California Integrated Waste Management Board

The Compost Solution Workshop

Agricultural Compost Specifications

February 28, 2007

Ronald Lewwww.ciwmb.ca.gov

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

What is the Project?

Improve and expand compost use in agriculture by providing reliable scientifically-derived information on suitable compost properties to California growers

Develop comprehensive agricultural compost specifications

Develop Compost Use Index that incorporates information from the new specifications to allow growers make correct compost choices or their designated crop

Introduce the newly developed specifications to ag. community through workshops, brochures, and educational materials

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California Integrated Waste Management BoardA Partnership Between CIWMB, Agricultural Community, CDFA,

UCR Extension, and the Compost Industry

CIWMB

Funding and Oversight

UC Extension Riverside

Contractor

(Project Management)

Ag. Community

Client

ACP

Association of Compost Producers

(Technical Support)

CDFA

(Advisory Role)

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

Problem Definition:

Compost and Agriculture:

10% of all compost sold goes to Agriculture (Compost Infrastructure Survey, 2003)

Agriculture has ability to use much more compost

Compost has many benefits to growers

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California Integrated Waste Management BoardCompost and Mulch

Benefits the Agriculture in a Number of Ways

Supplies macro- and micronutrients Supplies beneficial microorganism Suppresses certain soil-borne diseases Binds and degrades specific pollutants Improves soil tilth Water holding capacity Drainage potential Reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides Encourages slow release of nitrogen Improves drought tolerance Improves plant health and vigor Increases biodiversity

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

Why Isn’t Agriculture Using More Compost?

Cost vs. perceived benefits

Product quality

Lack of compost specifications

Education

End Result: Incorrect choices of compost for designated use

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California Integrated Waste Management BoardBarriers to Effective Compost Specifications

1) Tendency to bog down in discussion of regulatory standards

2) Tendency to produce generic compost primarily for the purpose of recycling waste material, rather than tailoring production to specific uses and customers

3) Tendency for research laboratories to focus on how compost performs rather than the physical-chemical characteristics of that compost

continued….

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

Barriers to Effective Compost Specificationscontinued…..

4) Historically limited quality control in the field (users not always having affordable and portable instrumentation to verify product quality

5) Disagreement about what to include or exclude in specifications, especially for marketing purposes

6) Underlying basic differences among various professional disciplines about “what is good compost”

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

Idealized Compost Specifications:

1) Grade or category designations2) Appropriate end-use and limitations3) Feedstock ingredients4) Process descriptions including cure times5) Contamination limits, including regulatory standards6) Physical-chemical characteristics e.g. pH7) Performance characteristics8) Adjusting for local conditions (soil, etc.)9) References (literature, web sites, etc.)10) Vendor notes (delivery, spreading, etc.)

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

Project Task and Timelines:

Task 1: Assemble team, conduct literature search, develop workplan, identify crops (Winter/Spring 2007)

Task 2: Determine research methods, conduct needed experiments (Spring 2007/Summer 2008)

Task 3: Set specifications (Summer 2008)

continued….

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California Integrated Waste Management Board

Project Task and Timelines continued….

Task 4: Implement Use Index (Summer/Fall 2008)

Task 5: Beta Test ACP index (Spring/Summer 2008)

Task 6: Specification refinement (Fall 2008)

Task 7: On-line implementing and marketing (Fall/Winter 2008)

Task 8: Conduct workshops (Winter 2008)

www.ciwmb.ca.gov