Anyone using biochar as a soil amendment?

[Steve Thompson]

This is an interesting article about Montana rancher Steve Charter, who is mixing biochar with vermiculture to enrich his pastures and significantly increase water retention. Does anyone else have experience or know others using biochar or vermiculture on grazing lands?

 

[HernanC]

According to a study published in the Journal of Science Total Environment, there was an investigation of the “effect of organic amendments (buffalo manure, compost and vermicompost) and biochar (applied alone or with vermicompost) on plant yield, soil fertility, soil erosion and water dynamics” in low nutrient soil in Vietnam. The study demonstrated positive influences on maize production with the various above mentioned implements. This article states the association of the aforementioned amendments and improved maize production which implies the long-term improvement and viability for production on the soil, and for decreased water runoff.
Doan TT, Henry-des-Tureaux T, Rumpel C, Janeau JL, Jouquet P. Impact of compost, vermicompost and biochar on soil fertility, maize yield and soil erosion in Northern Vietnam: a three year mesocosm experiment. Sci Total Environ. 2015 May 1;514:147-54. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.02.005. Epub 2015 Feb 5. PMID: 25659313.

 

[Linda Poole]

In a year like this one -- record drought for this part of Montana -- I'm up for trying about anything to increase water retention!

Worm Ambassador Extraordinaire Nicole Masters did a great series of workshops in northern Montana this summer so vermiculture is a hot topic here now. Nicole includes vermicast as a key ingredient in concocting potent but affordable brews of humates, fish hydrolysates and trace minerals to boost soil life. The magic elixir can be tailored to the specific needs of your place, and depending on what your goals are, it can be applied as a foliar spray, a seed treatment or be dripped into the soil when using a no-till drill. Stimulating soil microbes leads to better soil aggregation which leads to better water infiltration which helps plants, animals and producers make it through these dry times.

Nicole's book "For the Love of Soil" is a treasure trove of information and inspiration, but I don't remember a lot in there about biochar. And I don't personally know of anyone using it, though I see lots of YouTube videos that make me want to give it a try at least on my garden. Would love to get advice from people who have given biochar a try!

 

[Kara Kroeger]

In a year like this one -- record drought for this part of Montana -- I'm up for trying about anything to increase water retention!

Worm Ambassador Extraordinaire Nicole Masters did a great series of workshops in northern Montana this summer so vermiculture is a hot topic here now. Nicole includes vermicast as a key ingredient in concocting potent but affordable brews of humates, fish hydrolysates and trace minerals to boost soil life. The magic elixir can be tailored to the specific needs of your place, and depending on what your goals are, it can be applied as a foliar spray, a seed treatment or be dripped into the soil when using a no-till drill. Stimulating soil microbes leads to better soil aggregation which leads to better water infiltration which helps plants, animals and producers make it through these dry times.

Nicole's book "For the Love of Soil" is a treasure trove of information and inspiration, but I don't remember a lot in there about biochar. And I don't personally know of anyone using it, though I see lots of YouTube videos that make me want to give it a try at least on my garden. Would love to get advice from people who have given biochar a try!

I visited a rice farm and mill yesterday in Beaumont, Texas and I had a biochar idea after talking with the producer. He said that the rice husk and bran are the lowest profiting by products of the milling process and that he would like to find a way to create a product out of it that would be beneficial or profitable.

Growing rice in the hot and humid climate of East Texas where clay is up to 60% of the soil generates soil conditions that are very low in organic matter, as soil respiration burns it up quickly. I quickly looked up making biochar out of the rice husks and bran to add back to the soil as an amendment and there are many people using it around the globe. Rice production is believed to account for about 20% of methane emissions from man-made sources. Most rice farmers see this as an unavoidable problem, as rice plantations require high amounts of nitrogen and constant flooding, which encourages decomposition of organic material by anaerobic microbes.

This article discusses some of the benefits of using rice hull biochar in rice farming which I found very interesting. Overall, researchers have found that application of RHB has the ability to improve soil nutrient status, increase crop yield, improve water retention, encourage carbon sequestration, increase cation exchange capacity, decrease nitrogen leaching and able to reduce toxicity in contaminated soils. I think I'll pass this info onto the producer/miller. Could be a new frontier for Texas rice farmers, many of which are certified organic.

