Business Is Booming For Farmer's Worm Reactor

Business Is Booming For Farmer's Worm Reactor AG WORLD Ag World 20-3-22 Here's a new twist on worm farming that could put money in your pocket two or three different ways. Dan Holcombe says business is booming for his giant "worm reactor", an on-farm garbage disposal operation that uses garbage-eating worms to turn organic waste into nutrient-rich plant food. "You can collect dumping fees of up to $50 per ton and end up with a byproduct you can use on your own farm. You can even go into the bait business, if you don't want to expand your reactor as the worm population grows," says Holcombe, owner of the "reactor" near Clackamas, Ore. He wants to set up more reactors on farms in his part of the country and anywhere else there's interest. "We've been doing this seriously since 1988," Holcombe says. "We're recycling 5 to 6 tons of organic waste a day, seven days a week, collected from 16 grocery stores in our area. That includes waste food, produce and paper. We're harvesting about half that amount back in worm castings, which we package in 1 cu. ft. bags mixed with peat moss and retail for $2.83 apiece. "When castings are applied to a weak houseplant, for example, you can literally see the difference overnight. It also makes a great fertilizer for field crops and is easy to spread." Castings are the byproduct of 2 to 3-in. long red worms called manure or litter worms. They're common to the Pacific Northwest but can be found almost any-where. They sell for anywhere from $7 to $25 a lb. Hundreds of thousands are placed in the "reactor" to eat up garbage. Holcombe's reactor is 120- ft. long by 8-ft. wide by 2 ft. deep. It has hydraulic scrapers underneath the bed that push composted material out through a heavy mesh screen in the bottom to be packaged and sold or spread on fields. "It's a lot of work," Holcombe says. "You have to decide how much time per day or week you can devote to it and design the reactor accordingly." Most likely, you'll need a state license or permit to operate a reactor, especially if you have waste delivered to your site. Obtaining permits can sometimes be a two or three year process, Holcombe notes. You'll also need to tap into a reliable waste source. Grocery stores are preferred over restaurants because there are fewer health issues to deal with in raw produce as compared to prepared food, he says. Holcombe sees worm "reactors" as the way of the future for handling not only food wastes but animal wastes as well. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Oregon Soil Corporation, 1324 Beaver Lane, Oregon City, Ore. 97045 (ph 503 557-9742).

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