Waste Management Workgroup Annual Meeting


Agenda

Waste Management Workgroup Meeting


Tuesday, June 18, 1996


The California Biosolids Conference to be held January 29-30 1997, in Sacramento. It is being organized by Stan Dean and Craig Lekven at the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility and co-sponsored by SAREP, Cal-EPA, CDFA and others. Andrew Chang is on the conference committee and I believe he and I will be working together to organize and identify speakers for one of the conference sessions. For more information people can contact Craig Lekven at (916)875-9000.

Organic Soil Amendments and Fertilizers. I haven't taken any steps to update this publication. At last year's meeting I think I said that I could take the lead on this project. With changes in my work and responsibilities here at SAREP over the last year, I am not in a position to take that role. If you can identify someone else to do it, I am ready to contribute to the review and publication process. I think Stuart, Blake, and Milt volunteered to help with this at last year's meeting.

Research Presentations:



ORGANIC MATTER AMENDMENTS

The Organic Matter Amendment Tour for Production Agriculture is your opportunity to view the diversity of this issue in Kern County. Interact with UC Farm Advisors and Specialists from all over the state as well as local growers and industry representatives as we tour field sites and production facilities. We will view the application of biosolids to cotton ground, high rate application of greenwaste compost in peaches, long-term rotational studies in alfalfa, garlic, and cotton, and greenwaste and manure composting facilities. The afternoon will conclude with field trial results and a question/answer session in the Kern County Agricultural Pavilion.

The State has required counties to decrease landfill inputs to 50% of 1990 levels by the year 2000. Municipalities and waste handlers have turned to agricultural lands as a means of spreading organic and mineral materials that have amendment value for crops; primarily greenwaste, sewage sludge, and to a lesser extent cogenerational flyash. This creates a subsidy for movement of this material at very low or no cost to growers. Kern County receives more than 500,000 tons/year of these materials, most of it imported from southern California. Most of this is greenwaste that is composted here. Sewage sludge is co-composted with greenwaste and also applied as fresh product.

Long term trials with composted greenwaste, sludge and flyash are currently underway to examine the agronomic benefit to soil structure and fertility in garlic, alfalfa, cotton, pistachios, almonds, and peaches.

SCHEDULE:
9:45-10.00 Board Buses at Kern Ag. Pavilion (Northeast to UCCE office)
10:00-10:50 Field Application of Biosolids by Pima- Gro on Cotton round
10:50-11:45 Greenwaste Compost in Peaches (Field Trial)
11:45-12:45 Lunch at Sycamore Canyon Golf Course
12:45-1:15 Greenwaste Compost in Alfalfa and Cotton (long-term field trials)
1:15-2:15 Community Recycling Greenwaste Compost yard Demonstration of Compost Processing, plastics separation, and field application
2:15-3:00 Hargis and Son's Manure & Gypsum Co-Composting Yard
3:00-4:30 Kern County Ag. Pavilion-Round Table
  • Results of Kern County Field Trials
  • Organic matter impacts on soil quality
  • What about heavy metals

Tour sponsored by: