Floors & Furniture Made of Manure: More Than a Cow-Pie-in-the-Sky Dream

DETROIT (AP) — It’s no cow-pie-in-the-sky dream.


Researchers at Michigan State University and the US Department of Agriculture say tomorrow’s home buyers could find themselves walking across floors made from manure.
The researchers say the odorless fiber left over from processed and sterilized cow manure can be substituted for sawdust in the manufacture of fiberboard used in flooring and furniture.
They hope such creative uses for the fiber will help resolve the nation’s farm-waste disposal problem. Producers traditionally put manure to use by spreading it in their fields as a natural fertilizer. But as livestock operations have gotten larger and more specialized, farmers can find themselves with too little land for their manure.
Posted by PJS
The Associated Press contributed to this report.