McGeary Compost

Most organic fertilizers on the market are composed entirely of sterilized or composted manure or use it as a base. The manure comes from confined animal operations that often generate much more manure than can be utilized on the farm that produces it. Despite the availability of manure in many areas there are restrictions on using manures to grow food crops making fertilizer a valuable tool. At McGeary we have never used manure for several reasons; for one we are located in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. This scenic farming region is comprised of dairy, poultry, and swine farms. We do not feel it makes sense to take excess manure from one farmer and try and sell it to another. Rather our goal is to produce fertilizers that can be used to compliment manure applications, and that will be superior to manure when used alone. One of the things we do to accomplish this is to create exceptional plant based compost at our composting facility. Our compost is a black earthy smelling material that we dry and grind prior to blending. Even though our plant materials contain no pathogens we ensure that our compost is maintained between 131 and 170 degrees F for at least 15 days during the composting process as is required by regulations. This is not to say that our compost is sterile, unlike the sterilized manure used in many fertilizers our compost is still biologically active. Once it comes into contact with water microbial activity resumes. Bacteria and fungi associated with composted soils have been shown to work as biocontrol agents that suppress plant pathogens. There are benefits to adding compost to soil in addition to increasing microbial activity including long term nutrient mineralization. Additions of compost helps maintain soil organic and humic contents. Maintaining soil organic matter provides for good structure and tilth. The benefits of our compost based fertilizers can be seen when they are used. In fertility trials our fertilizers consistently not only perform as well or better than our organic competitors, but with conventional fertilizers as well.