composting corn cobs

Hi All ; I find that whole cobs are slow to break down in the composter - so I have been cutting them into ~ 5 pieces with a big knife - it helps a bit - but I'm wondering if there is a better way - both in terms of composter efficiency and to ease the chore a bit. < my wife puts up several dozen in the freezer plus what we enjoy at the table > I wondered if a big old heavy duty meat grinder would handle them ? Would an old food processor stand up to the job ? Any other suggestions are welcome. John T.

Reply to
hubops
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Maybe a chipper like they use for small branches/etc ? Band saw or a miter saw ? Clamp a tube big enough to pass the cobs to your chop saw , holds the pieces without having your fingers too close to the blade . Might have to figger out a way to keep them from spinning though .

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Snag

Reply to
Terry Coombs

i have some pretty heavy duty pruners/loppers that will cut them easily enough, but more often i just bury them in a garden whole down deep enough that it doesn't matter how long it takes them to break down.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

Corn cobs take years to compost, so do corn husks... books on composting say not to bother. If you have a fireplace you can burn them and then sprinkle the ashes around your plants. I toss them in the woods... if you don't have a wooded area nearby simply bury them.

Reply to
penmart01

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought of using a lopper. .. maybe mount it on the work-mate and use it like a paper shear ? I wouldn't be bothered to dig a hole for a bushel of corn cobs - that's a big deep hole ! in my clay. .. and I would like to have the compost - not just dispose of them. Disposal is easy. John T.

Reply to
hubops

Thanks for thr reply - if I had more use for a chipper/shredder machine - that would work fine. The new/good ones are hundreds of dollars, and the cheap used ones are junk. I can't see myself putting a bushel of corn cobs through my shop tools - just imagine the wet messy clean-up afterwards ! John T.

Reply to
hubops

Thanks - my back-up is to feed the livestock at a nearby farm. They feed corn sileage through a TMR mixer. I was just hoping to use our household compost in our own compost bins

- rather than _drive them_ somewhere .. John T.

Reply to
hubops

Livestock wont eat cobs, nor will they eat corn stalks... farmers plow them into the ground. If you toss cobs into your yard birds will peck out the last specks of kernals but they won't eat the cobs. If you have a lot of corn cobs I strongly suggest you bury them. I toss corn cobs into the hedgerow where I dump Norway spruce cones from the wind break, the cones that drop where I mow get mowed with mulching blades on my 7' mower. I spent the day mowing from 10 AM till 6 PM, too tired to eat dinner, went the entire day without eating a bite... gotta do the mowing while the sun shines, been too much rain this year. I'll eat tomorrow.

Reply to
penmart01

I don't know where you farm, but around here corn sileage is everything from about 6 inches off the ground - chopped by the harvester and packed into bunker silos, leaving only stubble in the field. Cattle eat it - mixed with hay.

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John T.

Reply to
hubops

snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.ca wrote: ...

i keep worm bins, chop them into pieces and the worms and fungi eventually break them down.

but for a bunch of them at a time it would be easier for me to bury them as i usually keep a trench or hole going for garden debris. i don't waste any organic materials around here if i can help it. we have clay with a little sand. all the organic materials i can find and the worms do a great job in keeping the gardens going.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.ca wrote: ...

yep, obviously not someone who's been in the country...

songbird

Reply to
songbird

snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.ca wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com is an idiot.

Reply to
Carol Shenkenberger

snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.ca wrote in

Where I live in NYS (Northern Catskills) corn silage is not economically feasable, for that reason the dairy farmers shy away from the practice. In fact NYS has cut way back on dairy farming and are more into beef cattle and other livestock, especially horses, race horses specifically. I own some large acrerage that I lease to a cattle farmer, it's more profitable for him to grow organic hay, most of which he sells to the down state race tracks and to those who breed and winter race horses in this area. Growing corn for silage is not compatable with growing corn for human consumption, thereforethe vast majority of those who grown corn here chose to grow corn for human consumption... for silage much different equipment is required for planting and harvesting and then there's the storage problem. Here it's more economical to plow corn stalks under.

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"Corn silage yields less in New York compared with other dairy states.If New York dairy producers wish to remain competitive, corn silage yields and quality must inprove. The purpose of this study is to improve the management practices of New York corn silage producers, which should improve profitability of the New York dairy industry."

Most dairy farms in NYS have shut down many years ago... for one the Feds forced them out of business.

Reply to
penmart01

Here in southern Ontario some farmers have started to bail the corn stalks, when the whole corn plant is not harvested for silage.

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John T.

Reply to
hubops

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