Diane has 10 acres and 10+ animals (6 horses). Her animals have been wonderful company but create quite a mess with manure from 6 horses, 4 goats, 3 alpacas, and several guineas. Here’s how she deals with it:

Table of Contents

Tow & Collect + Small Manure Spreader: The Perfect Solution

1. manure collection

tow and collect used with a conestoga manure spreader used for pasture management

Diane collects manure with her ground driven Tow & Collect. This is a small piece that sweeps or collects manure piles into the bin as she drives overtop. The bin on her model holds roughly 10 cu. ft. of manure but may also bring some small debris like the grass clippings the pile has attracted. This collects in a 28” wide pattern, using a rotating brush to flick the chunks into the bin that easily cranks open for emptying. As the machine is ground driven off the wheels, she can easily pull it with her zero-turn lawn mower.

2. Compost The manure

pulling small manure spreader for pasture management

Once she’s collected a full hopper, she dumps it all in a compost bin to break down the raw poop chunks. This helps in killing some of the weed seeds and parasites, also breaking the manure down naturally so it’s composted and ready to apply on her meadow. By doing so, she creates a product better for her grassy surfaces with less smell, less straw, and less risk of harmful pests that are not helpful for grass or grazing. To top it off, the nitrogen is better prepared to absorb into her soil surfaces as it’s broken down further into smaller, more absorbent particles.

3. Reapply the manure

When applying composted animal manure, she spreads with her Conestoga CM-25, which is also ground drive, with about 25 cu. ft. capacity. Since her Tow & Collect is smaller in capacity and the process shrinks down the volume originally contained, she’s able to go for several weeks at a time, collecting and composting in her bin until she needs to spread the manure. This system allows her to apply a thin coating of manure over her surfaces to avoid killing the grass itself, an ideal process to run just prior to a rainy day to ensure her compost is absorbed quicker into her soil, sooner to help the grass, and less time sitting on top blocking any sun and air from the blades themselves. Manure piles choke out grass and allow weeds to surface, turning a once grazing pasture into a pitted field with dead spots, patchy grass and dusty, muddy areas. They also host bugs, possible disease, parasites and more harmful things that aren’t beneficial for horses, people or grass. With a large property, a farmer may have the space to rotate pastures, drag them with a harrow, or refurbish pastures according to a healthy growth cycle. On more compact spaces, grassy surfaces should be cared for and nurtured for cleaner space to roll, graze, and play.

With proper management, even a small acreage can support several animals by keeping the grass alive and healthy.

Conclusion On pasture management

Despite owning small equipment and no big farm machines, Diane runs several implements efficiently without hitching and unhitching every time she runs one. This is the power of ground driven equipment that can be pulled with anything compact from the barn. Each piece was selected due to its size and match to her previously owned mower, UTV, and tractor. The mower is quick and snappy for efficient manure picking, the UTV has power and traction to pull the heavy spreader, and her tractor has the exact loader width (48”) to efficiently load her spreader without spilling. All of which fit inside her gates, barn doors, and avoid compacting or rutting her pasture surfaces.

How many acres do you manage? Would you be able to run a similar process?

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