Progress 06/01/24 to 05/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:Conventional farming practices from the past 60 years have left our soils in a degraded state. The standard practice of tilling disrupts soil structure by breaking down soil aggregates, creating a less porous structure that can hinder water infiltration and reduce the soil's ability to retain water, making plants more vulnerable to drought and erosion. Tilling also releases carbon stored in the soil as carbon dioxide. The use of synthetic fertilizers harms the soil microbiome, diminishing its ability to perform vital functions necessary for growing pest-resistant plants and nutrient-dense foods. The centerpiece of our project is an innovative technology: Johnson-Su composting. Johnson-Su is a static pile composting method that allows fungal hyphae to grow undisturbed, resulting in a fungal-dominant product highly beneficial for regenerating degraded soils. It works best as a liquid inoculant and seed coating, reestablishing a beneficial symbiotic relationship between plants and the soil microbiome they rely on. Using as little as 5 pounds per acre during planting can significantly improve germination rates, plant health, soil structure, and reduce atmospheric carbon. Farmers who use Johnson-Su compost as a seed coating or liquid inoculant can significantly reduce their synthetic fertilizer applications, saving a substantial amount of money. Soil microbes act as a substitute for fertilizers, establishing a symbiotic relationship with plant roots. These microbes play a crucial role in the rhizophagy cycle, a process in which plants obtain nutrients from soil microbes, specifically bacteria and fungi, through a cyclical exchange between a free-living phase in the soil and an intracellular phase within the plant root cells. In this cycle, microbes acquire nutrients in the soil, enter plant root cells, are exposed to reactive oxygen (superoxide), trigger root hair elongation, and are then released back into the soil after extracting nutrients. This cycle is repeated multiple times, enhancing the plant's resilience to stresses from pests and adverse environmental conditions. Cutting back on fertilizer use will lessen the runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus into waterways, which leads to algal blooms and helps create dead zones along the world's coastal areas. There are many benefits to increasing the microbiology in the soil. These benefits include improved plant health, greater nutrient density in crops, enhanced water-holding capacity in the soil, and reduced dependence on synthetic fertilizers. These advantages not only allow farmers to enjoy farming again but also restore the health of the soil for future generations. Target Audiences: Regional Farmers,Local Community and Backyard Gardeners, and Elementary Students. Regional Farmers: Regional Farmers will see reduced costs regarding tilling, purchase of commercial fertilizers, and water acquisition due to the soil's ability to absorb water more efficiently. The microbiome created by the soil inoculum hasincreased crop yields as well as protected crops from pests andextreme weather events. Local Community and Backyard Gardeners: Local community backyard gardeners are reaping the benefits of our Living Earth product for the same reasons as our regional farmers. These gardeners are discovering more about soil microbes and improved methods for treating the land. Elementary Students: We collect leftover food from five elementary schools. Before our program, these students discarded all their food scraps along with their Styrofoam trays and plastic silverware. Now, they have a compost station in each school cafeteria, and the students have learned to separate their food leftovers from the landfill trash. They now recognize that their food scraps are a valuable resource that can be utilized productively to enhance soil and improve plant health, rather than being wasted. We also offer a healthy soils curriculum to 4th-grade students in participating schools. These students will carry this knowledge into adulthood and share it with their friends and families, fostering a generation of better stewards of our planet. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?One component of our project is youth empowerment. This encompasses on-the-job training while earning a good wage. Over the past year of the grant cycle, we have trained 17 young adults and 5 High School interns about the Johnson-Su composting method and the benefits to the soil. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We are working with farmers and agriculturists in our region and community to share information about the benefits of Johnson-Su compost. We do this by collaborating with the National Center for Frontier Communities to identify farmers who are open to trying new methods. We also sell the compost at our local Farmers Market, where we have many helpful conversations. We offer monthly tours of our project site. We write articles for our newsletter and e-newsletter, and share updates on social media. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?o We plan to continue the following: o Collect food from school cafeterias daily o Teach soil health curriculum to 4th graders o Include one new school with the above two objectives o Make and fill two bioreactors/week o Identify farmers to use our compost o Share information in our community and region o Share information with other countries that are interested in Johnson-Su composting and soil health
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1) Reduce Municipal Food Waste: As part of our ongoing classroom education, we address reducing food waste at the source, specifically the food that individual students take when they have the option. We've noticed a reduction in waste at the salad bar since students now realize they can have seconds after cleaning their plates. 2) Divert food waste from landfills: We collect leftover food from school cafeterias, collecting about 1,400 pounds of food each week. We now have 98 Johnson-Su bioreactors, which have diverted 27 tons of food from our county landfill. 3) Generate compost: We continue to maintain each bioreactor at a 70% moisture level, and the material within the bioreactors is degrading as expected. Each bioreactor takes nearly 24 months to reach maturity. Once mature, we have a high-quality, microbially and nutrient-rich compost to be used as a microbial soil inoculant. 4) Increase access to compost for agricultural producers: We are pleased to offer our Johnson-Su compost to farmers in our region. 5) Reduce reliance on and limit the use of fertilizer: Farmers and growers who use the Johnson-Su compost have reported that they can reduce their fertilizer input, saving money while improving soil quality, enhancing plant health, and preventing fertilizer runoff that enters our waterways, creating dead zones. 6) Improve soil quality: We are halfway through the grant cycle, and we are on track to produce the 70 tons of Johnson-Su compost during the lifespan of the project. To date, we have produced enough inoculant to treat 34,300 acres of degraded soil. Once treated, these lands will have increased soil nutrient availability, increased ability to sequester soil carbon, and an increase in the number and diversity of beneficial microorganisms that increase the nutrient density of our food, having a great benefit to human health. 7) Encourage waste management and permaculture business development: We are working with farmers in our region to apply our Johnson-Su compost and transition to regenerative agricultural practices. We collaborate with the National Center for Frontier Communities to identify farmers interested in exploring innovative farming methods. We visit their farms and offer them Johnson-Su compost as a gift to experiment with using their seeds. It takes many conversations and questions to make the transition, but the results speak for themselves. We continue to develop our packaging and product to attract the largest number of people. We sell our compost product at the Farmers Market to local backyard gardeners, and they are excited about the results they are seeing. 8) Increase rainwater absorption: For every 1% increase in soil organic matter, the soil can absorb up to 95,000 more liters of water, as well as an increased water infiltration rate. Adding microbes grown in the Johnson-Su bioreactor can improve the soil organic carbon by .6%/year/hectare, which is statistically significant. 9) Youth Empowerment: Educating youth in our area about soil health and improved land management methods is a high priority in our project. We have an excellent relationship with the school superintendent, teachers, and maintenance staff in each school we teach. Our education team goes to the 4th-grade classrooms in each participating school and presents an engaging and educational activity. Students learn by doing when they play an interactive running game about decomposers, engage in the scientific method by conducting an experiment using various soil substrates, and learn about composting worms and cocoons, among other activities. We offer part-time employment for 16 young adults. They earn money for college and to cover their living expenses while learning about the innovative Johnson-Su composting methodology. 10) Replicability: We are proud to be part of the Global Soil Restoration Network. We have been meeting twice a month for the past year with people from Bhutan, Borneo, Ireland, Botswana, Australia, the Netherlands, Israel, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. We discuss our innovative methodology with the Johnson-Su bioreactors and how the inputs, as well as the building material, vary depending on the location and waste streams. People are fascinated with the project and continue to join our meetings. As a result of our conversations, Johnson-Su bioreactors are now operational in Borneo, Botswana, and Israel.
Publications
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