Inside a Professional Composting Operation || Arizona Worm Farm

If you've been curious about how good, commercial compost is made, Zach Books guides us through the operation at Arizona Worm Farm in Phoenix, AZ. Very cool video that talks about not just how to make compost and raised bed mix on scale, but some of the basic necessities for starting one's own compost farm.
Check out Arizona Worm Farm: arizonawormfarm.com
This video was made possible in part through a grant from Southern SARE.
Collaborative Farming Podcast: / collaborativefarming
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This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2020-38640-31521 through the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number LS21-348. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.” The goal with this grant is to provide context and technical detail for the four principles of soil health.

[@notillgrowers]

Watch the follow up videos here 👇 The Worm Operation: studio.kzbin.infoZQhnMY78VT0/edit Black Soldier Fly Larvae: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2SXhWNsf7SAppo Huge shoutout to Jackson Rolett for shooting and editing this video. Make sure to check out his podcast The Collaborative Farming Podcast wherever you get podcasts or follow him on Instagram: instagram.com/collaborativefarming/

[@h.amz.a2262]

The end was epic!!!!!!

[@t3dwards13]

I'm definitely adding that farm to my list of places to visit!

[@Not_Built_For_This_World]

It's been said, "Bad farmers grow weeds, good farmers grow crops and *great* farmers grow soil."

[@HipsterCarpenter]

I really appreciate his transparency with the cost. Support small local businesses! It may cost a bit more, but you're helping these individuals that work very hard to make a great product.

[@vegvisirphotography5632]

That's too communist, and the virtue signalling is scary here. I'll get the same quality, or better, and for cheaper elsewhere. Thanks though, Comrade.

[@malcolmyoung7866]

Virtue signalling? Buying local makes absolute sense than from some multinational corporation… Especially now that supply chains aren’t what they used to be.. Anyhoo, keep safe ‘free citizen’..

[@johnwild-st4ed]

@@malcolmyoung7866 Eh, not really a knock on them, but "local-ish" is more like it. They're just as dependent on the supply chain as anyone else. It's not like the fruit/veggies they are composting were all grown there, and all that pearlite and coco coir comes from overseas. And with quotes like: "We started looking for ways to add value to the compost. We did that by adding additives allowing us to stretch the amount of product we have and charging a premium for that process" one could mistake them as a big corp based on language used lol

[@billydixon6919]

@@vegvisirphotography5632 Is that 'oscar' for a fish? You sound rather wormy and rather Antifa-ish to me. Also rather liberalish with a basement dweller attitude.

[@ollady7968]

I've recently purchased 16 cubic yards of compost from this worm farm as well as a couple pounds of overpriced, newly hatched worms and a box of seed starter. HUGE disappointment!!HUGE!! Let's start with the box of seedstarter mix. I placed it on the potting bench and kept it slightly moist, but was delayed in using it. After several weeks it grew weed seeds. I'm experiencing the same problem with6- 8inches deep of compost. Thousands of weed seedlings coming up after watering!! Most of the raised beds have cardboard at ground level ...the seed has to be in the compost!!! The beds glisten with shards of glass and the plastic is EXTREMELY EXTENSIVE!! Endlessly Pulling out all colors of plastic, all colors of glass, wire,cable,CDs even a 2"×3" solid steel pipe fitting!! Even more concerning Really was finding a solid,football size of strange, unusual color of green powdery substance!! I immediately topped all of my potted vegetables when the material 1st arrived.. EVERTHING started to fail almost immediately and in 2weeks I was overrun with aphids.( my fault, Zach told me they were having an aphid problem, only using soapy water,and seemed to take issue with using neem.) In the garden everything struggles immediately when planted. It's devastating after ALL THE WORK AND TIME AND MONEY invested. My beautiful plants that I didn't put this compost on are doing fine. The others look like they've been hit with Grazon. Someone needs to start caring more about products than profits. Scouring every inch of castings for eggs,but leaving massive amounts of plastic, glass and metal to be ground up and sold in food growing medium doesn't sound like the same high priorities that started this person into this business. With the excuses made at the front of this video for the trash, it seems they know it too. SOMEONE NEEDS TO START CARING ABOUT THE MICRO-PLASTICS MAKING IT INTO THE FOOD CHAIN!!!

[@tmd7859]

So glad he addressed the herbicide issue with manure! That was my first thought when I started watching this. This place is every gardeners dream!

[@micheleh5269]

Since persistent herbicides don't kill corn, and some people resort to growing corn when their other crops fail, isn't it inevitable that most of the feeds will contain persistent herbicides?

