Why do they always put it on the field, I don’t get what it helps with and why can’t you use human faeces?
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Cow poop is mostly highly degraded plant material. It contains all the raw ingredients a plant needs to grow in a form that is highly absorbable and usable by the plant. If you think about it logically, there is a long evolutionary history of cows eating and pooping in the same field and it’s not unreasonable to imagine a system developed where cow poop became good for plants which in turn lead to more cows eating those plants, etc.
Human poop firstly contains a lot of things like fats, proteins, and meat-stuff that plants can’t use as easily. It’s also not degraded to a form that’s ready for plants even if it were, simply because our digestion processes are different. Finally, human waste is a prime method of spreading illnesses that effect humans (for example, thing of all the illnesses that make you shit your brains out, there’s a reason for that).
Not to say that human waste is absolutely unusable for anything. Properly processed and treated human waste can be turned into a fertilizer but that involves a lot more than just crapping in a cornfield.
Cows eat plants and break them down. They also convert some of these nutrients into others using science and stomach acid and stuff. Then they poop out nutrient rich and easily absorbed poop and the plants eat it. Doesn’t make much sense to me but I’m not a scientist. I know the conversion that happens inside has to do something. Otherwise I would think that if a plant is high in a nutrient, the cow eats it and either absorbs the nutrient, then the poop or worthless or doesn’t absorb it and then what was the point of the plant absorbing that nutrient at all if it just produces it. There’s no loss. Idk
Cow manure contains all the nutrients that the cow were unable to digest. Either because it takes a lot of time to digest it, such as long chain fat, fiber, cellulose and lignin, but bacteria, fungi and insects are able to digest it over a longer time and give it back to the plants. Or it is minerals which the cow does not need much of such as phosphorous but which the plants needs lots of.
When the manure is spread on the field the bacteria, fungi and various protozoa, worms, insect larvae, etc. start digesting the manure. This makes the nutrition more easily accessible so that plant roots can absorb it and make big strong plants. In addition all this soil life is able to better get nutrition from sand, clay or the air giving an additional boost to the plant nutrition.
You can use manure from any animal, including humans. And human feces is used as fertilizer to some limited extent. However pathogen causing diseases tends to stay within the same species. So if you use human excrement to fertilize a field then it might have pathogens which are harmful to humans. So you need to take some extra percussion.
There are elements to this question, so:
First, poop contains nitrogen, which is the main thing that growing crops removes from the soil. And it also degrades very quickly, releasing that nitrogen into the soil for the crops to use.
Second, we use cow poop because it is abundant and easy to collect (just go shovel the pen at a feed yard). Plus since cattle are herbivores with highly efficient digestive systems cow poop degrades even easier than most other types.
Third, we COULD use human poop, but there are several problems with doing so. First and foremost, human poop carries diseases that cow poop does not, such as cholera and E.coli. There have been breakouts of these diseases in third world countries directly caused by using human feces as fertilizer. But on top of that already bad enough problem, it doesn’t break down a quickly or release as much nitrogen as cow poop would because our digestive system simply aren’t as efficient as a bovine digestive system.
The first few comments have pointed out why cow manure is a lower disease risk, and why it is ideal for most crops, but human manure is usable with treatment. Your local hardware store probably sells [Milorganite](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Milorganite-Milorganite-32-lb-Bag/1000822132) Which is Milwaukee Organic Nitrogen- it is highly treated sewage solids make by the Milwaukee municipal sewage system, [people in the lawn care subreddit love it](https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/comments/ubzzqs/when_you_see_your_neighbor_unloading_like_15_bags/)
[Urine is fertilizer too.](https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/feeding-plants-with-urine.htm) The elements of life move in a flawless cycle. There is no waste in nature, resources are 100% recycled.
Cows poop is mostly plant fibre since that’s their diet. Think of it like mixing mulch into the soil. It’s a shot of nutrients enriching the soil.
Also, it’s a way some plants spread their seeds. Get eaten by a cow and then pooped out in a new place surrounded by a pile of fertilizer.
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