The agricultural composting facility has been operating since late-August 2010 and, according to Farm Services, is composting more manure and leaf waste than was originally projected – at the rate of about 800 tons of agricultural waste per year.
The facility is state-of-the-art, especially for preventing stormwater runoff to surface water and leaching of nutrients into groundwater.
Although the sale of compost was initially limited to private companies, it has also been sold to the public or dedicated to land mitigation projects on campus in past years. For purchasing information, see "Friday and Saturday Compost Sales" below. In the past, the compost facility has sold out of marketable material in less than one week! The revenue generated from the compost sales goes towards offsetting labor costs, the fuel cost of the compost turner (which is very efficient for a machine that large), and towards fuel costs of the pay loader.
Video of UConn's Agricultural Composting Facility
Updated: 4/28/2020
Project History
Agricultural composting has been a long-time vision of the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources with 10 proposals being submitted since 1992.
- 2001: Ohio State University study of UConn's nutrient composition and possible facility design.
- 2005: 400+ petition President Austin to construct a compost facility. A Task Force is appointed for further investigation.
- 2006: Compost Facility Task Force issues a comprehensive report and recommends the first site.
- August 2007: Board of Trustees approves $600,000 capital budget for construction of the facility.
- Fall 2007: Public informational meetings are planned and the design process begins.
- December 2007: Informational meeting with neighbors is canceled and alternative site analysis begins.
- Fall 2008: New proposed sites are selected and a public informational open house was held in November.
- Spring 2010+: Facility constructed and fully operational.