[@FattyMateo]

@@micheleh5269 moronic logic 👍

[@enriquecabrera2137]

​@@micheleh5269no. Mass farming isn't the only farming. Sometimes it ok for a farm to fail so that another better more resilient farmer can take over. Not every business is meant to succeed.

[@ezell7079]

I've recently become a gardener. I'm laughing at myself by how excited I am about great compost and the process. Thank you 😊

[@smeargut1809]

It’s gold

[@Not_Built_For_This_World]

It's been said, "Bad farmers grow weeds, good farmers grow crops and *great* farmers grow soil."

[@PaulBengtsson]

The first thing to set up as a gardener is a composting area and learn to make your own compost.

[@markfairbanks3533]

Hearing what he sells those products for I am so glad I have a neighbor with a horse farm with more waste than they can handle, a restaurant with lots of food waste and a lot of companies willing to drop wood chips. I really have the best free soil for my garden. Although I don't specifically raise worms, I try to feed the worms in the ground so I don't need to use chemical fertilizers. And each year I can see my clay soil turning into a great nutrient rich top soil.

[@1voluntaryist]

If you had no worms, you are doing something wrong, and need to evaluate. Under no circumstances would you ever "need" chemicals of any kind.

[@ollady7968]

@@1voluntaryist I think you miss read Mark's post and should maybe have crow for dinner, U think?

[@ollady7968]

I agree Mark. I've made a huge purchase from this farm and was greatly disappointed!! BTW be aware of the latest problem with manure..Grazon. Best of luck!

[@Max-hq2jm]

@@1voluntaryist he never said he is using chemical fertilizer.

[@BrandonDodd]

I live in AZ and have toured their place quite a few times. They have an awesome set up and the demand for their product is crazy. It is some of the best and most affordable in the valley. I ended up duplicating their system on a very small scale to make my own. Awesome video!!

[@1voluntaryist]

Of course! Why pay for food waste & shit? Besides, it's a healthy, fun learning experience. You'll get better, more efficient. Try a slowly rotating cylinder to airy-ate, more air, quicker compost. If you use grass clippings + horse shit, turned daily, the process takes 11 days.

[@southernladywithmanyhats7428]

I sure wish we had something like this close to us. I have checked and rechecked and no one in our area has compost in bulk to sell. What a blessing it would be to have one close to us!! Ms.

[@nodigjonnz]

Great video and would love to see the worm side of his operation 😀 👍

[@notillgrowers]

I think we can arrange that 😉

[@laurabehenna7950]

That would be awesome!

[@ocimak]

His worm wedges are unique most people go about it in vertical fashion but he does his horizontally and it seems way more effective. can’t wait for the additional vid

[@JesseJames83]

The suspense is composting me!

[@The.Ghost.of.Tom.Joad.]

Nice. Opening a local composting operation has been a retirement dream of mine for a few years since our municipalities don't compost yard waste. I was thinking of using Starbucks coffee waste and local restaurant waste for greens. Just a dream since I know I'd need to balance greens and browns, ensure pathogens were killed, etc. This vid gives me a window into the complexity. Seems worth it, though. Better than my bullshit jobs since college.

[@CatherineandRob]

Fascinating. Those input cost numbers are crazy.

[@cuznclive2236]

It's because they are in Arizona and do not have any choice but to import product. Input costs are much smaller when sourced locally, and Arizona, being a dessert, is not the best place for 30% (?) of their product. Their impact to Arizona would be best kept in Arizona at this point considering the amount of water they use and the lack of it because it's a dessert. Imagine if all the aerial photos around their facility were lush with plant life, retaining water, and producing food for the community. Most of what I see is barren, Arizona, land, and a company exporting its most valuable resource, which is water! ... and where are their living beds... the beds that use their technology to bring all that hardpan clay and such to usable soil for crops? The more I think about this company, the more I do not favor their process.

[@shawnainslie1220]

@@cuznclive2236 you only got to see the compost making side of the business. I suggest you watch a couple more videos on Zach Brooks and the Arizona Worm Farm. Most of if not all of the water they use is rainwater from their wet season. There is lots more to it than just compost. They started aiming to be a sustainable farm to feed their family. Now they do vermicomposting, black soldier fly production, plant starts. Plus their gardens produce a large of the food for the employees all while testing their products that the customers can see with their own eyes.

