I wrote this for another reason and thought it may be of interest here. It need not be applied to a large farm nor to wheat.
Here is a little outline I wrote up. I do not plan on defending it because I do not have the time, It is meant to promote thinking and research. Sorry but I paid little attention to grammar/structure. You can google everything mentioned.
Prospectus;
This is an informal prospectus from my opinion, outlining the steps a farmer could take on a 10,000 acre farm, producing primarily wheat, to provide/manufacture most of the farm’s nutrient requirements on farm. The reason I say most is that it may be necessary or beneficial to purchase some amounts of rock/clay powders, seed stock, microbial seed stock and of course there will be an initial purchase of equipment and building supplies.
This has come about based on the statements which I made;
“ I just don't buy the story that humans cannot produce just as much food worldwide using intelligent natural growing methods rather than NPK.”
&
“It is a case of utilizing non-exploitive (or less exploitive) scientific techniques based on the microbial nutrient cycle (which are easily applied on farm).”
Followed by; THE CHALLENGE
“So I'm curious,
Tell me how you would farm 10,000 acres of wheat using only natural inputs.
I want to know how you will maximize yields so much that the neighboring farm (which uses your techniques plus synthetics) can't exceed your production.
I want examples to be available to every farmer, not just one that gets rights to a surplus of bio-solids or Dairy farm manure.”
Because this discussion is taking place in the USA we will base this outline on an American wheat farm. Someone had brought up a couple of points I thought I’d address briefly which are more politically oriented. One is that wheat and other farm products are competing in the global market and this may be one reason that synthetic fertilizers are necessary. This would be true were it not for the fact that US and European farmers receive huge subsidies which give them enormous advantage in world agricultural trade. The other is that there is just not enough farmland to feed the world. This may end up being true eventually but based on what I see and read there are more and more farms turning into housing, golf courses, recreation land or just being abandoned. Besides this, it is my opinion that food output could be increased simply through more efficiently operated and diversified farms.
Now, I’ve got to say I’m no expert on wheat farming so that puts me at a disadvantage. What I am going to be proposing here is in no way complete but is more of a skeletal outline. It is not based on an operating farm but on a collection of techniques which are either presently being used somewhere or are practical hypotheses. All of the techniques presented can be researched on the Internet. Obviously some techniques will require adaptation to suit climatic region or other geographic circumstances.
I have not addressed the economics of initiating these techniques, which in many cases will be expensive but acquiring and maintaining equipment for a 10,000 acre wheat farm is very expensive anyway. I have also not taken the time to work out the physical size parameters of the technical operations needed to supply 10,000 acres but I might make some guesses as I proceed. Basically it is up to our farmer, through her/his research, to estimate how many square feet of barn he/she will need, etc.
For the ideas proposed to succeed the farmer is going to need to face the fact of some ‘crop’ diversification and there will be a learning curve involved in this. Altogether, what I propose should not occupy more than 10 acres of the farm. From what I’ve read there is already some legumes like soybeans being grown and harvested in between wheat harvests where applicable and this is a growing trend in the US. Not only does this give the farmer additional income but adds a little nitrogen to the soil as legumes do in symbiosis with bacteria. Any other marketable crops which can be grown in similar fashion can only help. Of course green manure crops will also contribute to the soil fertility but these are additional to the techniques I am proposing.
Initial major capital expenditures will or may include 1/ construction of; around 5 to 10, 1000 gallon or larger aerated compost tea brewers which double as liquid compost extract slurry makers 2/ at least one strong irrigation/trash pump and wide open bore irrigation gun with line (or liquid manure applier)
3/ construction of; several barns for housing mushroom growing 4/ construction of; several barns or other containers for housing composting worms 5/ initial composting worms as starter stock
6/ construction of; fermentor/digester and ethanol distiller 7/ tanks or excavations for housing of fish for aquaculture 8/ algae bioreactor and/or ponds 9/ potentially a large greenhouse.
One thing that this prospectus relies upon is at least a medium supply of water, meaning that there is at least enough water to do a heavy irrigation a couple or three times a season and to keep reservoirs filled. A dry land operation would need an altered system.
