Vermicompost and Worm Breeding at Any Scale || Arizona Worm Farm

[@notillgrowers]

Huge shootout to Jackson for making this video (on top of all the other work he does at notillgrowers.com). You can follow his work at on Instagram here: instagram.com/collaborativefarming/.

[@t3dwards13]

I must go there and get one of those shirts!!!

[@harlankraft578]

Great video beautiful operation they have built! Great knowledge base! Thank y’all for sharing this great content!!!

[@lawler-ex-sfodd]

Did I hear this right? $400 per 10 pounds of worms? Wow, didn't know worms were that expensive.

[@rwfoxtrot]

Major kudos to this gentleman for being so up front and transparent about his business costs and revenues. Many times you see or hear people go “trust me, you’ll make money” usually just before or after a sales pitch about their particular product. The man isn’t selling the greater public anything just sharing his knowledge and experience.

[@tonysu8860]

Well, he didn't really go down the list of all the bad experiences he probably had. Even probable disasters. He briefly mentioned that "like caring for any herd" but it would always be a possibility of some major disaster that could wipe out the herd (I remember a story about some kind of worm disease or blight that wiped out practically all worms across the Carolinas only a few decades ago), mistakes and so on. There's lots of good info in the video which makes for engaging content, but I'm sure he experienced some real trials he chose not to mention.

[@Jennifer-gx6ou]

The Arizona Worm Farm is one of my favorite places on the planet for so many reasons! Watching him give trial and error pointers in this video to help potential "competitors" get started in the business only reinforces my love for the farm and all of the amazing employees. Forever Straight Outta Compost and forever a supporter!

[@jamesg1425]

This is where I bought my worms. Their passion and friendliness is world class!

[@stickysat]

i wish i had a dad like Zach... i wish Zach was president of the U.S... the world needs much more like him...

[@sicuro5050]

Biden should have tried with worms before/ instead of humans just to make experiences

[@dmvv5749]

I am from India and I am happy to inform that I visited Arizona worm farm twice. It was excellent farm to learn

[@tonysu8860]

From a 15 year wormer, Everything described in this video is excellent. It's perhaps the first and only video I've seen that describes one of my observations that different conditions optimize for breeding vs consuming. Very cool. Only quibble is that in the interests of scaling up and standardizing a procedure, quality is sacrificed compared to the vermicompost I create for myself. I've found that freshly processed vermicompost is great, but if I let my worms re-consome the vermicompost multiple times, I can achieve a much higher quality compost... the difference for me is that under optimum conditions, worms will consume at least their weight in food within 14 days, and some within 3 days. But if I let the worms re-consume that vermicompost up to 9 months, boy is that compost really, really better than anything I've ever bought or used from elsewhere. But, I doubt I'd be able to sell that super vermicompost for anything approaching those extra weeks and months needed to achieve that quality. But everything described including the current scale (80 foot wedge) is interesting and would be relevant to anyone hoping to start their own business.

[@irwnpndu]

what species the best for composting?

[@zoro-i8u]

Re-consume?

[@SD-co9xe]

Have you gotten the vermicompost tested to determine the quality of the contents? If so, where do you get it tested?

[@mirsidorov5112]

Any aerobic compost will produce many different types of bacteria and fungi if left alone for a year or more. Check out Dr Johnson (and Dr Ingham) his presentation shows how populations of beneficial bacteria rise and flourish in aerobic conditions.

[@homelife8597]

What an awesome informative video. We all have plenty of YT videos to chose from made by amateurs on what works them, but the insight Zack offers as a professional producer is invaluable. This is great content. Well done!

[@jessicaSmash]

Great videography and editing. Grateful to this farmer for sharing his process with such detail.

[@cacosta6294]

Im amazed , there's no other video like this , thanks to everyone that helped make this possible

[@KaileyB616]

I need one of those "straight outta compost" t-shirts! 😂

[@folsterfarms]

This video is very interesting and full of useful, actionable information! We have a sheep farm, and are trying to implement anything we can to stay organic and all natural. Value added products like this make sense and are critical to our operation’s business model. Thank you for sharing in such detail!