[@deinse82]

It's not the input costs. The input costs stayed the same, it's not like someone discovered a new use for cocoa coir that made the demand go up. That stuff is still waste, and literally cheap as dirt. It's the transport costs that exploded. But it's not the end of the world, because these processes will adapt. Obviously, they can't turn an operation like this on a dime (because you have to develop a new product and test it, before you can start selling it to people), but I bet they're already working on that, and they'll stop relying on that input as soon as they're confident they have a new product that works. The new product will have something that's a little more expensive, but closer to Arizona, in it. So the overall cost will go down. Don't get me wrong, all this disruption is still very costly, of course. And we need to vote for politicians who are more careful about causing such disruptions. But it's not the end of the world (or capitalism, or the global economy, or any of the other nonsense being bandied about), we can adapt. As long as the politicians stop causing these disruptions with radical and panicked measures like we've seen in the last two years.

[@cr4zyj4ck]

@@cuznclive2236 did you pay attention to the video? The compost is all locally sourced, it's the amendments for the raised bed mix that have the high expense.

[@Gabi-lt4mx]

​​@@deinse82 the demand for cocoa coir increased a lot in the EU. So the prices. but nevertheless the transport costs are unbeliebveable.

[@Kelsdoggy]

This guy speaks in my language. Straight to figures and timescales. No bs. Love the man. What an awesome guy. This was such a fascinating video.

[@randymagnum7508]

I love how much the guy knows his shit. Very smart

[@edition-deluxe]

I loved that he talked about the financial side of the business as well.

[@stevethewsimpson25]

I got tired of the huge woodchips that is more than 50% content and so so soil from Miracle Grow bagged dirt so I started making my own compost. What a huge savings and a lot better dirt to grow in.

[@yousifalqallaf8095]

Respect for Hard Work and Honesty.

[@larryschweitzer4904]

I'm retired and have always enjoyed gardening. I also own a hobby farm, 140 acres, that I now lease to a local dairy to grow corn to make silage for the 1400 cows to eat. Hay, corn, cotton seed and mineral supplements are added to the silage to balance the feed. The well water that is used to precool the milk is used to flush the loafing shed alleys of manure. The manure is composted with the waste from food processing plants and the waste water is used to adjust the moisture in the piles. They have a very large turning machine. The bulk of their compost is sold to commercial landscapers. Small amounts are sold to gardeners with pickups or bagged to be sold at nurseries. They had to buy a machine to separate the retail packaging of food products that come in by the semi load. Candies, cereals, pasta, spoiled grain, flour, baked goods, all of which they have to certify being destroyed by composing. Milking 1400 cows makes a lot of cow shit to be processed everyday. What isn't sold goes back on the corn & bean fields.

[@NathanHarrison7]

Awesome video! Thank you. Had no idea making soil, and similar organic material, was so complex. Considering that industrial, till, farming is causing the significant loss of soil, I only see your business growing.

[@paulprigge1209]

Disabled country hick from Missouri just found you. Really good stuff.

[@arthurh1969]

I was wondering about taking the largest pieces of mulch that don't pass the screen and turning that into biochar and reincorporating it into the mulch pile.

[@James-bv4nu]

Love the way he thinks. A good farmer and a good businessman.

[@freedinner886]

Very knowledgeable guy and very upfront, 10 out of 10 thank you.

[@growingwithfungi]

Absolutely wonderful interview Jesse! thank you so much! What a guy Zac is.. true gent. Super interesting and love the openness. Great presentation of his farm. Thank you so much for sharing 😁🌱💚🙏✨

[@Sam-rk6ho]

I admire the way he is humble!

[@richardguthrie4040]

Great presentation. Thank you

[@tmathison66]

Fantastic content

[@justinrayguitars6024]

We went to aerated static piles rather than the rows. We get much better temp control during the winter months. Very good video!

[@busyrand]

Amazing business, and very professional presentation. I would absolutely love to run a business like this. It's so engaging. I just got into composting for my gardening efforts and all the years of my biology degree is helping me immensely.

[@michalamuggiernst464]

Wow, so much important info. Very interesting.

[@scottkolaya2110]

Great video!!! I've always wanted to do the same thing. I only have 4 - 1 cu yd bins and getting the carbon to nitrogen ratio is tricky since my supply is limited. Over the years, I've learned to save up the excess carbon (branches, leaves etc) in the fall, and shred it in the spring and combine it with new green material. Although the bins still get pretty hot (160°) so probably still too much nitrogen, it does make for some great compost. I made an electric trommel out of some old bike wheels, 3/8 wire mesh, a dryer motor and belt to screen out he big stuff that's left over. Most of the time, I just put that back in the first bin.

[@user-yc7sg7xj4f]

One of the best videos I have seen about how such an operation works and what it takes... Thank you for that!

