Glacier FarmMedia – Hundreds of cattle in Brandon’s Keystone Centre Oct. 25-28 produced tens of thousands of plops, splats and manure splashes as livestock did their business in the barns, rings and hallways.
And thousands of times, the producers – especially young ones with little family rank – shovelled and forked the patties into manure carts that were emptied onto piles behind the centre.
Manitoba Ag Ex, one of three main fairs put on annually by the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, gets to handle the other details. The exhibition organizes the hauling of wood chips and straw bedding for the pens and tie-out areas and hauls out the piles of poop after the show is done.
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“It’s our biggest expense, by far,” said Dallas Johnston, Ag Ex show boss and long-time cattle producer from Brookdale, Man.
Ag Ex draws cattle from across Canada and they leave a titanic manure management job at the end of the event.
After the show wraps up, Johnston expects to see 120 tandem loads of manure hauled to the Brandon dump, where it will be composted.
That’s a lot of manure, but it doesn’t weigh a lot, being mostly straw and wood chips.
Getting that straw and wood chips has been another special delight this year, made more critical by fall 2023’s first major snowfall Oct. 25.
Johnston had just ordered another 40 round bales of straw after the storm hit overnight and saw the show’s 60-bale stockpile fall to just six by early Oct. 26.
Some of the costs are significant. The wood chips this year will cost about $6,800. Hauling the manure will cost about $10,000.
“If people look after their stall properly, that initial bedding can last about five days,” said Johnston, who has managed this manure issue for many years.
This year, on top of added demand created by snow, it’s harder to source the straw. Western Canada’s drought conditions of the last few years made it too valuable to donate.
Volunteers
Cattle-showing families might grumble and gripe about shovelling and forking manure and carrying it to the carts in the barn. But there are rare angels who actually volunteer to shovel the stuff. The show relies upon well-intentioned people to volunteer for manure-removal duty in hallways and show rings.
Are these sorts of people easy to find?
“No, but it’s a necessity,” said Johnston.
Sometimes a volunteer will realize it’s just too much.
“A couple of years ago a guy said, ‘I’m not doing this,’ and he left,” Johnston recalled.
But fortunately, there are enough people who respond to earnest entreaties to help, and the mess gets cleared every day.
– This article was originally published at The Western Producer.
