Can I Use Bagged Manure in Compost Tea
Doug says
Here's an interesting question to consider if you want to do this.
Let's answer the compost question first because there is indeed real compost being sold and it should be fine if produced properly. It may not be totally organic but hey, if you can't make it yourself, then this is probably pretty good stuff.
Bagged manure on the other hand is a cow of a different color. This comes from feedlots and not from your friendly neighborhood farm. Cattle are fed a variety of growth hormones and antibiotics as part of their normal diet in this factory farms.
These antibiotics can kill the good bacteria and fungal strains along with the bad bacteria in your compost tea and will defeat the purpose of compost tea (which is to add good bacteria and fungus to the soil)
Also, it is highly probable that there is e-coli in this bagged manure (resistant or not targetted by the antibiotics) . And if you do not make tea properly, all you'll be doing is increasing the amount of e-coli and other pathogens on your garden. The odds are that nothing will happen because of this but what the heck - why take the chance. It won't help your garden to apply pathogens so why do it.
That's the long answer - properly made compost from a garden center is acceptable but bagged manure is not.
As an aside - there is no difference between bags that show cattle and bags that show sheep on the labelling - it's all cow manure (they don't have sheep feedlots to produce all that manure) :-)
Click here if you have a question about bagged manure or compost tea?
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