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Research: How Tylosin affects worm weight and manure quality in vermicomposted manure

Vermicomposting of manure is not an especially new practice, but it’s not the most widespread for large, commercial livestock operations, either. Now, a new scientific study looks into the quality of manure produced through vermicomposting when the worms consume Tylosin, a pivotal macrolide that is applied widely in veterinary medicine and ends up in millions of tons of fermentation residue waste every year.

Vermicomposting is a natural aerobic process which differs from traditional composting. Earthworm casts are a ready-to-use fertilizer that can be used at a higher rate of application than compost, with nutrients released at rates growing plants prefer. It’s relatively well-established practice for converting manure into an odourless, efficient fertilizer, and while it is possible for the systems to be applied to medium- and large-sized cattle farms, the practice is not quite ubiquitous.

Nevertheless, the new study published in Scientific Reports looks at how the quality of the resulting product – and the worms themselves – may be affected by the presence of a common macrolide used in veterinary medicine.

Read the study here.

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