As a beginning point I’ll choose the harvest. Following the combine removing the wheat the farmer uses something like a mower and hay stacker or silage maker to harvest the straw. This straw is then disbursed into the mushroom barns as a substrate to be inoculated with mushrooms. (Some would be stored to be used later). As it turns out wheat straw is primarily lignocellulose and is a perfect food for lignocellulolytic fungi. Two types of these fungi are very popular edible mushrooms which can be cultivated with relative ease. They are Lentinula edodes, Shiitake mushrooms and Pleurotus sajor-caju Oyster mushroom. There is a growing market for these mushrooms fresh but there is an enormous demand for them dried plus they can be frozen. There may also be other suitable species. This additional crop provides the farmer with additional income, even through the winter. The waste or compost left by the mushrooms is full of nutrients which could be applied to the field but hold on a minute.
The mushrooms have essentially converted the lignocellulose into a form of sugar which can be fermented then distilled to make ethanol which will power the gasoline engines on the farm. Or you can mix in some manure (or…) and ferment for methanol which can operate diesel engines, heaters and stoves. Being able to generate their own energy is a huge savings for a farmer. Something else which enhances the fuel process greatly is the use of algae in the mix. It is easy to create an algae grower by just making a shallow tank with a flow through or by making a form of bioreactor with clear piping or plastic and a pump. It is easier to grow algae than it is to not grow it. All you need is light, water and maybe a little mushroom carbon. And did I mention it is a great organic fertilizer with cyanobacteria one of the greatest nitrogen sources available. There are starter species of algae commercially available. Okay, now we have this wonderful stuff left in the fermentors/digesters after making our fuel of choice. Not only could we spread it on the fields, feed it to the chickens, pigs or fish [oh ya! we’ll get to the fish] but hold on a minute.
We first feed it to the composting worms. As it is shoveled into the worm barn it may be a good idea to add small amounts of rock phosphate and rock/clay powders, depending on the soil requirements. [the farmer may find some powders locally in creek beds, etc.] Once the worms have thoroughly digested the material the farmer will have a super concentrate with sequestered nutrients damn close to the finest humus money can buy. The farmer can verify this by testing over 72 hours and examine microscopically. The farmer could then decide to spread/apply this substance to the fields and almost assuredly have sufficient nutrients to feed the soil but to maximize his results, especially in certain quadrants the farmer may choose to brew aerated compost tea (ACT) which can be checked microscopically for the desired microbial make up prior to application. The brewer design is a simple free suspension format using air lifts and can be brewed in the field and applied using the aforementioned irrigation/trash pump and gun or liquid manure sprayer. The irrigation method will save on the number of passes over the fields with equipment. The vermicompost should be screened as it is loaded into the brewer. If the farmer does not feel that ACT is needed he may choose to use the same device/brewer to create a liquid compost extract slurry [idea originating with author kinda] which is the same as liquid compost extract, in that the microbes are stripped from their binding spots but there is no separation of the liquid from solid. Again rock powders can be added if needed. [note that rock powders should be milled/screened fine] This very thick slurry is applied the same way through the pump and is created as fast as the [1000 gal.] tank can be loaded. In similar fashion algae can be applied, which is virtually free fertilizer.
An additional attribute to composting with worms is that the population increases rapidly so the farmer may derive additional income from worm sales if desired. The going price is $20 to $40 per pound.
You might be saying, boy that farmer really has it together and certainly does not have a shortage of organic matter nutrients but this farmer wants to cover all bases possible. He/she has also fermented lacto bacillus cultures and EM through easy to follow online directions which she/he applies to the soil at appropriate times in accordance with educational resources related to microbial based horticulture [usually post harvest to assist with stubble decomposition & microbial population]. In addition to this she/he has learned to grow certain plants like nettles and comfrey from which nutrients can be extracted in various ways and the residue is used in the fuel digesters and then fed to farm animals, fish and worms. The farmer is also growing cattails in a one acre sewage pond which are used for additional fuel processing and animal feed. The cattails also produce purified water from the sewage pond which, after testing, can be used for irrigation, fish, and worms (moisture).
