process should tease this out. You may have heard that cellular phones cause brain cancer (my specific expertise), but from a weight of scientific evidence standpoint it is just not a supportable statement. Scientists will argue this and journalists will report the most "interesting" stuff, but not report the less interesting stuff.

So there may be a study showing an association between lou gehrig's and human waste, but that does not mean causation. Don't get too wrapped around the axle on that until someone like the National Academy of Science says it is true.

If you want to just use precaution on everything then don't go within 10 miles of your tractor because something bad could happen due to exhaust, diesel fuel exposure, vibrations through the seat, etc.

Montyhp

 

[Bird]

Yep, Monty, I don't blame anyone at all for not buying foreign food, but for me personally, (1) I figure if it was as bad as some think, why hasn't it thinned out the population in those countries (and yes I know there have been a few deaths from things like milk fortified with something that killed some children, and of course some of the people responsible were imprisoned and/or executed), and (2) I'm too old to worry about it. In other words, I don't sweat the small stuff, 'cause I know I've got a lot more days behind me than I have ahead of me.:laughing: Of course I'd rather buy things made and/or grown in the USA, but when that isn't feasible, I don't worry about buying foreign.

 

[300UGUY]

Local septic pumper was put out of business here last year, after admitting dumping 140K gallons on farm fields. Part of the problem here is runoff, especially in the winter, when the ground is frozen. Spreading on fields is now illegal here. One reason this guy got caught was that he was spreading on fields that were not his, and the owner's didn't want his sewage. One reason we get more regulations is that common sense isn't that common.

 

[Egon]

Unsure of my memory but seems a few years ago some vegetables, lettuce perhaps, that had been grown in California or Mexico that were contaminated with the ecoili bacteria and made some people ill. The cause was traced to using sewage for fertilizer if I recall rightly.

 

[montyhp]

Unsure of my memory but seems a few years ago some vegetables, lettuce perhaps, that had been grown in California or Mexico that were contaminated with the ecoili bacteria and made some people ill. The cause was traced to using sewage for fertilizer if I recall rightly.

Yes, I remember that too. Using uncomposted human waste is a no no.

Montyhp

 

[charlz]

Surely it is composted. The traditional composting process cooks the waste (heck, I don't want to eat uncompsted cow or chicken manure either). They may be doing some chemical composting process that I am not aware of.

I dunno, I was at a sewage treatment plant in CA one time. The sludge was simply conveyed out the wall and into the back of a waiting truck. In this case it was landfilled.

I do know the city of Boise 'recycles':

Biosolids/Twenty-Mile-South Farm

In their case it says the 'biosolids' are 'treated'.

 

[Duffster]

My original intent was to find out how many people thought it unusual for a fellow to refuse to feed hay to his mules because it was fertilzed with human waste.

Bluntly, I think the guy is off his rocker and must have more money than brains.

 

[jinman]

Bluntly, I think the guy is off his rocker and must have more money than brains.

:laughing: I think he's a bit obsessive, but hardly off his rocker. He's a great neighbor and cares a lot about his animals. He just can't get past his repulsion with human waste. I think there are lots of folks who share his disgust. Some of them can't even change their kid's diapers without throwing up.:confused2:

 

[aczlan]

It is interesting what will upset the stomachs of some people. My wife worked as a Dairy Herdsman for years and has no problem with being knee deep or covered in cow poop (in fact, our first Christmas after getting married, we went down and checked on the cows before opening any presents), but she cannot stand mucus. A snotty tissue will make her want to barf. As such, I get the snotty noses and she gets the poopy diapers (just kidding, we both do the poopy diapers and I get the snotty noses when I am home).

Aaron Z

 

[SPIKER]

from what I know on this is that the "TREATMENT" they talk about is generally pumping it into a large pond and aerating it pump in air or spray the sewage up into the air to give a lot of bacteria chance to dine on it. they eat the main stuff and the left overs is supposed to be treated. ya I wouldn't want it on MY food but food on the hay for horses mules is fine.

Ive looked at job offers in plants like this couldnt get past the smell though the $ was good. but not THAT good...

there are several Amish field in local area that have signs for the local sewage treatment plant (FERTALIZER) so I dont ever buy LOCAL food from those place... :x ya more of a thought but if the waste is not thoroughly treated then it is passing though to the fields it is sprayed on. I do think there are some laws coming that might prohibit its use on crop production fields and force to go to land fills which is common and is often used to TOP the land fill.

Like others said if often contains heavy metals and or condoms ect if the waste is not first cleaned of debris. main problem is the use of common storm sewer/waste drains all going through the treatment plant which adds more drain oil ect into the solid stuff.

mark

 

[jinman]

Ive looked at job offers in plants like this couldnt get past the smell though the $ was good. but not THAT good...

What's that old saying? Waste is a terrible thing to mind.:laughing:

 

[bdeboer]

Local septic pumper was put out of business here last year, after admitting dumping 140K gallons on farm fields. Part of the problem here is runoff, especially in the winter, when the ground is frozen. Spreading on fields is now illegal here. One reason this guy got caught was that he was spreading on fields that were not his, and the owner's didn't want his sewage. One reason we get more regulations is that common sense isn't that common.

One of the local pumpers here, purchased his own farm for this purpose after the nearby municipalities would no longer take it. He did say something about record keeping and seasonal restrictions on certain fields due to runoff. He also only grows hay so that he has more access to the fields.

 

[brin]

Everyone should see the danger in using human waste on the surface to grow anything...itis the run off that can get into the water table and flow onto other crops. We all have to beware of the dangers of antibiotics entering our bodies on a regular basis since when we really need them they will not be effective if our bodies have already become accustomed to them. Human sewage other than being disgusting contains medications or all types and you do not want to take any chance these second hand medications are entering your body not to mention the diseased contained in human sewage !!!!

 

[dmccarty]

We looked at some land years ago when we were property hunting that had had sludge applied to the fields. The sludge had been applied a few years before we saw the land and you could not see any sign. Or smell it either.

They were growing corn on the land when we saw it.

There was a disclosure about the sludge. I do remember heavy metals being a possibility. Using the sludge was regulated but I don't know how well the rules were enforced. I would think it would take quite a bit of sludge to have negatively effected the land we saw. Seems like there were two fields each about 25 acres. That is ALOT of land to cover in poo in any density.

I surely would not want to eat veggies off that land after the sludge had been applied.

Some one else beat us to the contract so we did not buy the land. It sure was pretty though.

Later,
Dan

 

[sweettractors]

Someone in the food chain, one way or another, ate the veggies off that 50 acres of corn. Ken Sweet

 

[CrownHawg]

I too agree that I would NEVER use human waste (treated or otherwise) on a food growing operation. BUT! Who here thinks there are no hormones, antibiotics or even pathogens in chicken litter? I know many folks who swear by it for gardens. Of course it is "seasoned", but the thought that chickens are somehow "cleaner" than humans has me perplexed.