Wenatchee, Wash.-based CMI Orchards and Royal Family Farming say their joint venture, The Soil Center, will break ground later this spring.
TSC was established to repurpose agricultural byproducts into carbon-rich soil amendments supporting crop production and reducing the need for synthetic soil additives. Through practices such as vermicomposting and biochar production, TSC will upcycle organic waste from orchards, row crops, dairy and beef operations into valuable agriculture products such as garden soil blends, compost, worm castings and biochar.
CMI Orchards has made a zero-burn commitment for removed tree wood, opting to process and upcycle this wood in the world’s largest worm farm at Royal Family Farming in Royal City, Wash., Rochelle Bohm, vice president of marketing at CMI Orchards, said in a news release.
“Liquid cow waste is filtered through chipped orchard wood and converted by worms into nutrient-rich compost, closing the loop in our operations,” she said.
Beginning this year, TSC will process over 100,000 tons of dairy manure, chicken manure, culled fruit and woody waste on an annual basis, the release said. Its three biochar reactors will transform more than 20,000 tons of woody biomass into biochar annually, sequestering an estimated 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the soil for generations to come. Biochar enhances soil structure, water retention and nutrient availability, while also reducing gas emissions from the soil.
“The Soil Center will support a full circle carbon economy leading to essentially zero organic waste for all our owners. We plan to break ground on the Soil Center and have a full estimate on carbon credits in just a couple weeks,” said Michael Hebdon, vice president of regenerative agriculture at Royal Family Farming and general manager of The Soil Center.
TSC is also pursuing Direct Environmental Benefits status through Washington state’s Cap-and-Invest program, aiming to qualify its carbon credits for verified environmental impact.
The carbon-rich soil amendments created at TSC will first be supplied to the CMI grower network and eventually the larger agricultural community, the release said.
