What Causes Crusting in Manure Pits and Lagoons, and How to Break It Up
Manure crust is cellulose fiber that stopped breaking down. Here is why crusts form, why agitation alone never fixes them, and what actually removes one.
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Resources
Practical guides on manure pit and lagoon management: why foam forms and why it is a flash fire hazard, what causes crusting, how much storage you lose to solids, how additives compare, and what confinement gases do to animals, people, and equipment.
Why Manure Pit Foam Forms, and Why It Is a Flash Fire Hazard
Foam in a deep pit traps methane under the slats. Here is why manure pit foam forms, what sets it off, and how to work a foaming pit without getting hurt.
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Getting more fertilizer value from manure: organic vs. ammonium nitrogen
Organic nitrogen has to be mineralized by soil biology before a crop can use it. Ammonium nitrogen is available now. Here is why the split on your manure test matters.
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Manure pit additives compared: biological vs. chemical vs. masking agents
A straight comparison of biological, chemical, and masking manure pit additives: what each one does to solids, odor, and crust, and how long the effect actually lasts.
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How Much Lagoon Storage Capacity Are You Actually Losing to Solids?
Settled solids quietly eat lagoon volume every year. Here is how to measure sludge depth, convert it to gallons, and figure what the lost capacity costs you.
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Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia in confinement: what the gases do to animals, people, and equipment
Hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide in confinement barns: where each one collects, what it does to animals and people, and how to work safely.
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Fly control in livestock facilities: treating the breeding surface instead of spraying adults
House flies and stable flies breed in the manure surface, not in the air. Why adulticides lose the race, and how to take the breeding substrate away.
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Cutting agitation and pumping time: what changes when solids liquefy
Agitation moves solids around. It does not remove them. Here is where your fuel, hours, and pump wear actually go, and what changes when the fiber digests.
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