Betsy Ross Ross Farm – Granger, Texas October 3, 2011 Texas Recycling & Sustainability Summit Ross Farm

9/5/20152 Ross Farm Goal: Nutrient Rich Foods Better Soil, Better Life Healthy (alive) Soil = Healthy (vigor) Plants = Healthy (nutrients) Beef = Healthy People!

Can’t Do This On Grass in Texas? No burning No synthetic fertilizers No herbicides No insecticides No hormones No corn – ever! Real Hard Without Life in the Soil…

What is compost? Aerobic decomposition of a mix of organic matter Thermal compost: – Heat minimum 131 F (55C) for3 days to kill weed seed, pathogens, pests – But NOT HIGHER than 155 – 160 F (70 C) so beneficials NOT killed – Turned whenever too hot because too hot means lack of oxygen, loss of N, S, P, build acidic conditions Worm or Vermi-compost (cold composting) – Worms turn the compost, kill pathogens, pests Static compost

Compost Standards Measured in fresh compost, expressed per gram dry compost 15 to 30 or more µg active bacteria /g dry weight compost 150 µg (fungal compost) to 300 or more µg (bacterial compost) total bacteria /g dry weight compost 2 to 10 µg or more active fungi /g dry weight compost 150 (bacterial compost) to 500 or more (fungal compost) µg total fungal biomass/g dry weight compost Hyphal diameters on average 2.5 micrometers or greater 50,000 or more protozoa per gram dry weight compost 25,000 or more flagellates 25,000 or more amoebae ciliates. Higher numbers indicate anaerobic conditions resulting from compaction, water-logging, discontinuities in soil 20 to 100 BENEFICIAL nematodes per gram dry weight of compost

Compost Tea Definitions Actively-Aerated Compost Tea – brewed water extract – Active, total bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes (sp vs #s) – soluble nutrients from the compost – aerobic ( O2 above 6 ppm) vs anaerobic (pathogen growth, loss of nutrients, toxins) – with or without added foods to grow beneficials Non-aerated Compost Tea – variable results Compost Extract – no brewing time Compost Leachate – no brewing, few organisms removed Plant tea – compost not involved – bacteria, fungi from plant surfaces, aerobic or anaerobic Manure tea – compost not involved – anaerobic (pathogens present, 90 to 120 day rule required) Put-to-sleep teas – loss of species, minimal activity

Must Have Good Compost! ©Sustainable Growth Texas LLC, design by Joyce Hankins Life Below the Ground! Life Above Ground! An Overview of Managing Our Eco-Systems

Too Often We Manage the Trophic Levels Independently and Out of Order… ©Sustainable Growth Texas LLC, design by Joyce Hankins

How We Add Life to Soils Bio-Augmentation (Add Biology) Hopefully Good Top Soil Add Good Compost SGTx Liquid Compost Extract (LCE) – Good Compost – Good Vermicompost – Good Humus Brew Activated Compost Tea (ACT) – Good Compost – Good Vermicompost – Good Humus Selected Bio-Inoculants Cover Crops… www. soilsalive.com

Differences LCE & ACT SGTX Liquid Compost Extract Aerated Compost Tea Make Larger Quantities Longer Response Time Active & Dormant Organisms Extracted (lasts longer in the field)

Original Recyclers Soil Food web insures fertility – they recycle the elements and make them available to plants! – Nitrogen into nitrates – Phosphorus into phosphates – Boron into borate – etc Soil food web digests/breaks down wastes, then food building microbes begin to build living organic matter, store up nutrients in mass by growing plants, changing basic elements so they can be absorbed into plant roots. Wow! Is this possible?

Let’s Go Check Out this Job Opportunity… before we spray.

More Clues: Hard Winter

Got a Earthworm – but…

Clue: Grubs

Clue: Fungi Present?

The Job – this acreage

Lets Make an Application… Put out 20 gallons/acre of LCE plus – dry micronized fish; humic acid, kelp, molasses, biozome, SGTX probiotics, trace minerals, phosphorus, proprietary biological inoculants.

May 27, 2010

Lets Make another Application… Put out 20 gallons/acre of LCE plus – dry micronized fish; humic acid, kelp, molasses, biozome,fulvic acid, trace minerals, phosphorus, proprietary biological inoculants. – Used blend of composts from different suppliers

Which Soil Do You Want?

Let’s Take a Look Nov 2010

Cows Look Good

Dung Beetles & Micro Arthopods

Progress with Organic Matter

Six Months and a Little Rain… Bastrop County Large Cattle Grazing Operation Sand Land?

Let’s Look at the Numbers Total Exchange Capacity (CEC) pH Organic Matter (%) Sulfur (ppm)1513 Mehlich III Phosphorous (lbs/a) Calcium (lbs/a)1064 (62.7%)2250 (81.39%) Magnesium (lbs/a)84 (8.28%)179 (10.79%) Potassium (lbs/a)82 (2.49%)164 (4.00%) Sodium (lbs/a)53 (2.7%)25 (0.79%)

Erosion Control Detention Basins - Parks

6 Months Later MUD 230 Houston, Tx

Bare Parent Material 100% bacterial Cyanobacteria True Bacteria Protozoa Fungi Nematodes Microarths F:B = 0.01 “Weeds”, Johnson Grass - high NO3 - lack of oxygen F:B = 0.1 Early Grasses Bromus, Bermuda F:B = 0.3 Mid-grasses, clovers, vegetables F:B = 0.75 Late successional grasses, row crops, Native plants F:B = 1:1 Shrubs, vines, bushes, cotton More natives F:B = 2:1 to 5:1 Deciduous Trees F:B = 5:1 to 100:1 Conifer, old- growth forests F:B = 100:1 to 10000:1 Soil Foodweb Succession Fungal : Bacteria Ratios Match Below Ground with Above Ground Soil Food Web, Inc. Where Do Most of Invasives Fall on this Chart? The Right Microbes…

Here Is Our Paradigm Nothing Bad in Mama Nature Everything Has a Purpose/Reason Everything out of ground returns to ground Mama Nature Moves Energy Via Food Chain/Trophic Levels Air, Water, Food and Shelter All Necessary Below Ground as well as Above Ground

©Sustainable Growth Texas LLC, design by Joyce Hankins Thanks. Betsy Ross and the teams from: Soils Alive Sustainable Growth Texas, LLC Betsy Ross Grass-Fed Beef Recyclers… Give Us the Good Stuff So We Can Do A Better Job Everywhere. After-all, its About LIFE!