They have a turning machine, but it was very cumbersome to use and they felt the windrows were unable to maintain high temperatures satisfactorily. John is also using a two bay in-vessel system. Time of composting in bays is about 6 weeks. Odors or flies do not appear to be a problem. Material is then re-mixed, allowed to air out in shallow beds and then screened and marketed either in bulk or bags.
Equipment used for most of the operation is farm equipment.
While the mix of materials going into compost piles varies from batch to batch, the finished product has similar appearances. In summary, I would note that the compost process is probably not being optimized from standpoint of throughput capacity, but is very efficient from the standpoint of controlling costs, minimizing odors and flies, producing a marketable product, and exporting nutrients off farm. Income from the operation is currently a small part of their revenue stream, but they hope to grow the business. Focus is on manure removal and marketing product. Initial use of manure from poultry operation was on own farm land.