Tea Time compost style

Since 2011 the cow herd and planned grazing has been the only input used on this degraded farm to bring the soil and pastures back to life. A simple low input system. No broadcast herbicides or fertilizers. Just sunshine, rain, grass growing and cows cycle nutrients through their stomachs and hoof action as God designed.

Cows graze, manure and stomp grass/hay into the soil and move on. The area is rested, soil microbes digest the manure and stomped forage into organic matter and nutrients. Grass regrows, the cows return to graze and the cycle repeats. Sunshine and grass photosynthesis results in new soil, new grass and new beef protein that we harvest for our customers, a simple & beautiful cycle.

Can we bio-hack this system?

We do provide the cows with minerals and apple cider vinegar to keep their stomachs (microbe vats) running at peak performance. A healthy gut microbiome in a cow keeps turning that incoming grass into nutrients the cattle use to grow and create new calves.

After researching the results from other farms, this past spring we tried to give the soil microbes a boost. Microbes in the soil turn old grass into organic matter, mine minerals and work with plant roots. The plants microbiome is the soil (like the cows gut). Soil microbes and plants form a “win-win” relationship. Plants provide food (sugar) to feed soil microbes and the microbes bring nutrients, moisture and other benefits to the plant.

This process adds carbon into the soil, improving soil structure and water holding capacity to grow more grass than previously possible. Weak soils are dominated by soil bacteria. A key microbe in advancing overall soil health is beneficial soil fungi. Grazing alone HAS improved our soils overall Fungi to Bacteria ratio as sampled and reviewed under microscope by Zach Wright of Living Soil Compost Lab LLC:

Compost Tea

Working with Ben Samuelson (soilbiology.tech) and the folks at Soil Works LLC we tried two compost applications in 2019 to see if we can supplement the plant microbiome (soil) as we currently do with the cattle (stomach).

1. Ben brought out some diverse mature compost. We “rinsed” the microbes out of the compost into a “tea” and sprayed the pastures. Ben took samples of the tea as we sprayed to check for microbes. This was simply adding diversity to our current soil microbe population.
2. Soil Works LLC suggested we try some additional inputs with our microbes. We added sugar and raw milk as a direct food source to help the microbes get a good start. In addition we added some calcium and phosphorus to the mix to help correct soil mineral deficiencies (similar to feeding our cows minerals).

So was it worth the cost and effort? That is yet to be determined. We will monitor the areas that we sprayed and collect some forage and soil tests later this year. We are fairly positive this work did not depress our soil biology like herbicides or pesticides or some other toxic “cide”. If anything we added new biology! We are being PRO-biotic rather than ANTI-biotic.

As we wait to see if the tea had any impact, a compost pile has been started here at DS Family Farm. For more information on building a simple compost pile and to review some astonishing results of being PRO-biotic with compost tea, check out David Johnson’s work at Regeneration International.