[@SeeStuDo]

Stellar instruction. Learned more about worms here than in all other sources I've read and watched combined. So many thanks for this one!

[@marjoriejohnson6535]

I started worm farming 33-34 years ago. This video is a through explanation of worm farming. Although I have never done a large scale worm farm I have produced enough to use in a 40× 100 ft garden and start many people on the path. Although I have never bought worm chow I have bought some coir and peat moss because I haven't got many leaves that I don't want to leave on the soil where they fall. I do use organic grains that I have from the kitchen that are going out of date, ie cornmeal , rice, flour, and plenty of vegetable/ fruit peelings. . A V wormery is a good you tuber to look at to see how he handles his, , especially his later videos now that he has been at it for a while.. one of the reasons I like red wigglers is that in the snowy north where I live they are not as an invasive worm as some are. I found that one shelving unit with 6 or7 shelves and 2 restraunt dish bins each shelf I had plenty of worms for my intensive garden and to sell a few or give worms.

[@robertevans8024]

This has to be the most in depth, educational and fascinating video I've ever seen on raising worms and creating castings. I also love the shirt ! Clever ! 😂 I'm going to have to save this video to watch several times more. It's very inspiring. I'm in Philly Pa and have a 55 gallon black plastic barrel that I use to make compost every year. I add my yard waste from my raised beds, kitchen scraps and shredded brown paper bags and cardboard. Dried leaves when I can get them, if it's convenient. My backyard is small and concrete so everything is in raised beds. I constantly get offers from Uncle Jim's worm farm. But somehow worms find a way into my compost barrel every year and help me make great compost. I'd love to see more worms and will eventually buy some. I think I'd like to also raise Canadian Nightcrawlers as a hobby to use for fishing and give some to a friend, who has his own very successful KZbin fishing channel, for free whenever he needs them. If I could eventually make a few extra dollars selling them to bait shops and the Walmarts in my area, or right from my house that would be nice. I'm between the Delaware and the Schuylkill rivers and so many people fish both with nightcrawlers. I've got to do some research and homework first and I think I'm going to start with finding out more about Purina worm chow. That sounds very interesting. I had no idea they made food for worms. I heard some people use corn meal and sometimes slices of white bread to feed them. Congratulations on a successful business ! 👍👍💯 🕊️🙏💖

[@retsirk97]

I like this Zach guy, very upfront and honest, you can tell he loves what he does and is a hard worker

[@sandrarichardson2713]

This is not what I am wanting to do as far as raising worms on a large scale.....but this is such a fascinating and marvelously executed video!!!! Thank you for explaining the 'any scale' for us who just want to have enough worms to provide the castings for a home garden. All the details to being successful in keeping them alive and to reproduce such as the blip on temperatures. I could keep breeders in the house, cocoons on the back porch and the workers in the wedge until I had the wedge quite populated. Are there a large number of predators when worms are kept outside in a wedge? And if so, how are they managed? This has been wonderfully enlightening. Jesus bless.

[@bryanwaruhiu]

Congratulations to this gentleman! And thank you for revealing and teaching us how to start this worm business. I greatly appreciate this.

[@uzzielgesmundo9948]

❤ very insightful information on how to run a worm breeding business. I have been at his farm and it is a very busy and productive site. The producers, red wrigglers are really premium workers. The output of the product worm castings are really worth the value to put in your garden. I appreciate this business that Zack has. I have since I met him and been to his farm during the pandemic 2020, I have started a small in ground worm farm and appreciate that you do have to maintain constantly and requires a system in process so it’s stable. Look forward to more and learning how it’s done commercially to be done personally at home. Thanks for the video.

[@rogerbeck5704]

What a great educational video. I'm doing vermacompost on home scale and can't wait to harvest my first castings!

[@manolopapas]

Amazing. Great video, very interesting. The guy is talking and really trying to help. Keep up the good work. Thank you.

