When I moved here in 2012, it was a delight to be surrounded by countryside after a life in central London. Just across the road at the end of the street was a large open-style pig farm, with the pigs living in little huts spread around huge fields. At the other end of the road were farms growing Oil Seed Rape, and other crops. We soon got used to being held up behind tractors, and combine harvesters in season.
One thing we didn’t really get used to was the smell of fertiliser, when the weather was warm, and the wind in a certain direction. As it seemed to originate close to the nearby town of Dereham to the south of Beetley, we nicknamed this ‘The Dereham Pong’. Presuming it was conventional manure, and obviously the chance that it was commercial fertiliser instead, it became something to tolerate for a while, as the recently harvested fields were fertilised and turned over ready for the next sowing season. Not being country people, we often found it all quite amusing, as we had to quickly close the windows when it got really ‘bad’.
Imagine our surpise when the farm-worker husband of one of Julie’s work colleagues told us it was human waste being spread on the fields.
It even had a name, ‘Humanure’.
Small wonder the smell is so bad.
Humanure should be composted to be used safely. If it’s composted properly it becomes totally safe and doesn’t smell at all. I’ve seen some great small scale humanure systems that were amazingly well managed and never smelled.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, you’re right. The fact this smells so bad suggests that it is not being treated correctly.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is terrible. I seriously doubt it is a thing over here, otherwise the press and environmental activists would be up in arms. But then again, what lays on the farm stays on the farm?
LikeLiked by 1 person
It must be legal and safe, Jennie. Otherwise the EU would never have allowed it, and we are not out of that yet.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it must be. My, my. Best to you, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I’ll PASS on that produce Pete!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They supposedly only use it on seed plants grown for oils, but I know what you mean.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
that is disgusting..
LikeLiked by 2 people
It has gone on for a long time, and as I understand it, is not used on crops we buy as vegetables to eat, mainly for oils and biofuel..
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That, my friend, is disgusting.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Lucliky, it is only for a short time. And I don’t have to see it, only smell it.
Thanks, Maggie.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 2 people
We have the delights of the cattle manure next to us, it usually isn’t too bad and given I’m in the garden a lot I am pretty immune to it. Not so much the OH. I’m glad it’s not pigs though as I find their smell particularly stinky.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can tolerate pigs at a disctance, but when the farmers are using the human stuff on the rapeseed fields, it’s eye-watering.
Best wishes, Pete. x
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can imagine. Bad enough when our neighbour has her septic tank emptied. Then I close the windows!
LikeLiked by 1 person
As my ‘like’ didn’t work I doubt if this comment will, either.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can see it, Julie.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike
Humans may stick to high heaven, but we do create pretty decent fertilizer. haha
LikeLiked by 3 people
We can certainly guarantee a neverending supply, GP. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 3 people
That’s the truth. (and I meant stink, not stick haha)
LikeLiked by 2 people
There is an inherent dichotomy in the thought of spreading human waste on arable fields: I presume most of us would like to think of it being put to a good [aka profitable] use, given that there is never likely to be any shortage of it, with the obvious implications for disposal ‘going forwards’ 😉 ; the other side of it is the ‘nimby’ [not in my backyard] attitude, and I don’t mean to be judgmental, because I think that is an entirely understandable response, because of the obvious sensory assault!
I’m no connoisseur of manure odours [are there any?], so I think it might be the psychological association of the source of the ‘humanure’ that prejudices our perception of it; again, entirely understandable; but having said that, I would not be the first to welcome such a development in my area!
I think one of your earlier respondents hit the nail on the head about how this product could be treated to reduce the objectionable odour: I fear this is just another instance of corner-cutting to save money and, to put it bluntly, sod the consequences! Cheers, Jon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I expected countryside smells when I moved here, Jon, so it’s not a NIMBY thing. I just didn’t expect the local fields to smell like the latrines in a Napoleonic era military camp. 🙂
Luckily, it’s only for a few days each year.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 3 people
What a lovely odor……One of our public golf course winds its way around and through the city sewage treatment plant…..and a wind shit and the whole area smells like an outhouse……be safe…..chuq
LikeLiked by 1 person
The sewage plants here don’t smell that bad at all. It’s when they use it on the fields it becomes unpleasant. It doesnt last for long, fortunately.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike
Here they put “sludge” into drying beds and in Summer it reeks! chuq
LikeLiked by 1 person
Their roses won first prize that year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ugh….that is truly disgusting. And I thought normal manure was bad. This is even worse 😔
LikeLiked by 1 person
Its only bad when the wind changes! 😊
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha…well…then I hope the wind won’t change too often for you😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
My wife and I agree about 95% of things, but your post made me think of one of our differences. She is a farm girl and spent a considerable amount of time being around farm animals. There are times when we’re back visiting, and she will inhale deeply and say, “I love that smell.” She is referring to manure.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, you have to born into that, I agree. 😊
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤣🤣🤣
LikeLike
Well I never thought I would see the day when Humanure was the title of one of your posts. Could it be that Pete has seen the light and moved to a dry toilet system in order to preserve the worlds dwindling water supply, or perhaps become concerned about the damage that is done to the environment by the chemicals used to keep the porcelain pristine, or maybe Pete is planning to become a keen gardener and has read about the bountiful crops that we produce here using our own humanure?