 

[Linda Poole]

Just now heard Walter Jehne give the keynote address to the 2021 Manitoba Forage and Grasslands Association Regenerative Ag conference. He presented so much powerful information on what we can do as land managers to restore our soil sponge! If I understood Dr. Jehne correctly, biostimulants can be useful when they are tailored to the factors holding back soil biology. So the use of fungi-rich or fungi-stimulating extracts might be useful to heal bacterial-dominated soils. But biochar didn't seem to get a resounding thumbs up from him. The pyrolysis process of manufacturing and using biochar is a net releaser, rather than sequesterer (if there is such a word), of carbon.

 

[HernanC]

That's interesting to hear Linda. So although there may be some benefits in using biochar, in some cases it may ultimately prove futile if we're adding more carbon into the atmosphere huh? I'm not totally convinced on using it just yet on the 5 acres that I currently manage in Texas, but that's mostly because I'm not sure how much of it to apply. I'm happy to hear suggestions.

 

[Peter of Asheville]

I visited a rice farm and mill yesterday in Beaumont, Texas and I had a biochar idea after talking with the producer. He said that the rice husk and bran are the lowest profiting by products of the milling process and that he would like to find a way to create a product out of it that would be beneficial or profitable.

Growing rice in the hot and humid climate of East Texas where clay is up to 60% of the soil generates soil conditions that are very low in organic matter, as soil respiration burns it up quickly. I quickly looked up making biochar out of the rice husks and bran to add back to the soil as an amendment and there are many people using it around the globe. Rice production is believed to account for about 20% of methane emissions from man-made sources. Most rice farmers see this as an unavoidable problem, as rice plantations require high amounts of nitrogen and constant flooding, which encourages decomposition of organic material by anaerobic microbes.

This article discusses some of the benefits of using rice hull biochar in rice farming which I found very interesting. Overall, researchers have found that application of RHB has the ability to improve soil nutrient status, increase crop yield, improve water retention, encourage carbon sequestration, increase cation exchange capacity, decrease nitrogen leaching and able to reduce toxicity in contaminated soils. I think I'll pass this info onto the producer/miller. Could be a new frontier for Texas rice farmers, many of which are certified organic.

Thanks for the benefits of rice hull biochar article. Good stuff. Have the East Texas rice farmers read, "One Straw Revolution" -Fukuoka. He describes rice cultivation techniques that reduce flooding and eliminate N application.

 

[Peter of Asheville]

Just now heard Walter Jehne give the keynote address to the 2021 Manitoba Forage and Grasslands Association Regenerative Ag conference. He presented so much powerful information on what we can do as land managers to restore our soil sponge! If I understood Dr. Jehne correctly, biostimulants can be useful when they are tailored to the factors holding back soil biology. So the use of fungi-rich or fungi-stimulating extracts might be useful to heal bacterial-dominated soils. But biochar didn't seem to get a resounding thumbs up from him. The pyrolysis process of manufacturing and using biochar is a net releaser, rather than sequesterer (if there is such a word), of carbon.

Linda, do you have some references regarding the net carbon release from biochar production? A search on scholar.google.gov for 'biochar carbon sequestration' seems to provide a variety of results that indicate biochar as a net carbon sink...though of course the devil is in the details. Source material, process, transport, etc... all play a big role in the carbon balance of a product/operation.

 

[Peter of Asheville]

That's interesting to hear Linda. So although there may be some benefits in using biochar, in some cases it may ultimately prove futile if we're adding more carbon into the atmosphere huh? I'm not totally convinced on using it just yet on the 5 acres that I currently manage in Texas, but that's mostly because I'm not sure how much of it to apply. I'm happy to hear suggestions.