[@NanasWorms]

Great behind the scenes look at commercial vermicomposting. Thank you!

[@jiujitsuforall8627]

As a novice but enthusiastic "worm farmer" I sure appreciated this informative video. Thanks!

[@minkademko2335]

Kudos to you for focusing on all you do. I find this video to be inspirational.

[@katipohl2431]

Here in Germany I breed and use worms too. For that I have large sunken worm bins with warm horse manure in winter because Eisenia fetida cannot survive the cold. Unfortunately lots of people destroy the worms because they are not helping them with good conditions for their survival.

[@koltoncrane3099]

Ya a lot of people just let them die hope eggs hatch in the spring. I put like two feet of lawn clippings and alfalfa to sort of compost over the winter over my women bin and it worked pretty good. Covering it with a plastic tarp helps keep snow off. I just cut a IBC tote or 500 gallon square bin in half to hold worms and compost. You probably need more protection the further north or the colder it gets.

[@tuttofunziano4710]

Hello. Can we contact? I have some question, also want to see your worms.

[@stevewiersma9425]

This guy does an incredible job of presenting his business (and industry). Great video!

[@harlowecustommicrogreens]

Fascinating operation. Getting the growth cycle of the worm worked out to keep them in production seems tough!

[@adrianlouviere7650]

You are so kind to share all your hard-earned Knowledge. Very interesting. Thank you.

[@dandan8333]

Excellent information... a great extension of thoughts about growing worms from a decade or so ago. He indeed has a beautiful business.

[@EarlybirdFarmSC]

Very interesting. Lots of great information. Thanks for sharing. I didn't know that there was a worm shortage. I wonder if that is in the south as well. My brother owns a hunting and fishing store and I hadn't heard him speak of trouble getting worms for his store. Always thought it was interesting farming them though. I was really hoping he would show how he harvest the wedge. Like does he remove the plywood, then chop threw it with a shovel to fill up the carts etc.

[@tonysu8860]

First, I'd guess that harvesting that 8' wedge would be done the same way the 80' wedge is harvested. As for a worm shortage, I'd guess that would be driven by first, The Pandemic caused many people to be interested in gardening for both a source of their own food and also to occupy time not spent in an office. The advent of large scale composting. More often, regular composting is being done at large scale but involves a tremendous amount of labor unless there is a big investment in machinery. Vermicomposting by comparison involves less labor but requires animal husbandry which introduces new risk factors and possible complexity.

[@EarlybirdFarmSC]

@@tonysu8860 Well as I was saying, he didn’t show how to harvest the worms from the 80 ft wedge either. He just talked about slicing off a chunk. I wanted to see how he specifically did that. Also, there is not worm shortage around here.

[@tonysu8860]

@@EarlybirdFarmSC The wedge method can be set up so it's perpetual and worms never have to be separated manually. From the looks of his operation, it looks like his 80' wedges simply move a couple feet with every "harvest" when the rows can't move in one direction any further, then only for that one wedge maybe the worms would have to be collected and relocated manually. If there is plenty of land, this single direction wedge migration can be harvested many times before something needs to be done about that last wedge. If an operation wanted to avoid this problem, pie shaped wedges that migrate around a single point would work perpetually and never need manual relocation.

[@EarlybirdFarmSC]

@@tonysu8860 Thanks!

[@TheCroupier74]

Great video, I though I was doing great things with my little 3 tiered worm cafe I bought from bunnings hardware. My worms are spoilt on fresh food scraps every few days, I tap off the worm juice and when I run out of room I spread the compost/castings on the garden. I would love to build a worm business one day.

[@marjoriejohnson6535]

I hated the worm tower. Bought one 15 years after I had been doing it...then switched to a simpler and expanded the worm farm..take a look at A V WORMERY youtube and in his later videos you will see much like I do.

[@davidbryden7904]

The synchronicity of the universe is astounding! I was just attempting to start a backyard wormcastings setup and I find your latest post! 💚✌️

[@TheWafflesalsa]

That screening machine is so cool! I need to jury rig up something to help with screening.

