Horse manure is not solely seen as waste. It is seen as a resource or an opportunity by some gardeners, farmers and biogas companies. The degree of difficulty to find someone to take care of the horse manure, depends on location. It seems impossible in some places in Northen Sweden: Where the lack of viable options results in that horse manure is being put in unsuitable areas, just to get rid of it. The issue is the long distances to anywhere the horse manure can be used.
There seems to be an issue with connecting horse keepers and horse manure users. One farmer wanted horse manure but found the search for it too time consuming. A platform dedicated to creating these horse-manure-handling-connections could potentially increase the free of charge types of solutions.
The optimisation analysis could not find a way to distribute the manure without creating an excess of one or more nutrients (N, P or K) anywhere. A calculated excess of nutrients which could be for one or maybe for all of them (N, P and K), as manure contains a combination of them all. The results indicates that Sweden have too much nutrients compared to crop demand. Further clarifications on the situation in Sweden is needed as the optimisation model is based on assumptions and simplifications, but it indicates a surplus of nutrients. Having too much nutrients can contribute to further eutrophication.
If horse manure and manure in general were used for biogas and then distributed on the fields, it could contribute to the available energy and replace much of the mineral fertilisers used in Sweden. Making more mineral fertilisers available to parts of the world with nutrient shortages, potentially alleviating starvation.
So, I suggest further investigation of the nutrient balance in Sweden and the possibility to utilize more of the nutrients in the manure instead of mineral fertilizers. Combined with an investigation of the possibility to distribute the nutrient excess to countries with a nutrient deficiency.
Suggested improvements and actions:
- Creation of a contact forum regarding horse manure, targeted to horse manure users and horse keepers. Alternatively: use Facebook-groups for horse keepers in your specific area if you are looking for available horse manure.
- Look into the alternative to use the horse manure for biogas, even on the local facility. It would provide energy and increase its useability in farming.
- Using compost worms to shorten composting times of horse manure seems worth trying, if none of the species used turns out to be an invasive issue.
- Field keep the horses to get bedding free horse manure or make sure that the horse manure fully composts, it makes it more attractive for garden owners to use.
- Check the horse manure for pyralids using pyralid sensitive plants, to ensure garden owners that the horse manure is safe to use.
- Garden owners have to be careful not to overfertilize.
- Swapping to a straw-based bedding type, would make it possible for nutrient and carbon circulation (from field to horses, back to fields).
- Horse raise tracks could investigate their possibility to separate their clean bedding not usable for competing horses, from the one mixed with manure and urine. There could be a possibility to give or sell it to where it can be reused, either as bedding or for other things.
- Sweden’s nutrient balance and the possibility to use more of the nutrients in the manure instead of mineral fertilisers, could use further investigation. The investigation would preferably also look at the possibility to distribute the nutrient excess to countries with a nutrient deficiency.