Worms Fit Farmer's Opertion

Worms Fit Farmer's Opertion LIVESTOCK Exotic Animals 27-2-6 Randy Dahl, Preston, Minn., started growing worms last April after signing a 3-year contract with a company called B & B Worm Farms of Meeker, Oklahoma. The contract says the company will buy the Red Worms he can produce at a guaranteed price for three years. "There's no minimum or maximum amount I have to sell," says Dahl. The guaranteed price is $8 per lb. His initial investment was $10,000. The worms feed on waste products from Dahl's farm including everything from table leftovers to grass, leaves and manure. Once harvested, the worms leave behind a byproduct called castings which Dahl says is a very rich organic fertilizer. Composted cow or horse manure is used as a base for microorganisms that eat their way through the waste products. The worms live under a 3 to 4-in. deep layer of manure. The worms don't like lighting and prefer a warm environment close to 70 degrees. Dahl uses a heat tape. The worms do okay at 50 degrees but the eggs need more warmth to incubate. He keeps a thermometer in the compost. He has been told the worms will freeze at 29 degrees, unlike their field counterparts which can just burrow deeper into the ground to stabilize their temperature. A female worm lays an egg every 7 to 10 days, and each egg carries 7 to 10 baby worms. "They multiply faster than rabbits," says Dahl. "After 20 days the eggs hatch and there's a time span before they start reproducing again. On average there are about 1,000 worms per pound. Compared to the night crawler, which is a big fat, lazy worm, Red Worms are very active and aggressive." He started raising worms in two small plywood boxes but found them too small for the work. He did some renovation in order to produce a windrow effect with the unit setting on the barn's cement floor. The first time the boxes were split there were literally handfuls of baby worms. The system is doubled every two months Dahl anticipates selling about one third to one half of the breeding stock. His ultimate goal is to utilize a building - he used to have a dairy and hog setup - that wasn't being used. B & B Worm Farms has distributors in every state (www.bandbworms.com). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Randy Dahl, Rt. 1, Box 50, Preston, Minn. 55965 (ph 507 765-2193).

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