[@didanz100]

Thanks for your openness. As a gardener these videos are gold. Watching from New Zealand.

[@EarthUpNZ]

Love the honesty and integrity of these folk. This is excellent!!

[@davidplants]

This is fantastic!

[@EricWaterTruck]

Thanks for sharing! I have my first garden ever this year and I bought a few yards of leaf mold compost. I researched making your own compost from grass clippings..probably what led me here. Surprisingly after a month, the stuff looks ok. But there’s no way I can make enough.I appreciate there’s companies like you making compost.

[@toyota302ho]

This was a fantastic video. I really appreciate the transparency and the detailed explanations.

[@jthepickle7]

We bought "professional compost" when we first bought our dream farm - before I got the 'compost corral' built. $700 for 5 tons - which was nowhere near 5 tons. I found it to be way over-cooked. My compost has bits of branches, thoroughly inhabited by microbes but still discernible.

[@JohnnyPouxDesign]

Really great visit!! I could practically smell the product from here. Thanks Jesse.

[@MatthewDownardYoga]

that was great. thanks to everyone that put this together. such a good watch.

[@vanesanchezk]

Thank you for being so open with all the information, wonderful video.

[@charleswillcock3235]

Going forward I think the world needs more guys like this chap making compost. I am sure in the UK there is a little of what we see here in this video but as a country I am sure we could do a lot more. Great video.

[@aok2727]

I see this farm over and over. I just love this model and it appears he has grown a huge client base. So cool!

[@nefchukwujekwu6035]

Wow! This looks fantastic. The compost looks so rich. Thanks for sharing.

[@HellofromLongBeach]

I’m taking a compost class offered by the city now and this video is great information❤

[@JesseJames83]

WOW! This was an incredible production. Thanks for sharing!

[@TheCoryGroshek]

One of the best composting videos I've ever seen!

[@joshmo55]

What a great looking process and product! I recently paid $50/yd for some of the worst compost imaginable, so hopefully they open a satellite location in Greenville county, SC soon. Until then I’m stuck making my 12 yearly yards of compost for our farm, with a pitchfork as my only tool.

[@laurabehenna7950]

Oh my gosh, I feel for ya brother.

[@artwillvideos]

By a yard, that means a cubic yard? I priced a local composter yesterday, and they want $125/cubicyard. Gonna ramp up my at home composting!

[@stephensarkany3577]

Have you looked into the compost at the Lexington SC county landfill? About $15 a ton.

[@artwillvideos]

@@stephensarkany3577 Might be worth the trip! I’m in Tallahassee, FL!

[@stephensarkany3577]

@@artwillvideos I filled a long bed 2500 pickup slightly mounded & it was just under $30. We filled a few raised beds with some left over

[@ovidiufarcau243]

man I wish I`d have something like this near me !

[@easygo4568]

Wow great Video. Love how he described everything so detailed. Good luck for the future of his worm farm and thank you for producing this video guys. Love ya all 💜🙌

[@christopheraltice5627]

Man this is awesome!! 2 videos this week lol Jesse your the man dude!! Between the book and the KZbin content, anybody can comprehend the information.. it’s amazing lol still dig the playlist too

[@staninjapan07]

What a great video! Concise, precise and even with some honest-sounding business data. I would not have thought that the business of making compost would be so expensive and fairly complex. I was impressed by the guy admitting that his compost is not the very best on the market, but then when explained to the costs to business and customer I could see why. This was a "random click" (not that there is any such thing), and I am not in the market for compost, but this guy made it a lot more interesting. Just one point, if I may... Please don't start your videos with quiet speech and then have loud music. You nearly killed my cheap, old speakers (just kidding. Good job!

[@suzsmith5787]

Yes...can skip the "music" intro. Annoying. Other than that small aspect, I really enjoy the channel.

[@syedahsanali_]

Watching from Pakistan, glad to know that you get Coco Coir from my country. I was watching videos of compost I need for my plants and I'm amazed to watch this video and specially this form. You're doing a great job.

[@JorgePicco]

I've been watching this guy a lot. I just can't get enough.

[@emilypeer-groves6954]

Wonderful tour! Thanks for sharing from a community scale composter on Haida Gwaii!

[@moradmoses3779]

You are an honest and a good man, God bless you and your farm for been honest, I will definitely come and buy some thank you.

[@bigchew3149]

Cool..I Would Love to have about 5-10 Tons of that for my garden & our Raised beds

[@BongLoy13]

This is awesome ! I loved it !