And what about the fish? Closed water body inland farm raised fish is a growing food industry. Both fresh and salt water fish are being raised but freshwater fish probably are the most logical choice. There are many species to choose from which can be decided upon according to facilities, temperature, preference of farmer, market availability & demand, type of feed required, etc. There are tilapia on one hand which require a warm temperature and possibly a greenhouse setting and catfish on the other which can thrive in irrigation ditches. Perhaps the largest deciding factor will be the ease with which feed for the fish can be raised. Some fish feed on wheat and plant matter….well that’s a no brainer; others may eat worms…another no brainer. Some other choices include trout, salmon (fresh water raised), kokanee, char, bass… Besides providing a potentially tremendous additional source of income through meat sales the aquaculture portion of the farm provides another source of organic nutrient concentrate. The water pumped from the fish holding tanks/ditches/ponds is a great nutrient source, complete with nutrient cycling microbes. If the farm processes the fish itself (e.g. makes fillets, etc.) then they can process the remains enzymatically into fish hydrolysate, another fabulous organic matter fertilizer (soil microbe food). Most fish hydrolysate is a good source of phosphorous and nitrogen.
In preparation for planting time, following instructions available at the Rodale Institute (Doudes)(sp?) the farmer has cultivated her/his own endomycorrhizal spores with which to inoculate seeds. These mycorrhizal spores are likely much more numerous and of a much higher quality than those which are commercially available in freeze dried form. As we know these fungi deliver sequestered nutrients directly to the roots of their host.
If the farmer keeps livestock, he/she has the bonus option of applying manure or thermophylic compost or adding it to the worm food but in this monologue I have purposefully avoided the use of livestock manures per se because there is hypothetically not enough space for enough large animals for this practice to pragmatic.
Now I think I’ve addressed the first part of the challenge and have shown that more than enough soil nutrients can be produced on farm to support a wheat farm and probably any sort of farm. Using these techniques will require more labor but there are trade offs in financial savings overall. There is also the bonus about feeling better about what the farmer is producing. One of the greatest problems will be overcoming potential poor soil life/conditions from previous years of synthetic conventional farming. Based on the author’s experience, studies and observations, through using these techniques the soil, quality of crop and yield will improve progressively for the first few years before leveling off (stabilizing).
The author can only speculate about the yield of wheat but based on experience and observations other crop types have produced as high or higher yields when similar organic methods have been compared to synthetic ones. Crops compared were cut flowers, hemp, grass/alfalfa hay, tomatoes, peas.
A potential drawback to this method which requires research is the negative effect of seeds inoculated with fungicides as mandated by law.
Review of Basic Processes;
Harvest straw from field > growth of mushrooms > growth of algae for fertilizer [bioreactor, pond = cyanobacteria] > growth of plant types [extracted nutrients/animal feed/fuel] > production of ethanol/methane > digester sludge fed to worms [= vermicompost] > cultivate endomycorrhizal spores > lacto bacillus & EM cultures > aerated compost tea/liquid compost extract slurry > aquaculture > fish hydrolysate >
Now for the second part of the question/challenge; “I want to know how you will maximize yields so much that the neighboring farm (which uses your techniques plus synthetics) can't exceed your production.”
I do not know why the farmer’s neighbor would wish to use synthetics in combination with these techniques, as common sense logic alone points to the probability that using synthetics will cause a decline and loss of balance over time in the life, growing over time in the soil. Besides this logical approach, there are many researchers who have reported supportive observations. (Doudes among others). Besides these points, the author has observed the apparent ‘loss of life’ and proliferation of pests and disease over time in fields and garden beds treated with recommended synthetic fertilizers. However, there is a likelihood that in the first season or two that the farm using both methods combined ‘may’ show a higher yield prior to the downhill spiral almost surely to follow. It is doubtful that any long-term economic gains would be seen from this practice.