Hernan,

I don't have quantitative results, but overall, I believe the biochar we make, condition in our compost piles, and spread on our little startup farm is providing benefit. I have read/heard it can be especially useful for soils with low cation exchange capacity, and recently learned in a bioagtive.com webinar that biochar can mitigate alkali soils as well. Our soils were severely degraded, and the areas where we have applied biochar have improved. We spread compost that's between 10% and 20% biochar with a mini manure spreader directly on raised beds to a depth of about 1/4 inch. We try to do this right before or during a rain evet to get some of the biology washed down to the soil surface below the cover crop or crop residue it's typically applied on. I've accumulated a few links on biochar production on our website here:

Psycho Chicken Eco Farm

Responsible farming in Asheville, NC. Go beyond organic. Go Psycho.

www.psychochickenecofarm.com

Small scale is simple, and an open pit makes more hydrophilic char. This char takes on moisture/nutrients/biology more quickly than the more hydrophobic biochar produced in the sealed steel retort process many larger, industrial producers use which can leave an oily residue on the char, making it more difficult to wet and absorb nutrients during the pre-charge phase before spreading. Open pit production also doesn't produce any liquid waste like the sealed retort systems do.

From everything I've read however, pre-charging the biochar with nutrients/biology in a compost pile, or an active aerated compost tea is important prior to spreading. A little goes a long way. I'm not seeing good quantitative, long term research indicating application rates. We use about 1 cubic yard of coarse (average 1/4 inch diameter) biochar per acre, but again, that's been incorporated into a compost pile at 20% biochar by volume and allowed to rest for at least six months prior to application.

Last year I made an instructional video on biochar production for the Organicgrowersschool.org 's holistic crop management program which you can find here:

Hope you find this useful.

-Peter

 

[Linda Poole]

Peter of Asheville wrote:

Linda, do you have some references regarding the net carbon release from biochar production? A search on scholar.google.gov for 'biochar carbon sequestration' seems to provide a variety of results that indicate biochar as a net carbon sink...though of course the devil is in the details. Source material, process, transport, etc... all play a big role in the carbon balance of a product/operation.

Thanks for your post, Peter. I'm just a neophyte in learning about biochar and am enjoying the discussion in this thread.

I recently saw a talk by Dr. Francesca Cotrufo, Professor of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University. Her excellent presentation at the 2021 Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association Conference indicated that biochar amendments increase soil carbon, but as you mentioned, the devil is in the details. If I interpreted her presentation correctly, a person producing and using biochar on site has far greater likelihood of a net benefit. She noted that if not incorporated into the soil, biochar can be lost via erosion at which point the practice becomes problematic. Google Scholar includes several of her publications on the topic.

I was impressed with Dr. Cotrufo's cogent presentation on the relative effects of conservation tillage versus cover crops versus biochar applications on carbon sequestration in soils. Biochar done right looks impressive.

From discussing biochar, Dr. Cotrufo moved onto discussing accrual versus turnover of soil carbon, and the different properties of particulate organic matter (POM) versus mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM). I failed to scribble down all the important details but glommed onto one of her conclusions: that conversion of cropland to grazed prairie may be the most effective practice to capture both POM and MAOM in mollisols. She referenced the attached 2017 paper by Conant et al., bringing home the point that grassland management has great potential for carbon sequestration.

 

[Peter of Asheville]

Linda,

Thanks for sharing all you learned from the talks referenced above, as well as the grassland paper. I especially appreciate the distinctions you motioned between Particulate Organic Matter and Mineral-associated Organic Matter. Have you run across references directly comparing carbon sequestration potential of converting to no-till systems compared to converting to grassland grassing? Both Gabe Brown ("From Dirt to Soil" author and owner of Brown's Ranch, and of course understanding ag partner...https://understandingag.com/partners/gabe-brown/) and Will Harris down at white oak pastures in GA have shown a lot of sequestration potential with good grazing management. And I believe Gabe rotates livestock through some of his no-till cropland, but I'm not remembering the details of an analysis.

There's also some interesting work being done by the Bioagtive folks up in Alberta:
www.bioagtive.com

They are capturing tractor exhaust, by bubbling/cooling it in water tanks, which is then fed through another tank of biologically active organisms, with everything then being put on the field either through a seeder tip or sprayed (I think...). I've just recently discovered this company. They have free seminars every Thursday morning via Zoom, and have several tractors across North America outfitted with the technology. They are claiming one can eliminate their fertilizer bill by injecting the CO2 from exhaust directly into the soil to feed soil microbes. Included in that exhaust stream is a lot of partially burnt fuel (not converted completely to CO2) AKA soot or micro biochar. This micro char appears to have the ability to do a lot of things conventional biochar can.