No its a post about ‘shit stinks’ 🙂
Its is a shame they don’t compost the manure first as that would stop it from smelling, mixed with straw or other crop waste, piled up for three or four months and it would become rich humus, free of pathogens or most importantly, to the sensitive noses of city folk, odourless 🙂
If they only plant rapeseed then it may well be used in biofuel, so no need to worry about pathogens entering the food chain, or it could well be that the nightsoil is sludge from a sewage treatment plant, in which case it should already be benign.
Happy sniffing 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
I was going to dedicate this post to you, but guessed you would find it anyway. 😊😊 Cheers, Eduardo.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ewww!😱
LikeLiked by 1 person
Luckily, it is not done very often, Kim. 😊
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting that it is being used today. It the past, humanure was called night soil.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes indeed. I posted a photo of a night soil collector in my ‘Victorian’ series, Peggy.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s interesting that you didn’t find the proximity of the pig farm as distasteful as the humanure spreading process. Complaints about smells seem to be a by-product of residential developments in farming areas.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The pig farm is very smelly, but ‘farming smelly’. Whereas the humanure spread on the fields smells like ten thousand overflowing toilets. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oil Seed Rape??? Oh please, Pete… tell me this isn’t what my imagination is conjuring up right about now. Is this one of those Brit things?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Here in Canada we call this crop “canola” and the oil is canola oil. You have to admit, it sounds better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the information, Audrey.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is the name here, Doug. The seeds are used for cooking oil, and the plant fed to animals. It looks amazing in the fields, a flourescent yellow. But get close, and it smells strongly of urine!
Here’s a photo.
https://pixabay.com/photos/oilseed-rape-field-of-rapeseeds-5100379/
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤣🤣🤣Quite an unconventional source of fertilizer, however I fail to see why it can’t be used to grow crops for human consumption. Are we saying human waste is more ‘distasteful’ than animal? 🤣🤣🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
Meat eating animals scat is susceptible to developing pathogens, it may infect the crops.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Jaques. Good to have that confirmed.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike
I was just kidding. I’m not a fan of humanure’s smell either, it is worse than pig (also omnivore) waste. Even if it wasn’t for the pathogens, I would allow it around my garden, if I ever have one..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry I wouldn’t allow it! 🤣🤣🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
I knew you meant that. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not saying that, Shaily. Only that it smells much worse! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😁😁😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
Come on Pete. Now you’ve got to tell us how it is collected! Can I subscribe?
Best from Florida,
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s all I know about it. But Mary (see below) said she Googled it, and it’s true.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike
I found the comments quite amusing. I guess most of your commentators are city folk 🙂
Warmest regards, Theo
LikeLiked by 1 person
Could be, Theo. As I was, until 2012. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ignore my comment – have just googled it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Too late. I replied before seeing this. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are you sure he wasn’t just pulling Julie’s leg?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I asked other locals, and they all seemed to know about it. Unless it is a Norfolk ‘urban legend’?
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I shudder to think how they obtain it!
LikeLiked by 3 people
I would imagine the many local houses with septic tanks provide a regular source, Elizabeth.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ugh. Gross!
LikeLiked by 1 person
(1) “We soon got used to being held up behind tractors, and combine harvesters in season.” Well, at least the robbers are predictable. Still, if you insist on being outside in season, you can at least protect your wallet by avoiding walking behind tractors and combine harvesters where the robbers are lurking.
(2) Isn’t it about time that Oil Seed join the #MeToo movement?
(3) Huma Abedin used to hang out with Hillary a lot. So it’s a fact that Huma knew her.
(4) Dereham also shows up on ship’s radar. It’s called “The Dereham Ping.”
(5) The pigs have been complaining about the smell of humanure for many years.
LikeLiked by 3 people
You enjoyed yourself with this one, David. I was asking for it, using the colloquial ‘held up’. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤣🤣🤣
LikeLike
Lucky for us, there’s no fertilizing around here. And the smell of manure is only strong in/around some towns in the Panhandle of Texas, where the cattle feedyards are. I just found that the “Guardian” as recently as on March 7 had an article about it [https://is.gd/aUnNdQ]. I always think of the town of Hereford there as “the town that smells as it sounds.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for the link, Pit.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those huge beef stockyards in that town look awful. Like a concentration camp for cattle.
LikeLike
I keep hearing about compost toilets (in programmes about mini houses and ecological buildings) but I haven’t heard them discuss what happens later. I guess in many places it cannot be used for crops for human consumption, although it might depend on how the compost is processed. Not a nice thought, but it makes sense at some level…
There was a farm behind the house where I lived, and we had some interesting smells as well every so often, but I never thought to ask where the compost came from, Pete. What a thought!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I don’t know why, but the thought it is human waste rather than from animals is rather distasteful.
Thanks, Olga.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike
A surprise indeed! Perhaps you will avoid those crops?
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are huge farms, so it must be allowed, Susanne.
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike
Oh no. Was there ever any sickness traced back to it?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not as far as I know, Don. It still goes on, so it must be ‘legal’. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLike