Integrating compost extracts into a farming operation allows the microbial community to thrive and collaborate with plants to create a healthy and highly productive soil ecosystem. Compost extracts produced with equipment from Hiwassee Products and implemented by AgriBio Systems, are improving nutrient efficiency, soil structure, water infiltration and system resilience for farmers.
“In the biological regenerative approach, we're trying to manage the microbial community through directly adding microbes or adding food sources,” says Simeon Kleinsasser, technical sales and support at Hiwassee Products. “This creates an ecosystem where microbes can survive and get the right chemistry to create this environment where the microbes and the plants can work together to create an outcome.”
Compost extracts provide a good food source for the plant. Kleinsasser has found that vermicomposting produces high quality compost from the worms’ natural digestive system.
“You can then grow cover crops in the worm bin to create a customized cocktail for your environment,” Kleinsasser says. “If you're trying to grow corn, try to grow some roots that are similar to corn in the bin to get that rhizophagy cycle going within the compost process. Then when you extract it, those microbes are ready to go into the soil solution ready to go to work.”
The rhizophagy cycle stimulates root growth by causing root tips to excrete sugars which attract microbes. The microbes then enter the root tip and the plant strips the microbe of its cell wall, absorbing the microbe’s nutrients.
In the rhizophagy cycle, bacteria, yeast and algae are internalized by the root. During the cycle the roots grow by utilizing the microbial nutrients. The microbes then leave the root depleted of nutrients.
“Through the rhizophagy process, we get a much healthier plant that's able to resist disease and pests, and it creates a much more nutritious food for us or the animals to eat,” Kleinsasser says in comparison to conventional synthetic nutrients.
Compost extracts and compost teas can both help improve plant health, but Kleinsasser recommends extract for larger operations since it’s easier to scale for a large farm and has a shelf life of several weeks compared to the 24-48 hour shelf life of compost tea. Teas have a high concentration of 7-8 microbes, which may be ideal if targeting a specific disease or nutrient deficiency, Kleinsasser says, but extract excels in providing diversity.
The extracts are commonly applied as seed treatments and in furrow applications. Foliar compost extract applications after bad weather or harmful chemical applications help the plant overcome stress faster. Residue digester extracts return nutrients to the soil faster and prevent pathogens from overwintering in the residue.
With an emphasis on input efficiency, Jared Rohn from AgriBio claims that starter fertilizer costing $3-7 per gallon can be replaced by compost extract that only costs $0.50 per gallon and provides benefits the entire growing season, rather than just at the “start.”
“Through the growing season, the microbes continue to work symbiotically with the plants, whereas starter fertilizer will give you a nice early boost,” Rohn says. “You're actually going to suffer towards the end of the growing cycle because you're not going to have those same microbes working for you. We've seen this time and time again in trials we've run.”
Another AgriBio trial found that compost extract increased microbial diversity by over 80% compared to conventional starter fertilizer, suppressed root zone pathogens, increased tissue levels and organic nitrogen pools in the root zone and decreased denitrification.
Ultimately, integrating compost extracts improves the soil ecosystem, allowing no-tillers to grow healthier plants and boost profitability, Rohn says.
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