I definitely would not have though of injecting diesel exhaust into soil, but it seems to be working, and the Canadian organic certifiers now accept this as a valid organic practice. I guess if broken down small enough, soil biology is fine using it as a food source where it can enter the soil food web and eventually get more or less tightly sequestered.

It's an interesting space to watch.

Best wishes,

Peter

 

[BobB]

I have just joined the Soil for Water forum and saw this group and appreciate all of the input and comments so far. I have been working with soil health as a technology consultant for several years after having worked in the environmental science field for over 30 years. My goal is to find, test and apply old and new technologies that can help manage our soil and crop/plant production more effectively concurrently providing farmers better profitability as well.

I have worked with soil respiration and organic nitrogen testing and application so we can accurately measure changes to our soil microbial population, we all see many new products/processes like Bioagtive but unless we can prove a benefit that is environmentally and cost-effective it remains an unknown. I am working with two products/processes that may be of interest to all. I have found that a new test process called microbiometer, https://microbiometer.com/ , allows you to quickly and at low cost measure your microbial biomass and fungi to bacteria ratio. The process can be performed in the field on field moist soil, no drying or incubation. I believe based on the data and my own bench testing this test process indicates microbial biomass more accurately than CO2 respiration. Not all microbes respire at any one time, a variety of stress or plant signaling can cause respiration.

In my quest to improve soil health, wind and water erosion of topsoil and its nutrients is significant. We all know that adding organic matter along with its improved aggregate stability from fungi's glomalin can give us erosion protection. We also know that adding organic matter of more than .5% per year is very difficult, so see this as a decade-long process. I represent a company that can provide a micronized polyacrylamide product that has been researched and studied for decades by the USDA/NRCS and found to be a great short-term surface erosion tool. I will be the last person to suggest man-made chemicals or products but all the data and testing indicates this to be a great tool for bridging soils to good soil health.

If anyone is interested in more information please contact me, bob@ingenuityworx.com

 

[Peter of Asheville]

Bob,

Thanks for your note. I'm glad that you mentioned you were the last person to suggest man-made chemicals for environmental application, but then you did. There are biological alternatives that are as effective, less costly, and dont intriduce synthetic chemicals into our soil. Elaine Ingrahm has demonstrated application of appropriate microbes to steep disturbed slopes stopping all erosion within 24 hours.

In my tests, while the microbiometer provides repeatable results, the results between different devices on the same sample (the analysis uses an app and your cell phone camera) were too variable to rely on the technology for absolute measurements. While it seemed to be adequate for tracking trends, a pixel3 phone, and a samsung phone produced such different results, it would have changed the recommended measures of remediation.

So I'll add that an approach must also be accurate, in addition to your comments about bioagtive above. As far as proving its benefit, while this is a relatively new technology, I guess you'll have to ask the farmers with thousands of acres under cultivation with the bioagtive tech, if eliminating their fertilizer bill has been worth it.

 

[BobB]

Peter,

I think we are pointing in the same direction on soil health but have some differences or thoughts about how we get there which is fine. I have yet to see any real information or data suggesting that we can magically improve organic matter and a resulting aggregate stability improvement quickly using just microbes but always open to new developments. We all need to use synthetic chemicals in our everyday life, not all are hazardous or harmful to the environment and people.

Dare I say that fueling your tractor with gas or diesel every day is more harmful than adding several pounds of polyacrylamide to surface soil, that risk assessment, and chemical data support as safe. Mother nature can provide for everything we need when the world's population was less than a billion but now struggling to support more than 8 billion. We need all the tools we can find to help nature out.

 

[Peter of Asheville]

Peter,

I think we are pointing in the same direction on soil health but have some differences or thoughts about how we get there which is fine. I have yet to see any real information or data suggesting that we can magically improve organic matter and a resulting aggregate stability improvement quickly using just microbes but always open to new developments. We all need to use synthetic chemicals in our everyday life, not all are hazardous or harmful to the environment and people.

