Cal Poly to Offer Compost Training in April

Enrollment Open for USDA-sponsored Workshop

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly will host a five-day workshop on large-scale agricultural composting April 23–27. The training will take place at the Cal Poly Compost Unit and will be supplemented by tours of regional composting operations and farms that have incorporated composting into their operations. The compost workshop is being presented by the Center for Sustainability in Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and the Maine Compost School.

The workshop is open to the public and will be geared toward agricultural professionals and farmers, conservation and waste management professionals, faculty and students. The cost for the weeklong training is $250 and includes instructional materials and meals (lunches and snacks).

The workshop includes a combination of classroom, laboratory, and hands-on exercises with topics ranging from basic composting methods, regulations and feedstock analysis to consumer education, compost marketing, and the business of composting. Special emphasis will be placed on the benefits of compost for crop health, nutrient management, water quality, and climate change mitigation.

The program will be taught by a team of experts from the Maine Compost School and an interdisciplinary group of Cal Poly faculty and staff from the Agricultural Operations, Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Biological Sciences departments.

The workshop is a component of the Cal Poly Compost Project funded by a Professional Development Grant through the Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education (SARE) program of the USDA.

For more information about the Cal Poly Compost Project and training, please visit www.cfs.calpoly.edu/programs/compost.html.

To enroll, please contact the Center for Sustainability at 805-756-5086 or cfs@calpoly.edu.

About the Cal Poly Compost Unit
The Cal Poly Compost Unit produces high-quality compost that has received the Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) from the U.S. Composting Council (USCC) and is in the process of applying for organic certification.

About the Maine Compost School
The Maine Compost School is located at Highmoor Farm, a University of Maine research farm in Monmouth, Maine. The school specializes in classroom instruction, laboratory experience and hands-on project exercises, including topics such as basic composting methods, composting biology, rules and regulations, consumer education and compost marketing. For more information, please visit www.composting.org.

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