Here is a little outline I wrote up. I do not plan on defending it because I do not have the time, It is meant to promote thinking and research. Sorry but I paid little attention to grammar/structure. You can google everything mentioned.
Prospectus;
This is an informal prospectus from my opinion, outlining the steps a farmer could take on a 10,000 acre farm, producing primarily wheat, to provide/manufacture most of the farm’s nutrient requirements on farm. The reason I say most is that it may be necessary or beneficial to purchase some amounts of rock/clay powders, seed stock, microbial seed stock and of course there will be an initial purchase of equipment and building supplies.
This has come about based on the statements which I made;
“ I just don't buy the story that humans cannot produce just as much food worldwide using intelligent natural growing methods rather than NPK.”
&
“It is a case of utilizing non-exploitive (or less exploitive) scientific techniques based on the microbial nutrient cycle (which are easily applied on farm).”
Followed by; THE CHALLENGE
“So I'm curious,
Tell me how you would farm 10,000 acres of wheat using only natural inputs.
I want to know how you will maximize yields so much that the neighboring farm (which uses your techniques plus synthetics) can't exceed your production.
I want examples to be available to every farmer, not just one that gets rights to a surplus of bio-solids or Dairy farm manure.”
Because this discussion is taking place in the USA we will base this outline on an American wheat farm. Someone had brought up a couple of points I thought I’d address briefly which are more politically oriented. One is that wheat and other farm products are competing in the global market and this may be one reason that synthetic fertilizers are necessary. This would be true were it not for the fact that US and European farmers receive huge subsidies which give them enormous advantage in world agricultural trade. The other is that there is just not enough farmland to feed the world. This may end up being true eventually but based on what I see and read there are more and more farms turning into housing, golf courses, recreation land or just being abandoned. Besides this, it is my opinion that food output could be increased simply through more efficiently operated and diversified farms.
Now, I’ve got to say I’m no expert on wheat farming so that puts me at a disadvantage. What I am going to be proposing here is in no way complete but is more of a skeletal outline. It is not based on an operating farm but on a collection of techniques which are either presently being used somewhere or are practical hypotheses. All of the techniques presented can be researched on the Internet. Obviously some techniques will require adaptation to suit climatic region or other geographic circumstances.
I have not addressed the economics of initiating these techniques, which in many cases will be expensive but acquiring and maintaining equipment for a 10,000 acre wheat farm is very expensive anyway. I have also not taken the time to work out the physical size parameters of the technical operations needed to supply 10,000 acres but I might make some guesses as I proceed. Basically it is up to our farmer, through her/his research, to estimate how many square feet of barn he/she will need, etc.
For the ideas proposed to succeed the farmer is going to need to face the fact of some ‘crop’ diversification and there will be a learning curve involved in this. Altogether, what I propose should not occupy more than 10 acres of the farm. From what I’ve read there is already some legumes like soybeans being grown and harvested in between wheat harvests where applicable and this is a growing trend in the US. Not only does this give the farmer additional income but adds a little nitrogen to the soil as legumes do in symbiosis with bacteria. Any other marketable crops which can be grown in similar fashion can only help. Of course green manure crops will also contribute to the soil fertility but these are additional to the techniques I am proposing.
Initial major capital expenditures will or may include 1/ construction of; around 5 to 10, 1000 gallon or larger aerated compost tea brewers which double as liquid compost extract slurry makers 2/ at least one strong irrigation/trash pump and wide open bore irrigation gun with line (or liquid manure applier)
3/ construction of; several barns for housing mushroom growing 4/ construction of; several barns or other containers for housing composting worms 5/ initial composting worms as starter stock
6/ construction of; fermentor/digester and ethanol distiller 7/ tanks or excavations for housing of fish for aquaculture 8/ algae bioreactor and/or ponds 9/ potentially a large greenhouse.
One thing that this prospectus relies upon is at least a medium supply of water, meaning that there is at least enough water to do a heavy irrigation a couple or three times a season and to keep reservoirs filled. A dry land operation would need an altered system.
