Composting is an agricultural technique with roots in ancient times. Despite its legacy, it still has significant value to farming practices today. The inclusion of organic recycling, in particular, provides commercial farms with opportunities to naturally repair the health of the soil, earn extra money, and offset the cost of manure and fertilizers. Besides the more common methods of creating windrows, the use of vermicomposting in commercial composting also has major advantages.
What Is Vermicomposting?
As the name suggests, vermicomposting uses the natural diets of living organisms to contribute to the compost. Namely, specific common species of worms are easy to maintain and cultivate even on a large scale. Leaf worms and red worm species especially work well and contribute immensely to the quality of compost. The use of vermicomposting in commercial composting ultimately comes down to the castings—that is, the worm manure—produced. Worm manure is a resource-rich nutrient that helps boost plant health.
Operation Design Considerations
To properly cultivate worms, a few design elements need to be different from the standard windrow. Many people prefer to enclose vermicomposting efforts to better retain a predictable population within a confined space.
When exposed to the ground, a percentage of these worms will naturally burrow away, though it’s ultimately still beneficial for your land. A large-scale rendition of the hobbyist’s worm bucket is all that’s required. The most commonly commercially available varieties are continuous flow formats.
Commercial Vermicomposting Techniques
Ultimately, the type of vermicomposting that will be done on the farm determines any necessary supplies. The work equipment is generally minimal, requiring only a water trailer to maintain moisture evenly on larger pile setups.
Pile-type setups have the disadvantage of requiring hand-sorting of casting from worms and yet-to-be-eaten food scraps. Continuous flow systems allow for less disruption of worms and their ecosystem within a pile, but equipment generally limits the product size potential. As such, it’s a matter of preference and convenience depending on the need of a farm.
