Our Story
Kanza Organics was started by a local dairy farmer who was looking for a better way to manage the manure produced by his dairy cows. The over 100 year old family farm had a long history of environmental conservation, winning some of the first awards for soil conservation in Saline County. The nearly 600 acres of farm land was not enough to make use of all of the manure from the 90 dairy cows on the farm. The farm had been cold composting or stockpiling manure for several years. With this system, material was partially composted before hauling to fields nearby. This method required lots of farm ground to stockpile the manure and considerable time to keep the barn lots bladed. One major problem with this process was the abundance of weed seeds that were being transported in the manure to his cropland. And although the runoff from the piles and barn lots was filtered through sod grassland in accordance with regulations from the Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment, it was still a slight risk of bacteria and nutrient pollution for a local creek.
In cooperation with the Saline County Conservation District, a waste system was designed that would include a retention pond to hold the runoff from the livestock lots. The second part of the plan was to develop a commercial composting facility. Negotiations were held with the City of Salina to receive yard waste from city residents to be used as a carbon source in the composting process and with the State Division of Water Resources to design and permit dikes and a large holding pond to contain any run-off from the composting facility. With additional assistance from the Kansas Rural Center through their Clean Water Farms Project, the composting facility was established on thirteen acres near the over 100 year old farmstead. A large flat area 1,500 feet long and 308 feet wide is enclosed by dikes to divert the run-off from adjacent fields and to contain any run-off from the compost windrows. A large holding pond within the facility stores the run-off which can potentially be used to maintain adequate moisture in the compost. An additional 5 acres is used to process wood waste such as brush and large trees into high quality wood products.
The facility opened for business in May 1997, and started combining manure from the farm with leaves, grass clippings, and brush hauled in by the city, landscape businesses, or the general public. The facility started charging the city a tipping fee which was less than the disposal fee at the landfill. This savings to the city allowed them to create new jobs within the sanitation department and create the yard cart program. In conjunction with the savings to the city, the facility had a huge environmental impact with regard to the amount of composted materials that would have been taken to the landfill. In 1997, 6,000 to 8,000 cubic yards of grass,
leaves, and brush were brought to the composting facility. During both 1998 and 1999, 22,000 cubic yards were diverted from the landfill.
Ironically, the farm began to change shortly after the composting facility came on line. In 1997, the milking herd was sold when milk prices dropped so low that the farm could not justify keeping the cows. The same facilities are used for beef cattle production today. One of the biggest challenges for Kanza Organics is a shortage of manure to use in the composting process. Today most of the compost is made with grass clippings and leaves with very little livestock manure because the small beef operation cannot supply enough manure to
incorporate with the large volume of yard waste. Grass clippings can replace manure in the composting process but much more grass is required than manure to break down leaf and wood material. This simply slows down the overall process and has not affected the quality of compost.
The demand for compost remains great with the majority being sold locally to landscaping businesses and gardeners. Other large customers have been school districts that use compost on their football fields as a soil enhancement. Customers have included schools in Lindsborg, Ellsworth, Ottawa, Manhattan, and Osborne, who are seeking to increase the moisture retention properties of the soil under their football fields. Although the majority of the compost is used as a soil amendment during the establishment of grass stands, Kansas Wesleyan
University in Salina spreads a one-inch layer of compost on their existing football field frequently. The field is then aerated and watered well to incorporate the compost. This process has allowed the university to maintain a
thick, lush stand of grass which has been very effective at holding up to the constant abuse from the many games played there each year. More recently Kanza Organics has started making a 60:40 blend of topsoil and compost. This material has been very popular with landscapers because it can go directly into
a flower bed or new yard.
Kanza organics remains and always will remain a small family owned business and will continue to do our best to be good stewards of the land and do whatever we can to improve our environment. We believe our facility can serve the Salina community much more effectively than a city owned facility and at a much lower cost to taxpayers. Thank you to Salina area community for all of your support.
In cooperation with the Saline County Conservation District, a waste system was designed that would include a retention pond to hold the runoff from the livestock lots. The second part of the plan was to develop a commercial composting facility. Negotiations were held with the City of Salina to receive yard waste from city residents to be used as a carbon source in the composting process and with the State Division of Water Resources to design and permit dikes and a large holding pond to contain any run-off from the composting facility. With additional assistance from the Kansas Rural Center through their Clean Water Farms Project, the composting facility was established on thirteen acres near the over 100 year old farmstead. A large flat area 1,500 feet long and 308 feet wide is enclosed by dikes to divert the run-off from adjacent fields and to contain any run-off from the compost windrows. A large holding pond within the facility stores the run-off which can potentially be used to maintain adequate moisture in the compost. An additional 5 acres is used to process wood waste such as brush and large trees into high quality wood products.
The facility opened for business in May 1997, and started combining manure from the farm with leaves, grass clippings, and brush hauled in by the city, landscape businesses, or the general public. The facility started charging the city a tipping fee which was less than the disposal fee at the landfill. This savings to the city allowed them to create new jobs within the sanitation department and create the yard cart program. In conjunction with the savings to the city, the facility had a huge environmental impact with regard to the amount of composted materials that would have been taken to the landfill. In 1997, 6,000 to 8,000 cubic yards of grass,
leaves, and brush were brought to the composting facility. During both 1998 and 1999, 22,000 cubic yards were diverted from the landfill.
Ironically, the farm began to change shortly after the composting facility came on line. In 1997, the milking herd was sold when milk prices dropped so low that the farm could not justify keeping the cows. The same facilities are used for beef cattle production today. One of the biggest challenges for Kanza Organics is a shortage of manure to use in the composting process. Today most of the compost is made with grass clippings and leaves with very little livestock manure because the small beef operation cannot supply enough manure to
incorporate with the large volume of yard waste. Grass clippings can replace manure in the composting process but much more grass is required than manure to break down leaf and wood material. This simply slows down the overall process and has not affected the quality of compost.
The demand for compost remains great with the majority being sold locally to landscaping businesses and gardeners. Other large customers have been school districts that use compost on their football fields as a soil enhancement. Customers have included schools in Lindsborg, Ellsworth, Ottawa, Manhattan, and Osborne, who are seeking to increase the moisture retention properties of the soil under their football fields. Although the majority of the compost is used as a soil amendment during the establishment of grass stands, Kansas Wesleyan
University in Salina spreads a one-inch layer of compost on their existing football field frequently. The field is then aerated and watered well to incorporate the compost. This process has allowed the university to maintain a
thick, lush stand of grass which has been very effective at holding up to the constant abuse from the many games played there each year. More recently Kanza Organics has started making a 60:40 blend of topsoil and compost. This material has been very popular with landscapers because it can go directly into
a flower bed or new yard.
Kanza organics remains and always will remain a small family owned business and will continue to do our best to be good stewards of the land and do whatever we can to improve our environment. We believe our facility can serve the Salina community much more effectively than a city owned facility and at a much lower cost to taxpayers. Thank you to Salina area community for all of your support.