As a beginning point I’ll choose the harvest. Following the combine removing the wheat the farmer uses something like a mower and hay stacker or silage maker to harvest the straw. This straw is then disbursed into the mushroom barns as a substrate to be inoculated with mushrooms. (Some would be stored to be used later). As it turns out wheat straw is primarily lignocellulose and is a perfect food for lignocellulolytic fungi. Two types of these fungi are very popular edible mushrooms which can be cultivated with relative ease. They are Lentinula edodes, Shiitake mushrooms and Pleurotus sajor-caju Oyster mushroom. There is a growing market for these mushrooms fresh but there is an enormous demand for them dried plus they can be frozen. There may also be other suitable species. This additional crop provides the farmer with additional income, even through the winter. The waste or compost left by the mushrooms is full of nutrients which could be applied to the field but hold on a minute.
The mushrooms have essentially converted the lignocellulose into a form of sugar which can be fermented then distilled to make ethanol which will power the gasoline engines on the farm. Or you can mix in some manure (or…) and ferment for methanol which can operate diesel engines, heaters and stoves. Being able to generate their own energy is a huge savings for a farmer. Something else which enhances the fuel process greatly is the use of algae in the mix. It is easy to create an algae grower by just making a shallow tank with a flow through or by making a form of bioreactor with clear piping or plastic and a pump. It is easier to grow algae than it is to not grow it. All you need is light, water and maybe a little mushroom carbon. And did I mention it is a great organic fertilizer with cyanobacteria one of the greatest nitrogen sources available. There are starter species of algae commercially available. Okay, now we have this wonderful stuff left in the fermentors/digesters after making our fuel of choice. Not only could we spread it on the fields, feed it to the chickens, pigs or fish [oh ya! we’ll get to the fish] but hold on a minute.
We first feed it to the composting worms. As it is shoveled into the worm barn it may be a good idea to add small amounts of rock phosphate and rock/clay powders, depending on the soil requirements. [the farmer may find some powders locally in creek beds, etc.] Once the worms have thoroughly digested the material the farmer will have a super concentrate with sequestered nutrients damn close to the finest humus money can buy. The farmer can verify this by testing over 72 hours and examine microscopically. The farmer could then decide to spread/apply this substance to the fields and almost assuredly have sufficient nutrients to feed the soil but to maximize his results, especially in certain quadrants the farmer may choose to brew aerated compost tea (ACT) which can be checked microscopically for the desired microbial make up prior to application. The brewer design is a simple free suspension format using air lifts and can be brewed in the field and applied using the aforementioned irrigation/trash pump and gun or liquid manure sprayer. The irrigation method will save on the number of passes over the fields with equipment. The vermicompost should be screened as it is loaded into the brewer. If the farmer does not feel that ACT is needed he may choose to use the same device/brewer to create a liquid compost extract slurry [idea originating with author kinda] which is the same as liquid compost extract, in that the microbes are stripped from their binding spots but there is no separation of the liquid from solid. Again rock powders can be added if needed. [note that rock powders should be milled/screened fine] This very thick slurry is applied the same way through the pump and is created as fast as the [1000 gal.] tank can be loaded. In similar fashion algae can be applied, which is virtually free fertilizer.
An additional attribute to composting with worms is that the population increases rapidly so the farmer may derive additional income from worm sales if desired. The going price is $20 to $40 per pound.
You might be saying, boy that farmer really has it together and certainly does not have a shortage of organic matter nutrients but this farmer wants to cover all bases possible. He/she has also fermented lacto bacillus cultures and EM through easy to follow online directions which she/he applies to the soil at appropriate times in accordance with educational resources related to microbial based horticulture [usually post harvest to assist with stubble decomposition & microbial population]. In addition to this she/he has learned to grow certain plants like nettles and comfrey from which nutrients can be extracted in various ways and the residue is used in the fuel digesters and then fed to farm animals, fish and worms. The farmer is also growing cattails in a one acre sewage pond which are used for additional fuel processing and animal feed. The cattails also produce purified water from the sewage pond which, after testing, can be used for irrigation, fish, and worms (moisture).
