eli5 why does manure make good fertiliser if excrement is meant to be the bad parts and chemicals that the body cant use
In: 7183
Manure does two things, improve structure of the soil and adds nutrients.
Manure is mostly herbivore shit, and herbivores generally have a lot of fibers and carbon still in their poop and the poop is often blended with straw used as bedding for the animals. This makes the soil more of a sponge as both fiber and decaying straw keep a nice amount of water but also let acces water flow out. It makes clay less dense and makes sand less dry.
As for the nutrients, plants mainly need water and carbondioxide to grow, but also quite a bit of nitrogen. Animals dump out a lot of nitrogen in their pee. Plants also need phosporus, sulfur, potassium and a bunch of metals in small amounts. Animals eat plants and in their diets these elements are generally present to some degree, enough for new plants to grow and often more then the native soils. This is because of supplementairy feed, salt licks and accumulation of elements in animals.
Latest Answers