Bone meal
Bone meal consists of ground animal bones and can be used as an organic fertilizer , among other things . Horns can also be ground and used as fertilizer, which is referred to as horn fertilizer .
effect
Bone meal mainly contains phosphorus and calcium in the form of calcium phosphate as fertilizing elements. Since they are bound in organic substances, they have to be broken down by microorganisms in the soil before they are available to the cultivated plants . This process takes time.
history
Bones have always been crushed in so-called bone pods and used as fertilizer. The bone pounders were often powered by water and were located in water mills , which were then called bone mills . In the 20th century , bone meal was replaced by mineral fertilizers and was only used occasionally in organic farming . The advent of BSE has resulted in bans on bone meal as animal feed. Horn and bones have been classified as BSE-free because they contain no nerve tissue and can therefore continue to be used as fertilizers. However, it is no longer used by some associations, including organic farmers, due to the BSE problem. Today the bone meal is still used in cement works , where it has a negative impact on the quality of the cement due to its high phosphorus content, or it is burned in thermal power stations.
Problem
Even high temperatures cannot destroy the BSE disease pathogen, which is why there is a hypothetical risk of transmission to humans and animals if beef meal is used as fertilizer. Therefore, when selling grain, it must be stated whether it was fertilized with bone meal or not. Many German retailers are demanding that food be produced without bone meal.
Others
Today, bone meal is also used as a dietary supplement to build up calcium in animal husbandry, especially in dogs and cats.
Individual evidence
- ^ Brockhaus ABC Chemie , VEB FA Brockhaus Verlag Leipzig 1965, p. 680.