Composting Methods - Aerated Static & Gerry Gillespie & Extract

An overview of compost trials on a dairy farm using bedding pack material to make highly fungal compost using both Aerated Static Piles and the Gillespie anerobic method. The reasons fungal compost is important is discussed along with the benefits of using compost extract to increase yield, build soil, improve water retention, reduce N-P-K requirements, increase plant micro-nutrients, and make farms more profitable.
1. Background: The farm is turning bedding pack material from composting bedding pack barn for dairy cows. During the winter and early spring, the cows stay in the bedding pack barn. Carbon in the form of dried corn stalks, saw dust, wood chips, straw, and the like is mixed in on a daily basis with the manure from the cows. This bedding pack begins to compost, create heat, and provides a clean medium for the cows to lay on. In spring, the bedding pack material is placed into windrows that are turned with a compost turner.
2. One issue with the bedding pack material is that it tends to have higher amounts of nitrogen depending on the availability of brown carbon and how frequently it is worked into the top foot or so of bedding pack material. The bedding pack material also tends to be too wet based upon the hand-squeeze method. In other words, over the target moisture content of 60%.
3. In addition, turning compost material creates a mostly bacterial compost because the fungal hyphae (roots) get broken up with each turning. This is problematic because it is the hyphae that allow the plants to communicate with each other and the microbial community. So the question arose as to whether another composting method would work better and potentially produce a fungal dominate compost.
4. Proposal: Based upon a chart from Johnson-Su that looked at the fungal:bacterial ratio of various composts and soil, we wondered if we couldn’t use our bedding pack material to make highly fungal compost.
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5. We decided to experiment with two different types of compost to deal with the wet bedding pack material, higher nitrogen, and produce highly fungal compost. One is a Aerated Static Pile and the other is a Gerry Gillespie Pile. These methods would also reduce the expense because they do not require turning piles. Blowing Aerated Static piles should be able to address excess moisture and provide the ability to more precisely control temperature. Anerobic Gillespie piles shouldn’t be affected by higher moisture along with capture and incorporate nitrogen and noxious gases. www.gerrygille...
6. Looking at the biomass graph from professor David Johnson, it can be seen that the total amount of root, green matter, and fruit plants produce rises dramatically with the fungal-to-bacteria ratio is increased. Currently, average conventional farmland has a fungal-to-bacteria ratio of about 11:1. In other words, the plant uses the sun’s energy to convert carbon in the air into root/green/fruit matter along with sequestering it in the soil and so on. The amount of root/green/fruit matter increases from 3% in very bacterial dominate soil to 56% in highly fungal soil .
7. Compost Extract: Based upon the work of Elaine Ingham, Christine Jones, along with David Johnson and Hui-Chan Su, it has been found that applying highly fungal compost dramatically reduces the need for fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, builds soil, increases micro-nutrients, increases water retention, and so on. Extract is made by flushing water through compost and is then dripped into the furrow at the time of planting in order that the seed is wetted. The “bio-stimulants” in the extract “trick” the seed into thinking it is being planted into rich soil. Consequently, the plant produces a lot of “exudates” (sugars) to feed the microbes it thinks are there. The millions of bacteria and tens of thousands of mold spores and fragments placed into the furrow are feed by the plant exudates and proliferate. It is the soil microbes that in turn feed the plant with not only N-P-K but all the micro-nutrients it needs. The fungal hypae allow the plant to communicate with the microbes directing their numbers and types to best suit the plant.
8. Professor Johnson talks about examples such as a farm that applied 2 lbs/ac of Johnson Su (BEAM) extract into the furrow during corn planting. The corn seed treated with compost extract was $86/ac more profitable over corn that had 256 lbs/ac of nitrogen applied - even though there was a 2% yield reduction. Online videos of Young Red Angus farm show dramatic improvement in emergence, root growth, and about a 50% reduction in nitrogen requirements using compost extract.
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