Worm Power

Worms – ew! Manure – ew! And yet… I had no idea what I was going to see (or smell) when I signed up for my garden club’s tour of Worm Power, in Avon, except worms. Actually, I saw very few worms (mostly because I declined the offer to run my hands through the composting bin). But they were there, doing their dirty work! And surprisingly, there was virtually no “farm” smell.

The input holding bay

Dan Johnson, the Operations Manager, gave us an extremely in-depth explanation of the process and history of the organization, which is located on Coyne Farm, a “dairy of distinction” whose 1000+ cows produce about 125,000 pounds of “high quality waste” per day. Worm Power, founded by Tom Herlihy in 2003, has turned a waste problem into a business opportunity through vermicomposting, and they’ve done it in an extremely energy-conscious manner. Most of their components were built here in NY, all of the water they use is from rainwater, and they are looking to install solar panels.

Their three inputs –15 daily truckloads of dry manure (the liquid is squeezed out and diverted to a lagoon), moldy silage, and on-site compost – are mixed and then put into enormous bins, where the ingredients are so compacted that the normal 12-18 month composting period is reduced to just under 2 months. After aerating to destroy pathogens, weed seeds, and chemicals, the contents are mixed again and loaded into 21 different enormous bins to become “worm chow” for the roughly 44 million worms (each bed contains about 2.5 million red wigglers, most of which were purchased from bait farmers). These worms live in the top 6-8 inches, where they eat, produce their “castings,” and lay eggs (something I probably learned in 5^th grade but forgot is that being hermaphrodites, worms mate and then both get pregnant). The castings and eggs get pushed down, and additional compost layers are added, forcing the worms to move up. It takes about a month for the eggs to hatch, then they come to the top, and continue to live for 12-14 months.

"compost tea bags"

The bottom layer in these bins is cut off and taken for its final processing. Some of the compost is put into “compost tea bags” for making liquid fertilizer (which we were told is excellent for house plants). The used solids are recycled as one of the initial inputs as the process begins again. The remaining (dry and odorless) compost goes through a separator to get the proper consistency for final sale. About 5% of their sales are retail (mostly small garden stores, such as J&A, Garden Factory, and Bristol’s), but they also supply Wegmans Farm and Broccolo. Most of their sales are to high-end farms and wineries, many in California. They’re hoping to find a partner in that state, so they can eliminate the transportation waste. With its $7million facility, Worm Power is the largest organization of its kind in the US – the next largest, in California, is one-tenth the size.

The microbial community of the worms’ skin and guts are so beneficial that Worm Power is working with Cornell, with some grant funding, to research the use of compost for disease suppression. Dan explained that the certified organic compost helps release the nutrients of clay soil, and actually increases soil’s water holding capacity, thereby reducing the need to water, and increasing plants’ ability to survive drought. He also informed us that sun and chlorine are enemies of the compost’s microbes (the nutrients remain), so the fertilizer is best used at the plants’ roots, and rain or distilled water is best.

happy ladies with their 1-pound bags of Worm Power!

We're very lucky to have such creative and environmentally conscious people right here in our backyard, and I can only hope that they find the additional grants or venture capital to expand across the country (and world – why not?). And I have a new respect for these little soil cleaner / nutrient makers, and will try to be a little less squeamish and more thankful when I dig them up in my garden accidentally. And maybe soon I'll need some larger pots for my pathetic little houseplants!