Squirmy Sideline Business: Worms

Squirmy Sideline Business: Worms AG WORLD Ag World 19-2-20 If you've ever wondered about those "get rich quick" ads in the back of magazines about setting up your own "worm farm", you might be interested in one rural Illinois resident who decided to find out for himself if money can be made raising worms. "I haven't made a ton of money yet - it's still a part-time, weekend venture - but I know it's going to pay off eventually," says Doug Tarrant, Taylorville, Ill., who started a worm business to supplement his income a year ago after spotting an ad in a a local publication. After learning he could get into the commercial worm business without a substantial up-front investment, he decided he'd have nothing to lose. Working with UNCO, a large Racine, Wis., worm supplier, he's learned there's a market both for worms and for worm castings, which are highly valued by nursery-men as potting soil. He's also discovered that many home gardeners like worm castings for fertilizing fruit trees, flowers, or just to build up garden soil. The odor-free castings can also be used on house plants. He had to choose between African and Canadian night crawlers. Canadian night crawlers need refrigeration to keep soil temperatures under 50? so he went with the African breed, which can tolerate hot weather. Worms can be shipped throughout North America by UPS or Federal Express. Last spring, Tarrant set up his earthworm hatchery in a walled-off and heated section of his barn. Worms are hatched out and grown in plastic 5-gal. buckets. He has dozens of buckets, stacked one on top of the other. Each must be "processed" every two weeks which involves using screens to separate worms from the castings and mature worms ready for sale from younger ones. Then the buckets are refilled with fresh bedding for the next generation. Tarrant calls his business "The Worm Firm" and he keeps about 100,000 worms on hand at all times, a number he hopes to triple within three years. Orders from bait shops, farmers, greenhouses, gardeners and golf courses range from hundreds to tens of thousands of worms at a time. Whole-sale prices start at about $65 per thousand. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, The Worm Firm, Rt. 3, Box 324 IA, Taylorville, Ill. 62568 (ph 217 824-2906).

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