manure

The benefits of agroecology

August 19, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Agroecology focuses on sustainably managing agricultural systems by applying ecological principles. The goal is to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment.

A four-year study by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology found that incorporating nature-friendly practices within farming increases biodiversity, pollination by bees, natural pest control, and the numbers of earthworms.

The study compared three agricultural systems: typical intensive agriculture, enhanced ecological farming, and maximized ecological farming. Enhanced ecological farming involves planting wildflower field margins to provide habitat for bees, beetles, and spiders, and sowing overwinter cover crops to capture carbon and retain soil nutrients. Optimized ecological farming adds planting in-field strips of wildflowers to attract beneficial insects and adding organic matter such as farmyard manure to improve soil health.

The ecological systems had increased populations of earthworms and pollinators, as well as natural predators of crop pests.

The study concluded that while there are multiple benefits in terms of biodiversity, soil carbon, and crop yield when ecological farming systems are used, many farmers will be deterred from adopting agroecological farming practices and system because of the reduced profitability. They argue that financial incentives such as subsidies are needed and are well worth it for the long-term sustainability of agriculture.

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Nature-friendly farming boosts biodiversity and yields but may require new subsidies

Photo, posted July 27, 2023, courtesy of Judy Dean via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Biochar and poultry farm pollution

July 23, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Poultry farms are a significant source of air and water pollution. In the US, they are the largest source of ammonia emissions, followed by dairy and non-dairy cattle farms. Poultry farms emit over two million tons of ammonia per year. Ammonia is not directly produced or excreted by the birds but is a common by-product of poultry wastes.

Poultry manure is a rich source of phosphate and large amounts of it are used in agricultural land as an organic fertilizer. This poses an environmental risk when phosphates are washed into rivers and streams by rainwater. Phosphates lead to the proliferation of algae, harming other aquatic life and resulting in toxic conditions.

Researchers at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology are investigating the use of biochar as a means of reducing air and water pollution from poultry farms in the UK. Biochar is produced by heating biomass – typically wood – to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. The resultant material is effective at absorbing nutrients and other substances.

In laboratory experiments, adding biochar to birds’ bedding has been shown to reduce ammonia emissions from droppings by 58%. The biochar binds ammonium to its surface, preventing release into the atmosphere as ammonia gas.

Modified biochars are also proven to be highly efficient at adsorbing phosphorous. Adding a cost-effective biochar to poultry manure fertilizer could support the safe use of an important and otherwise renewable fertilizer. The biochar binds phosphates in the manure to its surface, preventing leaching and run-off into waterways.

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Biochar could help restore River Wye

Photo, posted May 15, 2023, courtesy of Ark. Agricultural Experiment Station via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Benefits Of No-Till Farming | Earth Wise

October 5, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

No-till farming is not new. In fact, it was used as far back as 10,000 years ago. But during the 18th and 19th centuries, tilling became popular because it allowed farmers to plant seeds more efficiently.

Tilling (or ploughing) is the process of preparing the soil for the cultivation of seeds by overturning the soil. The practice works animal manure, weeds, and other surface residues deep into the soil. While this all sounds like a good thing, it’s not.

Tilling removes plant matter and loosens the soil, leaving the soil bare and vulnerable to erosion. Tilling also displaces the millions of microbes and insects that form healthy soil biology. The long-term use of tilling can turn healthy soils into lifeless growing mediums dependent on chemical inputs.

But no-till farming also tends to rely on chemical inputs like glyphosate for weed control. According to a new study recently published in Agronomy Journal, researchers at Penn State have found that farmers using no-till farming can reduce herbicide use and still maintain crop yields by implementing integrated weed-management methods.

The research team conducted a nine-year experiment using herbicide-reduction practices in a crop rotation, which included soybean, corn, alfalfa, and canola. Some of the practices used to reduce herbicide inputs included seeding small-grain companion crops with perennials, and plowing once in six years to terminate the perennial forage rather than killing it with an herbicide.

While there was more weed biomass in the reduced herbicide treatment, the researchers found that the added weed pressure did not substantially affect crop yields.

It is possible to make agriculture more environmentally-friendly and sustainable without sacrificing productivity.

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No-till production farmers can cut herbicide use, control weeds, protect profits

Photo, posted February 11, 2019, courtesy of the United Soybean Board via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Pesticide From Beer | Earth Wise

July 23, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Researchers from the Neiker Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development in Spain have demonstrated that a combination of rapeseed cake and beer bagasse can be used to reduce populations of soil parasites and increase crop yields.