[@michigannative2951]

Great information and thank you for sharing such valuable insight and information. I’ve been trying to convince my parents to have a worm farm, we have a mushroom farm and I think it’s great compliment to grow worms along with the mushrooms, plus we’re not limited to one income in case something happens.

[@peterv3216]

What an amazing content. I get excited everytime I see someone like Zach here doing what he's doing!(not that way!!!) He's truly a pioneer and a great entrepreneur. Love this content Jesse. I plan to visit our local compost maker (eastern Europe lol), harvest similar info and compare (lol). Dunno why but something tells me who's better already. Cheers and keep on doing a great service to this important movement!

[@wendyjennings1502]

I have always wanted to do this on a commercial scale. Fantastic video. Thank you!

[@robertling9872]

Thank you guys for sharing your information activities and videos.

[@roseannamendez3273]

Suggestions for starting a personal setup

[@marktretter2602]

Thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Thank YOU! 🙌

[@gioknows]

Outstanding! I have a feeling l will watch this video many times over. Cheers from Tulua, Colombia 🇨🇴

[@slversrfr99]

I live in Arizona and I was looking at something like this to start a business, but I underestimated how involved it actually is. :) This guy is killing it though! :D

[@dougbaker7546]

I can see he really cares to bring a premium product for an affordable price a lot of time and effort in this product. Can’t wait to start myself.

[@edwinmoatshe8063]

Wow, excellent content! Now lets get to the black soldier fly video.

[@countdown.moments]

Extremely interesting video, there is definitely not enough information out there on worm farming. I believe that of we want to be less dependents on compost this kind of operation is a valuable solution

[@dougbaker7546]

Your videos are so cool that I can’t help but watch them over and over

[@jordanwhetstone468]

I am curious. Near the end of the video Zach described how to start a worm wedge. What exactly do you need to do? 8'x3'x3' worth of compost with 10lbs or worms?

[@JeffSmith-eq3kc]

Very interesting. His video on compost was extremely interesting. Gave me some great hints to creating a better compost. I'm not sure if I'll be farming worms, but it's darn interesting.

[@kearstinnekenerson6676]

I love this I have a two bin system I do for myself but I would like to grow mine a little more

[@basvdflier]

Great video of a very nice business. What I find pretty crazy and naive to say is, that there aren't enough worms because of "climate change and adverse weather events"... People should understand that acres and acres of mono cultures, managed with roundup or alternatives, and yearly tilling with enormous machines is unsustainable. That is killing all life in the ground, including worms. Taking care of your soil with compost and not much fertilizers and chemicals will most probably result in more worm/bacteria/fungi life occurring naturally. The products of this business can help you kickstart your soil. The compost is amazing stuff to keep your own worms alive :-)

[@daji3801]

Yes, I am from Cambodia. I like your program. Thank

[@peterjdo]

That was fascinating 👍 what a great way to be in business.

[@samstewart4444]

I thought the most useful breeding "trick" is to use inert bedding and feed from the top so worms will encounter each other. I only raise worms for fish bait, so the castings are a byproduct. Fortunately, I have plenty of friends with gardens, so nothing goes to waste.

[@tonysu8860]

I heard that, but wondering if I'm missing what is supposed to be special about that. When you grow worms, of course you're going to feed them periodically. That's actually normal and requisite. And of course however you add food, it will attract the worms. Will worms be more amorous and mate? I doubt it. Also, keep in mind that although probably not as desirable worms are hermaphrodites which means they can self-produce and not require a mate.

[@stopitmike]

@@tonysu8860 They are hermaphrodites, but they must mate to reproduce. The mating pair fertilizer each other if it all goes right.

[@desiraynagrone9282]

​@@tonysu8860 It is true worms are hermaphrodites, however they still require another worm to reproduce

[@douglasbarrows8110]

This was outta the park, home run!

