RES: [compost_tea] Ongoing NOP and Compost Tea, & Micronizing Compost?

From: Jose Luiz M Garcia (gingerjo@terra.com.br)
Date: Fri Nov 08 2002 - 18:30:02 EST


Hi Kirk,

The only way I know to micronize anything is to get that
thing thru a Micronizer.
A Micronizer is a special type of mill that not only grinds
but also separates those very small and light particles that
can float in the air by means of specially designed air flows
devices sometimes using vortex type separators.
I don´t believe that screening alone would separate particles
as small as 1,000 mesh on a commercial scale.
That would be ideal but too difficult to achieve in practical
terms.

jose

I finally found transcripts of NOSB's 10/19-20/02 meeting today. It's
Friday again and I'd faithfully report. They've been posted on the new
NOP
website. There's still no answer about the USNOP and compost tea. See
the
USDA/NOP site NOSB transcripts (below) for fascinating details. There
is to
be a new compost task force co-chaired by Eric Sideman and Dennis
Holbrook,
adopted 10/20, to take another look at compost tea, primarily, it seems.
"Processed manure materials" also deserve another look, but they didn't
mention that anywhere....

I learned Barbara Robinson, AMS Adminstrator, and Richard Matthews, NOP
Program Manager, both senior USDA officials, are dead set against
compost
tea, believing it's not any better than raw manure (which by the way is
OK
90 days ahead for an above-ground food product, not just 120, for
tubers,
etc..). These two folks seem to be focusing the compost tea push back.
They made some nasty comments. Somehow we need to figure out how to get
to
them with some greater sense and data.

There was some amazing discussion about compost tea during the meeting,
which also made me think we got through. See pages 248-256 of the
transcript: (www.ams.usda.gov/nosb/OctoberNOSBTranscript101902.pdf).

Emily Brown Rosen of Organic Materials Review Institute did a great job
arguing for compost tea and there appear to be supporters on the NOSB,
notably George Siemon, Farmer Representative, Wisconsin, and Rosalie
Koenig,
Producer Representative, Florida, as well as Owusu Bandele, chair of the
Crops
Committee. I believe there are others on NOSB who support compost tea,
too,
but I could be wrong. If you know someone on NOSB please encourage them
to
speak up and support compost tea.

The upshot is that compost tea is definitely not approved under the
USNOP,
per Mr Matthews (Page 250, line 1), ...nor is it diaspproved. The
recommendation disallowing compost tea was not adopted. Nothing was
adopted. They didn't have any idea what to do with it, actually, which
seems like an opportunity. If this is of concern to you, talking with
your
organic certifier came through as clearly a good thing to do.

On other stuff, someone recently asked if micronized compost was
"Certifiably Organic?" There's nothing I've found in the rules that
prohibits it, or even comes close to a mention, so the answer must be
yes if
the compost is certifiable.

My question is what is micronized compost? All you guys have been
talking
about it and I am not sure what you mean. Seems like there are at least
two
ways to "micronize" compost, screening or grinding. Of what are you
speaking? Other ways? Seems like screening could preserve more of the
critters. How are you micronizing compost?

-- Kirk






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