Why is your program better than a traditional program?

 

Traditional programs rely on NPK fertilizers that will force feed the plants and load the soil with a lot of soluble salts. The growth from compost extract will be more natural and create a more nutritionally dense forage and healthier plant. Our sustainable program will help grazers get better performance from their forages. All plants on our sustainable program will survive drought better by lasting longer and coming out quicker. Many growers tell us that the thatch breaks down much quicker and manure management is no longer an issue.

 

How much does it cost?

 

We can work with your current fertilizer budget to create a sustainable fertility program. Typically applications run about $25.00 an acre per applications on 100 acres or more. For properties less than 100 acres please call for pricing. Our program prices can be as low as $21.50 per acre for a year long program.

 

How do you make your liquid compost?

 

We start with high-quality, frequently-tested compost from master composters around the country – people such as Malcolm Beck of Gardenville, John Fugerson of Nature’s Way, Pogo of Pogo’s, George Hahn of Wormgold, Jeff Lowenfels of Alaska Humus, Mark Sturges of Sturges Beetle Farm, and many others. We add and maintain the compost quality in a number of way, adding water, shade, and occasionally adding other beneficial microbes and food sources.

 

When we make the liquid compost, we use high water pressure to extract the beneficial biological components from the compost, including active and total bacteria, active and total fungi, protozoa, and nematodes. The resulting extract is then delivered to your location and applied by our experts.

 

Where and how do you deliver?

 

Sustainable Growth Texas, LLC is based near Lake Granger in Central Texas. Including this location, we have 4 teams of experts in other parts of Texas who can handle nearly all growing situations. Our extract has a 5-7 day shelf life, so we can haul it anywhere in the state. We haul by the sprayer, by the tanker truckload, 500 gallons and anything in between.

 

How much liquid compost do I need?

 

That will depend on how much acreage you wish to treat, the type of land you are treating (pasture, yard, orchard, other), and the starting condition of the land. We will work with you to come up with a personalized program for applying the liquid compost. Below is a generalized year 1 plan for treating pasture with liquid compost - amounts are to be used per acre of land.

• 15-20 gallons liquid compost to drench the soil in early spring or late fall, whenever you start your program

• 10-15 gallons organic fertilizer mix (fish hydrolyzed, non-sulfur molasses, humic and folic acid, plus whatever your land needs)

• 15-20 gallons liquid compost from late July to mid-August to help stressed plants

• 15-20 gallons liquid compost from late October/November to make sure that thatch decomposes and reduce the chance that the bad guys will over-winter and multiply

How do I get started with liquid compost?

 

Give us a call. We can visit your site and help you set up a transition plan. We will start by showing you how to take and send off soil biological and chemistry tests. This will determine the condition of your land and what is happening to it. Then, we will put the biology back by applying compost, spraying compost tea/extract, and adding additional food resources to your tea. Eventually, you can - learn to think of your soil as having life and manage it that way.

 

When is the best time to start re-inoculating the soil with liquid compost?

 

In Texas, we always say ‘NOW!’ The sooner you start, the longer the biology has to adapt and ‘settle in’ and start working for you. Unless the temperature is over 100 degrees F, the ground is frozen, or the moisture level is less than 13%, we will apply liquid compost. Use common sense, however – if a storm is anticipated, don’t apply; if it is drizzling and you aren’t making ‘ruts’ with your machinery, that’s a good time. If the ground is already below 45 degrees F, and you expect a hard freeze tonight, don’t apply. In the summer time try to apply early or later afternoons, as the plant stoma’s are open then – but remember, you are also trying to cover the plant foliage, so better to put out when you can rather than not put out at all.

 

When do we think the most effective times to start a liquid compost program?

 

It really depends, on what you are trying to accomplish. Are insects your worst nightmare? Or, are weeds choking out your intended crop? Which chemicals have you been using for the last several years? Or, are you trying to save dollars by stopping buys of inorganic fertilizer and switching to less expensive (2005+) organic fertilizers?

 

Most of our ‘Value Programs for Specific Crops’ call for a fall/early winter liquid compost drench of 15-20 gallons to the acre and another 15-20 gallons per acre in the early spring (during what the old timers call ‘the awakening’ ).

 

Here are some general guide lines: #1 time to impact soil health is the Fall/Winter if the over-wintering soil conditions need to be changed:

 

Lets say insect pests that spend all or at least part of their lives in the soil are your biggest problems – pecan weevils, white grub, root rot, cocidiousis, mastitis’s, fusarium, then soil drench in the fall/early winter. The litter lying on the ground top will be decomposed, thus changing the environment for the ‘bad guys’ who like to grow in all that old, moldy litter. Get rid of the litter with the biology and you can drastically reduce the numbers of the bad guys.

 

Or, the balanced, full soilfood web biology needs a chance for rapid growth. The bacteria and fungi will continue to grow during the winter and when the protozoa and nematodes wake up in early spring they will have huge plates of bacteria and fungi to eat and you will reap the benefit of rapid nutrient cycling!

 

Where did you all learn about soil biology?

 

Dr. Elaine Ingham from Corvallis, Oregon, president of the Soil Food Web, Inc. has been the driving force in replenishing the soil with the proper soil biology. We have been fortunate to attend her classes, lectures and readings. She is a visionary for sustainable farming.

 

What is the difference between liquid compost extract and compost tea?

 

Compost extract is all the ingredients in compost minus the bulk. Liquid compost extract will have much better diversity than teas because liquid compost has everything that was in the original compost. Liquid compost has a shelf life of 5-7 days and longer in the winter which makes it a commercially viable product and allows for liquid compost to be made, shipped and applied without worry of loosing its effectiveness. The extraction process separates the minerals, biology, humic and fulvic acids, and many other life giving ingredients from the original compost creating a Liquid Compost that is nutrient dense and a very powerful soil building and foliar feeding concentrate.

 

Compost tea on the other had takes a small volume of compost and small portions of food added to water then actively aerated for a specific amount of time to allow microbes in the compost to wake up and begin to multiply. Properly brewed teas can be effective but have major limitations for commercial operations. Compost teas will have fewer species that will multiply in the conditions that are in the tea at that time based on food, temperature, water quality, and length of aeration. A teas shelf life is extremely limited, once aeration is stopped it is a matter of hours before the actively feeding microbes consume all of the available oxygen and the tea goes anaerobic killing most of the desirable microbes. With a limited shelf life, less diversity, less mineral content compost teas have a limited role in commercial growing, farming and ranching operations.

 

Does your program replace my current program?

 

Yes, it can. Sustainable Growth Texas will build a complete program for your operation. With the use of Liquid Compost and other sustainable products we have all the tools you will need for a successful program. If you desire only to incorporate liquid compost into your existing fertility program we will be happy to assist you in anyway we can.