[@jcsfarmandgarden8199]

Great presentation, but one question. Does the wedge system require a hard floor (i.e. concrete) or can this system be placed on a plain dirt parcel. Would the worms migrate down deep into the soil, or would they follow the added food on the front of the wedge?

[@t.dig.2040]

As long as the "dirt" is low in organics, they will hangout where the conditions are correct (the pile)

[@jcsfarmandgarden8199]

@@t.dig.2040 thx!

[@stephenwise3635]

Such honesty, cheers from Manchester (UK) :)

[@mazlosoutdooradventures8594]

I've been raising my own worms for about 3 years now... Thank you for the video...lots of info to dissect I'm raising red wigglers. I think I'm do ok. But I got a question,. I've noticed that the ones I've added to gardens get huge compared to the ones in the bin where I raise them... I wonder why this is that I never seem to find big ones in the worm bin but they are huge in the gardens?

[@GanjaDaddi_]

Spatial awareness, They adjust to their size and population to the size of their environment

[@jacobopstad5483]

I love the wedge approach

[@zacharyschiller7712]

Incredible video! Thanks for putting this together!

[@richiehos]

Love to know the process to get the initial compost to add to the wedges. Compost business to be in the vermicompost business?

[@harlowecustommicrogreens]

food scraps from restaurant kitchens and wood chips I'd guess is a good start.

[@bethhubbs9937]

Watch the previous video featuring this same farm that Jesse mentions near the beginning of this video. That is where the compost side of the operation is highlighted.

[@bm8292]

Thanks Very well explained, especially for new entrants to the worm business.

[@195dm]

Il metodo a Cuneo è fantastico! prima usavo un sistema CFT ma avevo sempre problemi di surriscaldamento mentre da quando uso il sistema a Cuneo non ho più nessun problema, La produzione è molto elevata e I lombrichi stanno bene

[@raysymonds7147]

Bio-char is another item that could be added to the compost pile at the beginning !

[@BeeNaturalFarm]

We're interested in fostering the growth of beneficial microorganisms throughout the soil.

[@Dampflanze]

Did you ask about rodent problems with the open wedges? I would also like to know if the "packed castings" are free of cocoons and worms

[@marjoriejohnson6535]

Probably not...if dry enough to kill last eggs then benefits of casting is minimalized.

[@LoisoPondohva]

They are free of worms, they don't get through the screen. Cocoons are there, but that's, like, a good thing.

[@Dampflanze]

@@LoisoPondohva For Indoor use I guess u don´t want cocoons either.

[@LoisoPondohva]

@@Dampflanze well, it's not a problem unless you have a phobia, I guess? Getting rid of the cocoons while preserving micro fauna is hard, and it will be additional work and cost (which will translate into consumer pricing) to solve a problem which is not really a problem.

[@shannongrasman4354]

What are you using as bedding in the breeding and grow out bins? I use coconut coir and leaves in my small worm bin.

[@Bloomcycle]

My uncle and aunt had a worm farm did really well doing it . I supplied all my friends with the best growing material around 😎🪱

[@Meisha-san]

"Straight outta Compost" - I spilt my coffee 🤣 Just found you guys. Awesome presentation, loved every minute. Thank you & be Blessed.

[@ghostindamachine]

What an amazing industry!

[@DougDennis]

awesome thanks for the video. i have tried before a few years ago and i think ill do it again

[@timmooney2460]

I noticed you do not have lids on bins. Do you use lights to contain the worms from escaping?

[@olliebarron8594]

do you have to harvest the castings if you are using your worm bin for fishing?

[@lloydrobertson9590]

Very impressive operation

[@custommobilityscooterguy]

I'm curious to know what the black device is for that is attached to your collar?

[@sing-519]

Just want to ask what kind of food do you feed your worms?

[@antoniomartinalcalde2939]

Muy bueno el vídeo y traducido al español gracias

[@PIESvcs]

Looks like I will be investigating more about worm species. A by-product of my composting has become thousands of 'local' worms. If the use of local funghi in decomposition is valued over other constituents of the soil food web, I am wondering the pros & cons of worm species. Great insight to the processes and ideal conditions. To the guy concerned about the Carolinas worm disaster mentioned, maybe that also needs to be investigated. Application of intestinal worm treatments to livestock, incorporation of manure in compost and any other synthetic chemicals can, perhaps, decimate a worm population. So many vectors in the supply chain; even the food for the worms ...

