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The Problem: In the UK, 6 million hectares are at risk of soil compaction and erosion. This soil degradation increases drought, flooding risk, water pollution, threatens biodiversity and reduces the soil’s ability to sequester carbon. UK soils currently hold around 9.8 billion tonnes of carbon, only around half of their carbon-storing potential. Poor soil health can also negatively affect food quality, which in turn can be linked to chronic diseases. Action is urgently needed to restore the UK’s soil. 

Our Vision: to create a leading research and knowledge hub for innovative organic waste management, empowering farmers to feed the soil, grow healthy plants, and build resilient cropping systems. 

Feed the soil, not your plants, has been a mantra of the organic farming movement since its inception in the last century. Composted organic waste is a key input to provide food to soil organisms and build soil health and fertility in organic systems. Recent growing interest in soil health and best management practices among conventional farmers has renewed interest in compost and its products (e.g. extracts, compost teas). Advocates for different composting systems and uses of the final product promote composting as a way to improve soil microbial diversity and function, sequester carbon, reduce reliance on herbicides and fungicides, and improve nutrient supply to the crop. In addition to these benefits, composting provides a way to reduce the volume of organic wastes prior to application and stabilise volatile nutrients in forms that pose less risk to the environment.

 

Website
https://www.organicresearchcentre.com/our-research/research-project-library/fee…

Project Aims

There is a lack of practical advice developed in real-world conditions in the UK on the best way to compost organic wastes and apply it (or its products) to produce a biologically active product to feed the soil. To address this gap will require a comparison of different composting methods and application strategies under robust, controlled, conditions, on a network of farms, so that some clear guidance for farmers can be developed. 

Specific questions to be answered include: 

  • How do composting methods and application systems affect key soil functions (including microbiological, chemical and physical properties that affect crop health and productivity)? 
  • How do composting methods and application systems affect crop nutritional quality?
  • What will be the impacts of implementing these methods be on crop yields and farm economics?
  • What will be the impacts of implementing these methods on the farm’s overall carbon footprint? 

In Phase 1 of the project (1/2/24 to 30/6/2024) we reviewed the current state of scientific knowledge from around the world on the diverse ways that farmers can compost organic waste to produce high quality organic soil amendments. We identified topics where there is still a need for more evidence and demonstration of benefits in the UK.

In Phase 2 (from 1/8/2024 to 31/12/2026), in partnership with The Land Gardeners, we will collaborate with farmers around the UK to co-create trials answering their questions about optimising compost production in their systems. We’ll be studying bokashi (lactic acid fermentation of manures) as a novel way to stabilise manure and produce a biologically active amendment. Vermicomposting, which can result in compost with higher levels of available nutrients will be investigated. Johnson-Su bioreactors and the use of extracts from these systems will be explored. And methods originating in biodynamic farming systems (e.g. controlled microbial composting) will be tested.

Our ultimate aim is to produce practical guidance on how to optimise composting methods within your system. Watch this space for more updates as we establish our on-farm studies and set-up a knowledge hub in the coming months.

 

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Connected Content

Biostimulants

Biostimulants are increasingly available and are now widely marketed to farmers. While the jury is still out on a definitive definition, most definitions of biostimulants explain that they should stimulate plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient content with the aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics: nutrient efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, and/or quality.

Compost Tea

Compost tea is water in which compost has been steeped under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions.  Controversially, it is claimed to have beneficial effects when sprayed on crops, including enhanced growth and reduced pest and disease injury. 

Soil Nutrients

Soil is a major source of nutrients needed by plants for growth.