Bone meal

Bone meal is an organic fertilizer made ​​from washed and ground animal bones. Even HF can be ground and used as fertilizer, then one speaks of horn manure.

Effect

Bone meal contains mainly phosphorus and calcium in the form of calcium phosphate as fertilising elements. Since they are bound in organic matter, they must be broken down in the soil by microorganisms before the crops are available. This process takes some time.

History

From time immemorial, bones were crushed in so-called bone pounding and used as fertilizer. The bones were pounding often driven by water and were in water mills. In the 20th century, the bone meal was ousted by the mineral and found only sporadically in organic farming use. The advent of BSE has led to bans of bone meal as feed. Horn and bone was classified as BSE-free, since it contains no nerve tissue, and thus can be utilized as fertilizer. However, it is no longer used by some associations, as well as organic farmers, due to the BSE problem. Today, the bone meal is still burned in cement kilns, where it negatively affects the quality of the cement because of its high phosphorus content, or in thermal power stations.

Problem

High temperatures also capable of the causative agent of BSE disease is not to destroy, would therefore be in a use of bovine bone meal as fertilizer the hypothetical risk of transmission to humans and animals. It must therefore be stated in the sale of grain, whether fertilized with bone meal or not. Many German retailers require a bone meal -free production of food.

Others

Today, bone meal is also as a dietary supplement for calcium buildup in the livestock use, especially in dogs and cats.