Hooked On Worms.

I have never been squeamish about worms.  While I never was a fan of fishing with them as bait, it wasn’t because I didn’t like to touch them.  Rather it was because I had an aversion to deliberately serving them as lunch to a hungry Bluegill swimming in the farm pond.  I much preferred stabbing corn onto the sharp end of the hook, even if it wasn’t as attractive a meal for the hungry fish.  Unlike some of my friends, I actually enjoyed picking them up and letting them squirm across the palm of my hand, leaving slimy trails as they tickled along my fingers.  I would carry them carefully to the edge of a field and release them, watching them crawl into the cool earth or under the shade of overhanging grass.  They would disappear after a few contractions and expansions of their elastic bodies, to continue their life cycle in their earthen homes.  No fish dinner that day.

My appreciation for worms and the hard work they perform for the benefit of farmers has grown over the years.  As a gardener and a farmer, I understand the importance of finding them hanging out in the humus of the freshly turned ground.  Their voracious appetite for soil and organic matter helps my crops and garden vegetables’ roots pull nutrients, moisture, and oxygen out of the soil, nourishing the growing plant and keeping the soil porous.  Without worms, my farm's and garden’s yields would be greatly diminished.

The worm population is also an indicator of the weather.  As soil moisture shrinks, these creatures burrow deeper and deeper into the profile seeking out cooler temperatures and life-sustaining water.  It’s a blessing to get enough rain to bring the worms back to the surface.  The robins are especially happy to see them as they pluck them out of their holes to feed their brood of babies waiting hungrily in the treetop nest.

At last week’s no-till field day at the Landisville Research Farm in Lancaster County, earthworm advocate Joel Myers had to dig far deeper than normal to show on-lookers where the worms were waiting out the dry spell that had gripped the area.  With only a few live specimens to show for his work, Joel pointed to the tiny roots protruding from the face of the excavated pit that indicated how far down the worms had traveled.  Without their excavation, the roots of the plants would not have been able to penetrate the tight layers of soil.  The plant and the worm benefited from this partnership.  And I had benefitted from the refresher course through this educational demonstration by the retired Natural Resources and Conservation Service scientist.

Myers pointed out that as earthworms eat soil, their castings also help to improve the soil by mixing the soil with organic matter.  One Penn State study pointed out that earthworms consume between 20 and 40 tons of soil per acre per year.  In another study, they consumed 4 to 10 percent of the top 6 inches of soil in a year’s time.  All of this activity keeps the soil tilth in good health, and the earthworms munching translates into fertile topsoil since they are mixing organic matter and soil, and concentrating nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium in their castings.  It has also been shown that some micronutrients, such as zink and boron, are more available after they have gone through the guts of an earthworm, according to Penn State’s studies.

Why would earthworms be on the agenda for a no-till field day?  Research has shown that the total earthworm population in fields that have been no-tilled for a long time are double the number found in clean-tilled fields.  The reasons behind this are linked to the fact that tillage tends to dry surface soil, increases temperature fluctuations in the soil, and subjects worms to predation when the ground is turned over.  Crop residue is also important for earthworm survival.  When it is removed from the field, the worms' food source disappears.  Planting a cover crop or leaving some residue in the field helps to feed the worms.  While most herbicides don’t affect worms, farmers need to be careful when applying certain pesticides that may affect populations as well.

Of course, worms love manure.  Incorporating manure benefits both worms and crops by adding essential nutrients.  Scientists have found that liquid manure has a temporary negative effect on worm populations, but that declines after the ammonia and salt content disappear.

Feeding manure to worms may soon become an alternative agricultural enterprise in Pennsylvania.  As Berks County’s Agricultural Coordinator, I am working with an entrepreneur who is looking for a farm partner to worm their way into the soil amendment business.  In a controlled green house operation, the proposal is to feed the manure from 500 cows to a bed of hardworking worms, harvest the worm castings, and turn a profit by selling it to golf courses, vineyards, landscape businesses, organic farmers and other customers who want this high-quality organic fertilizer.  If all goes well, the number of cows that could be hooked up to the hungry worm factory could increase to 10,000 head.  This could solve the problem of too much manure on a number of farms in the state depending on where this operation is sited.

A novel idea, but not a new one, vermiculture has been practiced on the small scale for decades.  On the large scale, there are worms in California and North Carolina helping to turn excess dairy and swine manure into a valuable end-product that adds extra income to the farm.  Could this be the solution to animal agriculture’s nutrient management challenges?  I’m hooked on the idea of worms continuing to play an important role in protecting our soils and the environment, whether in the field or a fertilizer “factory.”
 
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