And what about the fish? Closed water body inland farm raised fish is a growing food industry. Both fresh and salt water fish are being raised but freshwater fish probably are the most logical choice. There are many species to choose from which can be decided upon according to facilities, temperature, preference of farmer, market availability & demand, type of feed required, etc. There are tilapia on one hand which require a warm temperature and possibly a greenhouse setting and catfish on the other which can thrive in irrigation ditches. Perhaps the largest deciding factor will be the ease with which feed for the fish can be raised. Some fish feed on wheat and plant matter….well that’s a no brainer; others may eat worms…another no brainer. Some other choices include trout, salmon (fresh water raised), kokanee, char, bass… Besides providing a potentially tremendous additional source of income through meat sales the aquaculture portion of the farm provides another source of organic nutrient concentrate. The water pumped from the fish holding tanks/ditches/ponds is a great nutrient source, complete with nutrient cycling microbes. If the farm processes the fish itself (e.g. makes fillets, etc.) then they can process the remains enzymatically into fish hydrolysate, another fabulous organic matter fertilizer (soil microbe food). Most fish hydrolysate is a good source of phosphorous and nitrogen.
In preparation for planting time, following instructions available at the Rodale Institute (Doudes)(sp?) the farmer has cultivated her/his own endomycorrhizal spores with which to inoculate seeds. These mycorrhizal spores are likely much more numerous and of a much higher quality than those which are commercially available in freeze dried form. As we know these fungi deliver sequestered nutrients directly to the roots of their host.
If the farmer keeps livestock, he/she has the bonus option of applying manure or thermophylic compost or adding it to the worm food but in this monologue I have purposefully avoided the use of livestock manures per se because there is hypothetically not enough space for enough large animals for this practice to pragmatic.
Now I think I’ve addressed the first part of the challenge and have shown that more than enough soil nutrients can be produced on farm to support a wheat farm and probably any sort of farm. Using these techniques will require more labor but there are trade offs in financial savings overall. There is also the bonus about feeling better about what the farmer is producing. One of the greatest problems will be overcoming potential poor soil life/conditions from previous years of synthetic conventional farming. Based on the author’s experience, studies and observations, through using these techniques the soil, quality of crop and yield will improve progressively for the first few years before leveling off (stabilizing).
The author can only speculate about the yield of wheat but based on experience and observations other crop types have produced as high or higher yields when similar organic methods have been compared to synthetic ones. Crops compared were cut flowers, hemp, grass/alfalfa hay, tomatoes, peas.
A potential drawback to this method which requires research is the negative effect of seeds inoculated with fungicides as mandated by law.
Review of Basic Processes;
Harvest straw from field > growth of mushrooms > growth of algae for fertilizer [bioreactor, pond = cyanobacteria] > growth of plant types [extracted nutrients/animal feed/fuel] > production of ethanol/methane > digester sludge fed to worms [= vermicompost] > cultivate endomycorrhizal spores > lacto bacillus & EM cultures > aerated compost tea/liquid compost extract slurry > aquaculture > fish hydrolysate >
Now for the second part of the question/challenge; “I want to know how you will maximize yields so much that the neighboring farm (which uses your techniques plus synthetics) can't exceed your production.”
I do not know why the farmer’s neighbor would wish to use synthetics in combination with these techniques, as common sense logic alone points to the probability that using synthetics will cause a decline and loss of balance over time in the life, growing over time in the soil. Besides this logical approach, there are many researchers who have reported supportive observations. (Doudes among others). Besides these points, the author has observed the apparent ‘loss of life’ and proliferation of pests and disease over time in fields and garden beds treated with recommended synthetic fertilizers. However, there is a likelihood that in the first season or two that the farm using both methods combined ‘may’ show a higher yield prior to the downhill spiral almost surely to follow. It is doubtful that any long-term economic gains would be seen from this practice.
ratio calculations. To find the bio-available C in a feedstock you need to know the % of lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose, or cell wall and lignin, but after that it's easy. I wrote a program to carry out calculations automatically. I can send it to you if you want to try it out (it's a spreadsheet; i can export is as a single sheet, super easy). 
