AVON, N.Y. — A Livingston County company is leading the nation when it comes to using worms to make organic, all-natural soil additives. Worm Power just got a big boost from the United States Department of Agriculture.
Worm Power secured a $900,000 USDA Fertilizer Production Expansion grant and will invest even more and end up pumping close to $2 million into upgrades at its 10-acre fertilizer facility in Avon. Worm Power uses cow manure to make compost feed for worms. That digestive worm power creates an organic, nutrient-dense liquid and granular fertilizer. It is nutrients for soil and plants, fruit, veggie and turf farms and even for home gardeners.
The red wigglers feed on and process 750 tons of cow manure a year from the family-owned Coyne dairy farm where Worm Power is located.
"We have six beds of vermicomposting. Each bed has more than 2 million worms producing our end product," said Ted Miller, general manager of Worm Power. “The beauty of this operation and beauty of the dairy industry in New York State and the way it operates is that the waste from a dairy operation doesn't go to waste. We capture nature and we try to package it up and deliver it to markets across the country and the world.”
Miller says that the farm's 1,800 cows produce as much waste in a day as the city of Batavia.
"We really strongly believe that this is the best answer for the dairy industry to deal with their issues with manure management and with the cost of capital," said Patrick Burke, managing CEO of Worm Power. “So, I think this will become very commonplace, but we had to prove it on our own farm and the acceptance of our organic fertilizer to the marketplace. That just took some time. We are selling all over the country. We are making a stronger root structure for plants, which makes it stronger against disease and drought and any kind of stress.”
Facility upgrades have already begun. Worm Power expects production to increase to move more products around the world.