[compost_tea] Re: pasture exp - thanks Betsy

From: David Hall <dchall8_at_texas.net>
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 20:08:56 -0000
Big thanks to Betsy! 

I had the opportunity to visit Ross farm last January and talk with
Betsy for several hours.  I got her name from another list that had
nothing to do with compost tea.  Our discussions of compost tea came
at the end of my visit, but were most enlightening.  I have a couple
of observations I'd like to share.  I would not have thought to ask
these questions just from reading the list, but if you had visited
her ranch, this is what might have come up. 

First of all, Betsy takes her biology processing very seriously. 
Oh, I'm sorry, did I say 'very' seriously?  I meant VERY seriously! 

Does she make her own compost?  No.  She lives on 500 acres of
cattle ranch with 300,000 pounds of beef flopping all over, but she
does not make her own compost.  Instead she buys CERTIFIED compost
(shipped in from out of state) that comes with test results as to
the quality of microbes in the compost. 

Does she use just one kind of brewer?  No.  Different brewers give
different results.  She's looking for the best results. 

How does she measure results?  She has studied with Dr Ingham to
learn how to use a microscope.  Betsy tests every batch of tea using
the techniques taught by Dr Ingham. 

How does she prepare her compost for brewing?  She keeps small
batches dusted with oat flour (to feed fungal species) in Rubbermaid
bins.  I don't recall how she deems the compost ready for brewing
(time or testing), but before going into the brewer, it gets sifted
down to a size that will either dissolve or flow through her special
sprayer nozzle. 

How often does she spray?  She has a lot of acreage to spray.  I
believe she said if she sprays 50 (or was it 100) gallons per day,
every day of the year, she can get around the farm 3 times.  In any
case, let's just say that this is a VERY serious compost tea
operation going 24 hours every day with large batches of quality
ingredients in a professional agricultural setting undergoing
scientific testing at all stages. 

How does she spray?  She has an agriculture type pressurized tank
mounted on the back of a small four-wheeler.  She's developed a
nozzle that broadcasts the spray but does not clog when particles of
compost flow through.  Very cool design.  Basically she squirts the
tea through a 0.2 sized nozzle at a plate angled at about 45
degrees.  The large nozzle hole allows the flow and the impact on
the angle distributes the flow into a fan. 

What's most interesting is that Betsy is not in the compost tea
business, she is in the beef business.  Let me summarize beef
raising.  The sun hits the earth and photosynthesis takes place
converting sunlight energy into sugar and protein.  The quality of
the plant depends not on the sun, but on the soil and soil
microbes.  The plant grows, the animal eats it and converts that
sugar and protein into meat protein.  The meat is then sold and
converted into money.  This is the beef business and Betsy's
excellent business model calls for more testing - testing the CLA
quality.  After all, if you've gone to the trouble of testing the
compost, feeding the compost, testing the tea, testing the forage
(remember she sends samples to Texas Plant and Soil Lab), well, then
you better be prepared for someone to ask "how do you know the CLAs
are improved?"

So those are my observations about her tea operation.  As I said, I
was not there to see her tea operation, but being pretty familiar
with tea for a couple years, I was certainly interested that a Texas
rancher was using it. 

Maybe Betsy's operation will become popular enough to become a
destination for compost tea tours!  Time to build a guest house,
Betsy! 

If I've remembered anything incorrectly, please forgive.  I did take
notes but that's proved to be fallible in the past. 

David Hall
San Antonio, TX


--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, "grazebeef" <timj@n...> wrote:
> Betsy,
> Thanks for spending the time to provide some answers. I appreciate
> what you are doing and my only goal is to better understand what
> results folks are getting when they make these types of changes to
> their businesses.
>
> Appreciate your willingness to share
>
> Tim


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Received on Sat Aug 28 2004 - 01:16:36 EDT

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