Ohio State University’s (OSU) Composting and Manure Management Program will lead a public tour of three composting and bioenergy facilities in northeast Ohio on Sept. 25. The program focuses on anaerobic digestion and composting. The first stop, at 8:45 a.m., is at the Biogas and Composting Facilities of Akron, located at 2677 Riverview Road. The tour will also stop at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), located at 1680 Madison Ave. in Wooster. A composting research update will be presented and lunch will be served. Participants will visit the Schmack BioEnergy Analytical laboratory at 1:30 p.m., and the OARDC Composting Site at 2:30 p.m. The Schmack lab works to analyze feedstock energy potential and environmental benefits. The OARDC Composting Site processes dairy manure and other organic materials from the campus. It uses windrows with intermittent aeration and drains runoff to constructed wetland treatment cells.

Participants are asked to drive to each of the tour sites. Registration is available for $25 with lunch, or $20 without lunch, and is due by Sept. 17. For more information, contact Mary Wicks at 330-202-3533 or email wicks.14@osu.edu. To register, send name, address, telephone number email address and a check to Mary Wicks, Ag Engineering Building, OARDC/OSU, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, OH 44691. More information is available at the OSU Ohio Composting and Manure Management Program Web site. Click on the “OCAMM Tour” link to view a PDF document with the tour itinerary.