Dare I say that fueling your tractor with gas or diesel every day is more harmful than adding several pounds of polyacrylamide to surface soil, that risk assessment, and chemical data support as safe. Mother nature can provide for everything we need when the world's population was less than a billion but now struggling to support more than 8 billion. We need all the tools we can find to help nature out.

Bob,

Or perhaps we need fewer than 8 billion people?...

For soil carbon and agregate building via biological processes, the data is there. Are you familiar with John Kemf's podcasts:
http://regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com/ (the first three are real eye openers).

Dr. Elaine Ingham

Elaine Ingham - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Dr. David Johnson

Dr. David Johnson's Research on Fungal-Dominated Compost and Carbon Sequestration – Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems

Dr. David Johnson's research on biologically correct, fungal-dominated compost for carbon sequestration is showing exciting results.

www.csuchico.edu

Rodale Institute has 30+ years of data showing chemical free farming as more productive than using the 'tools' we feel we need to use to 'help' mother nature out.

Rodale Institute - Global Leaders in Organic Agriculture Research

Rodale Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to growing the regenerative organic movement through agricultural research and education.

rodaleinstitute.org

I recommend, if you haven't read them already, taking a look at:
"From Dirt to Soil" --Brown

For one of the best long term case studies of building soil carbon through biology/livestock.

Then of course Nicole Masters' 'For the Love of Soil'... many more examples there.
and well, any or all of the books on my favorites list:

Psycho Chicken Eco Farm

Responsible farming in Asheville, NC. Go beyond organic. Go Psycho.

www.psychochickenecofarm.com

You've put out a little bit of a false equavalency there saying tractors are worse than spreading polyacrylamide on the landscape. How exactly were you planning on getting the polyacrylamide there?

If you're going to use a tractor, why not turn its exhaust into your fertilizer and inject it direct into your soil as bioagtive does now?

How many manmade substances "that risk assessment, and chemical data support as safe," in the early days are now know carcinogens/toxins causing tragic consiquences to planetary health? Plastic drinking bottles among them. Humanity thinks it's pretty smart, but our history is riddled with unforseen consiqueces of our best efforts to improve the human condition, ultimately at the expense of nature (of which we are a part). In the case of farming, we're activly doing significant damage by 'helping' as we contine to poison soil with chemical salt fertilizers, tillage, man made persistent chemicals, and pesticides to the point that we're approaching ireprable harm.

If you haven't seen it:
"Breaking Boundaries, The Science of our Planet" on netflix is a real eye opener.

But at this point, we've veered pretty far afield from the 'compost and biochar' forum we're in. I'm happy to discuss more in a more appropriate venu if you desire.


Peter

 

[Prairie Shepherd]

Thanks for posting so many valuable links, Peter of Asheville. Huge fan here of Dr. David Johnson's work.

I have found the Microbiometer to be useful (and fun!) in on-farm comparisons of various compost piles and of soils under differing management on my place. The affordability and immediacy of Micrometer testing is a huge plus at this low-budget, actively experimenting stage of my property's soil health journey.

 

[Peter of Asheville]

Thanks for posting so many valuable links, Peter of Asheville. Huge fan here of Dr. David Johnson's work.

I have found the Microbiometer to be useful (and fun!) in on-farm comparisons of various compost piles and of soils under differing management on my place. The affordability and immediacy of Micrometer testing is a huge plus at this low-budget, actively experimenting stage of my property's soil health journey.

Prairie Shepherd,

The Microbiometer is definitely a cool tool providing repeatable results if used on the same device (phone/tablet)--perfect for relative comparisons to see if you're pushing your compost/soil in one direction or another. Just be aware that your results may vary a great deal between devices so it may not be a great instrument for absolute measurements. Though I imagine you could take a result for a laboratory sample and calibrate your microbiometer results for that device off of the lab results...

Best of luck on your soil health Journey. It's exciting for the regenerative/biological farming revolution taking place right now. It's going to save thousands of farms who adopt it from bankruptcy!