Beer bagasse is spent brewers’ grain – the stuff that is left over after the beer is made. Beer brewing generates substantial amounts of by-products, including large amounts of spent grain. It already has some practical uses, including as a feedstock for biofuel, as a food additive, and it even has some medical uses. But the new research has shown that the bagasse can be the basis for a biodisinfestation treatment to be used in agriculture. The aim is to disinfect soils, protect soil microorganisms, and increase crop yields.

The actual material studied was a mixture of beer bagasse, rapeseed cake, and a generous amount of fresh cow manure. The high nitrogen content of the mixture promotes the activity of beneficial microorganisms in the soil, which helps to break down organic matter and kill off nematodes and other parasites that damage crops.

Nematodes are common parasites that can penetrate plant roots to lay their eggs, which damages the root and prevents the plants from absorbing nutrients effectively. Application of the bagasse-based mixture over 12 months increased crop yields by 15% and boosted healthy soil microbes.

The study demonstrated that agricultural byproducts can be an effective treatment for root-knot nematodes and other soil parasites, increase crop yields, and help promote sustainable food systems to reduce waste from the agricultural industry. The researchers hope to identify other potential organic treatments for tackling soil parasite problems.

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Beer byproduct mixed with manure proves an excellent organic pesticide

Photo, posted July 1, 2011, courtesy of Quinn Dombrowski via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Renewable Natural Gas

September 30, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Small-scale biogas systems have collected methane from landfills, sewage plants, and farms for decades. Here in the US, biogas is finally catching up with modern techniques with the advent of third-party operators introducing more sophisticated technology to capture methane and pump it directly into pipelines.

Renewable methane or natural gas represents a significant mostly unexploited source of energy. Examples include the vast amounts methane generated by manure from some of the 2,300 hog farms in eastern North Carolina, biodigesters that can turn clusters of large California dairy farms into energy hubs, as well as diverting food waste from landfills and transforming it into vehicle and heating fuels.

According to a 2014 EPA study, the U.S. could support at least 13,000 biogas facilities, fed by manure, landfill gas, and biosolids from sewage treatment plants. Those facilities could produce over 650 billion cubic feet of biogas per year – enough renewable energy to power 3 million homes.

A study by the World Resources Institute estimated that the 50 million tons of organic waste sent to landfills or incinerated every year in the U.S. has the energy content of 6 billion gallons of diesel fuel, amounting to 15% of all diesel consumed by heavy-duty trucks and buses.

Utilizing all that biogas could help lower greenhouse gas emissions from some of the most difficult sectors to decarbonize – transportation, industry, and heating buildings. In addition, ramped up renewable gas could keep organic waste out of landfills and prevent manure runoff into rivers and water supplies.

Renewable natural gas could be the next big thing in green energy.

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Could Renewable Natural Gas Be the Next Big Thing in Green Energy?

Photo, posted June 19, 2013, courtesy of Alan Levine via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Powering Cars With Cactus Juice

June 24, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Back in 2016, a company called Nopalimex, located in Micoacan, central Mexico, built the world’s first cactus-powered energy plant. The facility utilizes a biodigester to make biogas from nopal, also known as prickly pear cactus. The nopal plant has been called the ‘Green Gold of Mexico’ and is a staple in Mexican diets, medicine and cosmetics.

Nopalimex is now using the cactus to make biofuel for vehicles.

The fruit of the cactus is pureed, mixed with manure, and then left to decompose, producing methane. The methane produced – about eight tons a day – fuels the biodigester which powers the company’s corn chip and cactus chip production and is being tested in a fleet of government vehicles.

The biogas will cost just 65 cents per liter, which is about a third cheaper than the cost of regular gasoline. Using prickly pear as a feedstock for biofuel is attractive because it can be grown in places where traditional energy crops cannot. One can imagine vast fields of cacti in remote, arid areas of the country where normal crops cannot grow. It would not suck up the resources or space needed to feed people, which is an ongoing criticism of current bioenergy crops.

As long as the nopals are regularly replanted, the process is almost entirely sustainable, producing only water and nopal waste, which can be used to fertilize other crops.

Finding sustainable ways to produce fuel while doing minimal damage to the environment is an important challenge for countries around the world. In Mexico, harnessing the power of the prickly pear cactus is a unique and clever solution.

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Mexico’s ‘green gold’: The company powering cars with cactus juice

Photo, posted July 8, 2006, courtesy of Christian Frausto Bernal via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Americans And Beef

May 5, 2017 By EarthWise

There’s ample evidence over the past decade or so that Americans are gradually changing their diets, driven by health concerns among other factors. But there’s one change that really stands out. According to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans have sliced their beef consumption by 19% between 2005 and 2014.

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