Tips for Using Compost in Organic Farming

As time marches on, we realize more and more the importance of ensuring that our food supply starts and ends with the best and healthiest practices possible. How plants are grown is an important detail, whether they’re to be used as feed for livestock or for our own tables. As such, many farms are looking for increasingly cleaner, cheaper, and smarter ways to produce high-quality and organic goods. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to utilize a few different tips for using compost in organic farming.

Is Compost Really Organic?

Of all the techniques used to improve farming today, composting is one of the best and most natural. In truth, the practice began in ancient times, long before farming was anything but organic.

Ultimately, the organic quality of compost is related directly to the organic tendencies of the farm producing it. Since composting requires grass clippings, crop waste, and other plant material from around the farm, an already organic farm will produce compost of the same nature.

Managing Material for Organic Output

As we noted, what goes into a compost pile is ultimately what comes out of it. In other words, to ensure that the nutritional benefits of the compost are truly chemical free, it’s important to identify where usable material comes from. For instance, if the grass is treated for weeds, it’s best not to include those clippings to avoid cross contamination of ingredients.

General food scraps that appear in compost bins are also best avoided if it’s not abundantly clear that they, too, came from an organic growing space. If the resulting compost pile is less evenly mixed with green and dead material, don’t be afraid to supplement the work of your resident microbes with watering and turning as needed. Midwest Bio-Systems offers a quality selection of composting equipment, including different sizes of tractor-drawn turners as well as essential compost tumbler replacement parts.

Safe Compost-Boosting Products

For a farm to count as organic-producing, avoiding chemical fertilizers is crucial. As such, compost is an amazing work-around that grants the benefits of unnatural plant-boosting solutions. However, it can be difficult to key in on the exact benefits granted by a compost pile besides general nutrition. Some of the best tips for using compost in organic farming are to identify and take advantage of specialized bacteria via inoculants. Despite the name, inoculants are not medicine for plants but rather dormant colonies of microorganisms that reduce composting times and add specific nutrients back into the resulting soil.