[@hala_harb_]

How we do this method & what the material is we use to look like a wall?

[@justingrogan3238]

I’m curious if breeding BSF as a protein source for the breeding of the worms would help cut down on the cost and time for feeding em

[@timmooney2460]

I am interested in expanding at home but I am very limited in space. Do you know of any commercial worm farming operations in the Daytona Beach Florida area?

[@Rezfin]

great video! Really good info. Thanks for sharing!

[@jayabudhathokj3736]

I am realy confuse that do you make from oats or how do you make worm chaw. Could you explain me pleased thanks.

[@barrykaufmanintense]

I really want to figure how to do this for my scale. I raise sheep, about 10 to 30 in the barn at any time. No tractor, just me and a fork. Right now, I just compost the bedding every 6 months, flipping the piles every 3 days for 3 weeks. The end product is dark, chunky, but going anaerobic inside. What about a last stage where I have a covered worm farm stage, FEEDING the worms entirely off of this sheep-bedding+leaves&veg based young manure compost??

[@dougbaker7546]

Thank you for making these videos Jessie hop I can visit your farm an say hey one day Awesome videos one of my favorites. Love from Powell co.

[@robertleibold4502]

What is the bedding in the black mortar tubs?

[@Ozbird-72]

Amazing educational work

[@cacosta6294]

What happens to THE microorganisms if your castings dry out ?

[@shaunjones6049]

Very interesting guys 👍 a worm ranch 🤔🤔 are they hard to round up 🤔 do you have problems with Rustlers. 🤔🇬🇧

[@joydavis4087]

I wish we had a worm farm here where I live. ❤❤❤ 😢

[@wilkersekupang2350]

HI. IM from Indonesia. thank you for sharing video.🙂

[@titang27]

I dig the shirts 10/10! So clever😂

[@ricksanchez2090]

690 for a yard has gone up now to 768, 11% increase in 4 months

[@maydavies888]

Were those dermestids at the end?

[@notillgrowers]

Black soldier fly larva

[@bonez2450]

Just curious about the worms. Why grow them that way rather than make a sizable worm bed, then you could take the stuff like watermelon & w/e you get from the local produce and put it on top then cover that with a few inches of worm castings. Keeps the stink down, bugs away and the worms love it and reproduce. It also is easy to collect them that way, they ball up in the area of the food. I'm just a household wormer so maybe there's something that's not scalable about that tho.

[@SharonRepici]

He uses the majority of the "pre consumer" fruits and vegetables in his composting business. His worm wedge looks a lot like his long compost piles with different dimensions. For compost you want your soils and spoiled organics to heat to 130° to produce that rich soil whereas with your worms you don't want your soil to get much above 80°. Also with the wedge the worms follow the food so he keeps feeding forward. The worms follow and he can slice off the back wedge to complete the cycle. In my 4 bin Vermihut I move the food and hope the worms follow, with the pile of covered food; that way when I'm ready to harvest a bin most worms should have moved on and all I need to look for are cocoons for future growth.

[@dmvv5749]

I visited Arizona worm farm in March to purchase worms.The cost appears to be on higher side

[@PlantObsessed]

Wow I thought my 55 gallon bin was big. This is amazing.

[@cliveburgess4128]

More good knowledge, Thanks!!!

[@benabel]

dude is the dave ramsey of compost

[@joshuakeene7521]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@bradical2723]

Or gordon

[@Brad-rr1ew]

Love that flannel…. lol it’s peaceful…,, everything is so toxic anymore.. the best to you…

[@HomeGrownVeg]

Have you ever given your worms seaweed to eat. Do they eat it? Just something I'd like to know. Jim.

[@kiefinity162]

Thank you very much, from South Africa