This article appeared in the August/September 2014 issue of Organic Hudson Valley.  

Erich McEnroe discussed the turkeys raised on McEnroe farms in the fall, and now he has expanded on the topic to talk about the importance of composting to an organic farm. In addition to turkeys, McEnroe Farm raises beef, pork, lamb and chickens. They also grow vegetables in 17 greenhouses that they operate on a farm that consists of 17 acres of farmed land. The farm also has a large composting division that allows the farm to use food waste materials that would otherwise end up in landfills, something that allows them to recycle while also keeping the fertilized naturally, allowing them to use fewer chemicals. “We recycle it and it keeps it out of the landfill,” McEnroe said of the compost. “We’re able to fertilize most of our farm and we also have it for sale.”

The compost that McEnroe Farms sells has a large impact on the local area, as well as the east coast. They sell it to farms in locations ranging from as far north as Maine and as far south as Florida. According to McEnroe, it’s a big seller in the Mid-Atlantic States. Many local farms in the Hudson Valley region also purchase it. “There are other local farms that need a good growing medium to start their plants with,” McEnroe said. “Having a good soil to start off with, having a good nutrient balance, allows the plants to feed off the nutrients rather than the fertilizer.” When plants don’t have enough nutrients in the soil, they have to depend upon the fertilizer, and even with organic fertilizer, the plants will continue to require more and more. The compost system allows McEnroe Farm to provide their plants enough nutrients to sustain the plants without having to use such large quantities of fertilizer.

Compost is important as a recycling tool. “It’s taking food waste that in the past has gone to landfills. There’s a big initiative around the country for kitchens and schools to have a bin for food waste,” McEnroe said. “It’s just another means of recycling. It gets separated out of larger scale kitchens and it’s used as a fertilizer. We’ve always tried to reuse and recycle as much as we can on a farm so it fits into our model.”

That system is a main component in McEnroe Farms operations. “The compost is the base of our farm,” McEnroe said. “Without the compost, it would be more challenging to grow organic livestock and vegetables. We spread compost on our fields to grow our crops for animals. It’s better for us. It fits into our system.”

“Soil grown vegetables have a much different taste than hydroponically grown vegetables,” McEnroe said, an idea anyone who has tried hydroponically grown tomatoes from the grocery store during off season and compared them to the taste of fresh garden tomatoes in the Summer is familiar with.

McEnroe Farms first began composting when “my father was approached by a gentleman from New York City about starting a compost business,” McEnroe said. The gentleman in question was Douglas Durst and his wife, Susanne, who was very involved in the equine industry. “His wife saw the need to recycle the horse waste and that’s how the need originated,” McEnroe continued. Today, the Dursts are partners with the McEnroe’s in the composting process.

Composting is such an important part of farming, especially organic farming, because every year the fields have to be refreshed and refertilized to ensure that the plants grow optimally. “Instead of importing fertilizer from an outside source, we have it in house,” McEnroe said. “Compost, in general, helps the health of the soil.”

Some of the benefits of composting include building organic matter and nutrients, helping with soil erosion and retaining water in the soil.

“The cost of food is on the rise and it makes local foods more price friendly compared to commercial foods and I think we’ll see more and more of that as we see droughts and floods throughout the country and the increasing cost of fuel,” McEnroe said. “The prices are really getting pretty close to each other so it’s good for the local market. Who doesn’t want to support the local economy and build jobs in your own neighborhood?”