But a new program teaching local high school students how to convert horse feces into fertilizer now exudes the sweet smell of success, said officials at the Butler Tech campus.
“We’ve turned a big, giant pile of waste—which was a problem—into something usable and even sellable,” said Sara Morris, Green Engineering instructor at the Monroe campus.
Morris said before the project, horse manure from the campus’s Equine Science program was simply discarded, requiring the school to pay to have it hauled away.
But now thanks to the Green Engineering students and a powerful new tool called an in-vessel composting system, that horse waste is now being transformed into usable compost that can enrich soil and support future crop production.
According to Butler Tech officials, the process is surprisingly simple but highly effective.
Students load horse manure into a 30-yard composting dumpster after lining the bottom with wood chips. The dumpster has air vent piping to speed and enhance the conversion process and in about seven to eight weeks, the materials decompose into nutrient-rich compost.
Green Engineering students monitor the process, learning how to balance moisture, temperature, and oxygen levels to create the ideal environment for composting.
The recent first batch wasn’t perfect, said Morris, but it was usable—a tangible result of weeks of learning, experimenting, and problem-solving. Now that compost is being returned to the land it came from, fertilizing pastures and providing essential nutrients for campus.
One of the school’s main fertilizer customers is Hamilton-based 80 Acres, a regional pioneer in sustainable, indoor vertical farming and now a partner of the Green Engineering program.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work with the Green Engineering junior and senior classes to create a functioning greenhouse where they can solve real-world greenhouse problems, run experiments, and grow their interest in this exciting field,” said Keegan Gormley an official with 80 Acres Farms.
Senior Bella Satterfield said the program turns what was once a problem into a positive.
“We’re using what we had – we had this pile of manure – and taking it and putting it into a compost … it has really gone on to show how we can be sustainable in everyday life,” said Satterfield.
Morris added: “Students aren’t just learning concepts—they’re doing the work. They’re applying critical thinking, testing solutions, and seeing the impact they’re making in real-time. That’s powerful learning.”
(Journal-News Photojournalist Nick Graham contributed to this story)
About the Author