[@uncommoncents2152]

Worms are the bees of soil...I'd say they're just as important

[@victoriagolmehdi8506]

We really need to encourage everyone to make as much compost from waste products as possible. The soil is our most important asset. together with water and we can all play our part in conserving and making.

[@funride74]

So glad you made this video, I was waiting for long time. Thanks! ♻️🌐

[@larsern86]

Loved the video! Real fun to watch the processing and listening to him. Greetings from Norway

[@kwest5763]

Thank You so much for the info , got me all excited about commercial composting. most information in one session than seen in 10 videos

[@janehall6842]

Excellent, excellent presentation!!!

[@jeremychristman1515]

Composting is an art and this guy is Michelangelo

[@cliveburgess4128]

Cool setup! Thanks.

[@robertling9872]

Thank you for sharing this video.

[@TheNicintime]

Again, fascinating! Thank you for this.

[@quengafarm]

Nice! This was my favorite place to get compost and worm castings. We just moved out of Phoenix, but we got a LOT of compost and castings from here.

[@kathleenreynolds6492]

Great video. Learned a lot about the industry and what I should look for in products. Thx

[@manolopapas]

Another great video. Thank you

[@ashman4809]

Thanks for the info, from NSW Australia.

[@bakerbk3696]

I don’t know why but I really loved this video 100/100 👍🏻👌🏻

[@wiliamsantana572]

I found it amazing, deeply explained, thanks! I'm from Brazil, and we have so much coco here, and a lot goes to the trash in beaches, who knows you can make a deal for coco coir!

[@pplusbthrust]

Obviously a scientific, well executed business with many obstacles to overcome, not the least of which is the high cost of labor.

[@rickjay4639]

Very good video. Thanks

[@QtmMtrlzr]

Awesome! Will stop by next time I drive up from Tucson

[@culmuh313]

Big fan of the john deere 4040! And the rest of the video/operation! Inspiring stuff, You are awesome! and I hope fortune is with you!

[@Mars21681]

wow. love what they're doing out there. great video and tour, the explanations were so upfront and honest too. Gotta appreciate transparency. I can't help but think they could grow so many coconut trees all along those borders in AZ, get into the coconut oil business then they can utilize those hulls in their main business.

[@SeanMurphy74]

Great video. I wasn't aware of them here in Phoenix. I am very excited. I saw they had classes on their website as well. I will have to get down there sometime and check it out.

[@jessajimenez6646]

AZ Worm Farm is my go to for raised bed mix, mulch, worms for my indoor worm bins, worm castings, vegetable seedlings AND hubby and I are hooked to their chicken eggs and honey. Zach and his team are awesome!!! Seriously, once we tasted the eggs, we drive 35 miles away to get 2-3 trays of eggs from them, difficult to go back to store bought eggs after tasting their flavorful eggs! :D

[@suziehartwright]

Thank you so much for sharing this video! 😉 👍

[@Dakota77d]

That was great!! Thank you

[@Marshall_Weber]

Awesome Video as Always!!!

[@jenniferjsaracino]

I got some truly amazing garlic from them last year! And my worms for my vermacomposting system. Great behind the scenes!

[@JohnCardinalli]

Here in CA, I'm getting quality compost for $35 a yard and planter mix for $95 a yard... and I thought THAT was expensive! Very good video. Older tractors that you can still repair, rock!

[@doinitbigtimelive]

Very Professional appreatiate the in depth insight

[@3crowsfarm16]

I've been wondering about a peat replacement other than coir... saw dust?

[@aidosshymkent2693]

great work guys

[@kubaistube]

The shipping costs are just nuts. Great video, I wish I had such soil mix where I live.

[@comingtofull-ageinchrist6736]

This is an amazing process. It's too bad that so many things are causing the cost of living up. Thanks for sharing the process.

[@georgepretnick4460]

OK, I'm weird, but I've always wanted to make my own super dirt. Zach actually does it.

[@ronaldcummings6337]

I hope that another video is coming on the vermicomposting side of the business

[@notillgrowers]

😉

[@kimseymour8896]

Thank that was awesome God bless you guys

[@ghostindamachine]

Just amazing!

[@matthewmoore9911]

Love it ! Thanks Jesse

[@CityWideGardens]

Wish I was much closer!! Awesome set up

[@donaldmcdaniel1773]

Really interesting!!

[@easygrowinggarden]

Lot's of great information!

[@sgrvtl7183]

Very interesting!

[@leeannandrews932]

Interesting loved learning this

[@donaldraught8979]

I like the idea of composting I would like to start something like that I live in Pennsylvania be great to integrate that into the farming industry So they're not destroying the soil

[@MuscadineMarlon]

Thanks for this!