Chip Chucking

In many parts of the old world, and in the past, in mountain regions of Europe, caked and dried cow dung was used as fuel. 

 In India, it is dried into cake like shapes called upla or kanda, and used as replacement for firewood for cooking in chulah (traditional kitchen stove).

 Cow dung, is often used as agricultural fertilizer. If not recycled into the soil by species such as earthworms and dung beetles, cow dung can dry out and remain on the pasture, creating an area of grazing land which is unpalatable to livestock.

 In several cultures, cow dung is traditionally used to coat floors and walls. In parts of Africa, floors of rural huts are smeared with cow dung: this is believed to improve interior hygiene and repel insects

Nowadays, it is also used in creating flower and plant pots. It is plastic free, biodegradable and eco-friendly.  Dissolves naturally and becomes excellent manure for the plant.

Aside from all the above uses of cow dung, there is one more use for this versatile "cake", and that is the cow chip throw.

Our neighboring community, Chatham, has made the "Cow Chip Throw Competition"a yearly summer event during their Sweet Corn Festival.

 Okay, so this one might seem a little on the icky side (literally), but that doesn’t mean that it’s not fun and highly entertaining to watch. In this event, participants are required to throw a hardened, disc-shaped piece of cow dung as far as they can. 

 Official Cow Chip Throw rules stipulate that the chips must be more than six inches in diameter.

Novice throwers generally go with the “bigger is better rule,” selecting the largest chips they can find. Veterans, though, look for ones smaller in diameter but with some heft to them and as perfectly round as possible. They know that larger, drier chips will break apart mid-air, and they shake them with one hand to test their durability before picking. 

The veteran throwers also know better about keeping their mouths closed as the wind whips through the crowd and debris fleck from the chips and go flying.

  Contestants select two chips, each about 6 inches in diameter. The person who throws the farthest wins, and if it breaks in mid-flight, the piece that travels farthest is counted. 

This might seem easy, but it actually takes quite a bit of skill to fling your chip the farthest. Most throw overhanded with the flick of their wrist, instead of throwing the chip “frisbee style.”

  Two of the biggest competitions in this country are the World Championship Cow Chip Throwing Contest in Beaver, Oklahoma and the Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw and Festival in Sauk City, Wisconsin.

 

(source)(source)(source)