Organic Soil Amendments

Poultry litter, pig manure and compost containing these manures are regarded as Restricted Animal Materials (RAM) and therefore have particular requirements when used as organic soil amendments on pastures grazed by ruminant animals.

If you supply or use spent poultry litter, pig manure, compost or any other organic soil fertiliser or ameliorant you need to know about RAM. RAM stands for Restricted Animal Material and it’s against the law to feed RAM to ruminant animals. This includes cattle, sheep, goats, alpacas, deer and other ruminants.

This restriction is also referred to as the Ruminant Feed Ban.

Not only is it illegal to feed ruminants with material containing RAM, it is also an offence for ruminants to have access to RAM. For example, if ruminants can get access to a stockpile of material containing RAM this would constitute a serious offence, irrespective of whether they have eaten any or not. This restriction extends to situations where organic fertilisers containing RAM have been spread on paddocks….

……but this DOESN’T mean you can’t use it if you have ruminant livestock…read on to find out more.

Read complete article prepared by Byron Stein from NSW Department of Primary Industries