Manure

In January the farm slows down.  The laying hens' egg production tapers off, and the pigs are still a few months away from optimum weight.  Broiler chicks and young pigs won't arrive until the weather warms up.  Then things will start bustling.  But all winter long there is one farm product we have in abundance . . . manure.

The horses and chickens, of course, all produce substantial quantities of wonderful, potential fertilizer, but most prized of all is the pig manure. 
  

 

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Pigs convert food more efficiently than other livestock, growing from 30 pound weanlings to mature 250 pounders in about four months. But they do more. Each day one of our pasture grown pigs eats about 15 to 20 pounds of grain, grass, and fresh veggies, then distributes across the pig pasture 8 to 10 pounds of valuable manure. Rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, pig manure is an especially effective way to return nutrients to the soil.

When we want to open up new ground for cultivation, we send in the pigs.  The ultimate rototillers, they go to work rooting up, cultivating and fertilizing. Soon the ground will be free of weeds and well fertilized, ready to sow crops later on, and the pigs will be ready to move onto fresh new pasture.
Image courtesy of ourterrain.org