Composting is nothing new in rural communities, but the practice is becoming more popular as its versatility is touted and a growing number of people in urban and suburban areas are seeking ways to reduce and recycle food waste.
Composting — defined as controlled, aerobic (oxygen-required) biological decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms — dates to the Mesopotamian era, when farmers spread manure on their fields to improve their crops. This effort to limit food waste is ingrained in rural communities because things like garbage disposal systems aren’t recommended with septic systems and access to certain foods can often be limited, especially during previous generations. Handling food waste has had to be approached differently outside of urban areas — in fact, data has shown that more than 76 percent of rural residents do backyard composting or feed their food waste to pets or livestock.
But even in more populated areas, as urban agriculture continues to grow and farmers seek alternatives to synthetic fertilizers, composting is being discovered as a way to achieve solid crop growth and nutrition standards. And people have begun talking more about the science and strategy of composting at scale.
Rutger Myers, soil health technician at Chatfield Farms, part of Denver Botanic Gardens, is developing a composting process for farms and urban growers alike. The 700-acre property he works at is home to educational gardens, cornfields and pumpkin patches, as well as an active community supported agriculture (CSA) program that provides fruits and vegetables to community members.
Myers, who has been with Chatfield Farms for over three years, first began as a volunteer for farm operations. Originally from Florida, Myers was first an urban composter, dealing with his kitchen scraps and other materials. After obtaining a full-time position on the farm, he realized the farm could scale up its composting efforts, so he devoted his duties toward developing a robust composting program.
Myers initially began simply — with just a pitchfork, taking residue from the field and wherever he could find materials. While the farm had a compost pile before Myers started on his project, he transitioned the composting efforts from a passive to an active effort.
“[The farm] was throwing it into a pile and just letting it break down … they weren’t too picky and choosy about their ratios,” he said. “[But] I don’t want to say that’s a bad thing. It’s better there than in the landfill because it’s going to break down eventually.”
Myers noted that while compost is typically perceived as fertilizer, is not just that — it’s an inoculum of beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and other microorganisms.
When farmers apply compost onto their field, it’s not exactly the same as applying a nutrient fertilizer. Instead of directly providing a nutrient, say nitrogen, to their crops, farmers are providing a robust microbial community that can help generate plant-available nitrogen to their crop, along with other benefits. This microbial community can remain in the soil past the growing season, meaning that this is one way farmers can rejuvenate their soil — potentially saving on labor and costs by avoiding as many fertilizer applications in the future.
Composting can be a great means to prevent food waste, which is the most common item that ends up in landfills in America, as well as a means for a farmer to recycle their crop vestiges into something useful for their next growing season.
So, how does one do it?
Starting with a worm bin is a great option, according to Myers. Also known as vermicomposting, it is a fairly inexpensive and small-scale way to begin a farm’s composting journey.
For farmers in Colorado, Chatfield Farms has tours so people can see how compost piles are so diverse. Myers keeps different types of compost piles, each requiring varying levels of effort to sustain and grow. Typical challenges that arise during composting often involve having to continually turn the pile (in order to aerate it), attracting pests such as flies, or having the pile emit strong odors that are undesirable. Given these common issues, Myers likes to recommend a Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactor, which he touts as a “set-and-forget” system.
“It’s basically just like a cylinder of compost with airflow going though it,” Myers said. “You could spend an afternoon assembling it, and then you just let it sit for the year … and it will eventually break down.”
Developed by a professor in New Mexico, a Johnson-Su bioreactor generates compost teeming with microbial life that can enhance soil properties and boost soil health. Requiring very little manual labor and no turning, it produces few odors, making it an excellent first choice for those wanting to try their hand at composting.
Another type of system, known as static forced air or aerated static pile, ensures an aeration system to maintain efficient degradation throughout the pile. “You assemble your pile but instead of turning it, you have PVC pipes that blow oxygen through the bottom of [the pile],” Myers described.
These styles can be scaled up to support farm operations, as Four Winds Farm in New York demonstrated by attaching their pipes to hosing and connecting it to a blowfan.
“Each pile has its own benefit, speed of production, and best application,” Myers said. “The Johnson-Su is probably the most appealing for small farmers because it’s smaller, about four feet wide by five feet tall.”
For larger farmers, the issue becomes not being able to physically move their compost, Myers said.
“Just hauling compost over, say, a hundred acres would be a huge feat,” he explained. “So, I also teach farmers about compost tea or extracts.”
Compost tea, which is a liquid containing beneficial microorganisms brewed from compost, is a growing practice that boosts soil’s nutrient availability and the soil microbiome and can even help fend off pathogen attack.
Myers says brewing the compost into a liquid can amplify the amount of coverage that is provided, so farmers with lots of acreage can still boost their soil. Additionally, the fact that it is now in liquid form enables farmers to more easily apply it, say with a backpack sprayer or broadcast boom bar.
Farmers who are struggling with their soil health have been turning to composting efforts to ensure their land is revitalized and flourishing. Grass Valley Farms, a 1,000-acre ranch in Missoula, Montana, operates a composting facility to feed its soils. Corey Miller, who operates Grass Valley Farms, started studying beneficial fungi and how, according to his website, “fungi held a lot of the keys to soil health and improvement.”
By understanding the basics behind why composting can be beneficial for soil, farmers can add another tool to their arsenal in dealing with weather volatility, water issues, and diseases.
For those interested in learning more in-depth, Myers recommends learning from others. “I’m a big fan of YouTube — I spent years just looking at what others are doing [for their unique operations].” Myers strongly recommended Soil Food Web, for those truly keen on in-depth learning about composting. Myers also named Denver Urban Gardens, for those based in Colorado, as a great resource. For farm-specific operations, Myers also named Ekar Farm and FrontLine Farming as great operations with burgeoning composting efforts.
Overall, composting can be a great way for anyone to recycle their waste into something versatile and beneficial, while preventing their waste from being just that: waste.
Liza Thuy Nguyen served as the 2023 American Farmland Trust Agriculture Communications Intern at AGDAILY, with a focus on helping to amplify diversity and minority voices in agriculture. Liza is originally from Anaheim, California, and attended the University of California, Davis, as a first-generation college student. She received a bachelor’s degree in genetics and genomics and went on to earn a master’s in horticulture from Penn State.
