Cow manure

[Forage420]

I'm fortunate enough to have access to cow manure on my allotment which I pay for.
I made the mistake of buying some last year and applying it as a mulch in November without digging it in, this caused the overwintering garlic to rot and the unrotted material has formed into hard crusty lumps on the surface of the soil, this made it difficult to sow into and I won't repeat that mistake again.

I would like to buy the stuff again this year because it is of sound quality and does not contain aminopyralid.
I would like to pile it up into one of my compost bays and apply it as a mulch in spring,which will mean it gets turned 2-3 times before then as I use a 4 bin rotation system, turning every few months.
I'm curious to know if this would work, as some people think that cow manure needs to sit for 2-3 years before it is fully composted.. I was hoping to reduce this to 6 months or so by turning. ..
Thoughts and experience are welcome

[veggiechicken]

You could cover your beds with cow manure, leave it to form a crust like a gigantic cow pat, and knock holes through it to plant things. Feed, weed suppressant and mulch all in one go.

..............this may not be the answer you're looking for!!

[Aberdeenplotter]

There's no doubt that turning the manure frequently will advance the composting process just simply by aerating the heap. How much it will accelarate the process though is anyone's guess. please let us know

[ESBkevin]

Composting will work. Try adding some part rotted/mature woodchip as you first stack it. the best woodchip is the stuff made now full of leaves and new twiggy growth rather than the winter chopped all solid timber type. You can even mix some regular compostable material at the begining. It will help in the breakdown, give a more balanced product as well as preventing large lumps sticking together.
Farmers drag a chain harrow across the field of cow pats to break them up and spread them, in case that gives you some ideas.

[1Bee]

We get cow manure delivered each spring, sometimes quite late. It's very raw, but fairly well mixed in with straw bedding. I do use some of it straight away, dug into planting holes for squashes etc, if I'm short of anything more composted. About half of it gets thrown into a large composting bay, covered with black polythene and left till the end of the season, sometimes with some added paper or added shredded newspaper.

I dug some of this out a couple of weeks ago, so it will have had about four ish months to 'mature'. It was so good I was making little involuntary squeaks of happiness when distributing it on the beds....! Dark, crumbly, quite dry but friable. It surprised me how quickly it converted.

The rest stays in its big soggy, stinking heap and I'll use it to mulch beds at the end of the season, either on top of cardboard, or under black plastic. I've never had the crusting/capping issue you've described but our manure does have a fair bit of bedding in it.

I know this doesn't exactly answer your question, but knowing other people's experiences helps us make good decisions, I think.

I think turning will help, but just piling up and cooking, while keeping covered from the rain, will also do the job, IMO.

Good luck!

[greenishfing]

I usually get a load of cow manure delivered each Autumn. It is fresh and stinky. I usually share it with a couple of close neighbours. It eventually gets moved to daleks and a compost bay. By the following Spring it is usually looking good. Some gets applied as a mulch, some is rotovated in and there is usually some left over.
I have now got so far in front most of what I use is 18 months old. I work on the theory that if the smell is nonexistent it is ready to use.

[Forage420]

Brilliant, thank you all so much for your views.
I'll post an update and progress photos in due course..