West Coast Operations—The Early Days

West Coast Operations—The Early Days

In 1967, Ronald E. Gaddie, Sr. started a vermiculture business after a disabling back injury. By 1972, Gaddie’s North American Bait Farms in Ontario, California was approaching $100,000 in gross sales and grew to over $600,000 in 1975. Gaddie co-authored Earthworms for Ecology and Profit, Vols. I and II, along with Donald E. Douglas. Over 750,000 copies of the first volume, subtitled Scientific Earthworm Farming (1975), were printed and some 250,000 copies of Volume II, subtitled Earthworms and the Ecology (1977), were later published. Gaddie’s vermiculture and book publishing business grew wildly throughout the second half of the 1970s, and an extensive network of earthworm growers was established throughout the United States. He reported that his network exceeded 1,100 growers in California alone. Earthworms were shipped to Italy, France, Korea and Japan. His Bookworm Publishing Co. earned tremendous profits from the sale of his writings and earthworm books written by others. His own books were translated into Japanese, French and Spanish. Just as the foreign markets began to surge further in sales (an order for $170,000 of earthworms to be sent to Italy was received), Gaddie was forced to close his doors in early 1980 (Bogdanov, 1996a).

Figure Ronald Gaddie's book started a revolution in vermiculture

The closure of North American Bait Farms was the result of costly litigation Gaddie faced as the alleged “kingpin” of a pyramid scheme. In 1974 the Securities and Exchange Commission began informing North American Bait Farms that a price guarantee offering to buy back earthworms from potential investors could be construed as a sale of a security that would have to be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (Gaddie and Douglas, 1975). In spite of all attempts to warn away others from violating SEC regulations, Gaddie became caught in litigation accusing him of participating in illegal “pyramid schemes.” The great cost of having to defend himself and others eventually took its toll. The once million-dollar-per-year business in earthworms alone (not counting book sales) collapsed. Along with it, perhaps tens of thousands of other earthworm growers, by the estimate of one person who was active both then and now, found themselves in an industry locked in a tailspin (Bogdanov, 1996a). Over thirty years later the memory of this boom and bust cycle remains in the minds of those still associated with vermiculture in California and throughout portions of the US Today this story’s almost mythic proportions serves as a reminder of both the immense opportunity available in vermiculture as well as the dire consequences that may befall even the most circumspect.

Vermicomposting Bio-Solids in Fallbrook, CA

In 1987, when the Fallbrook project was just getting underway, the LA Times reported that Camarillo, a city in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, trucked four tons of sludge to Fallbrook in San Diego County (150 miles away) for vermicomposting research. Weldon Platt, a “self-taught worm expert” and avid environmentalist with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, was the “worm wizard” who ran Fallbrook’s vermicomposting project. He said the three-year pilot program would cost the city $70,000 in equipment and manpower, but expected the district would recoup its investment within two years and then begin making money. (Hamilton, 1987)

Many aspects of this project were deemed successful. Fallbrook Sanitary District’s directors reported evidence that vermicomposting could serve to remove heavy metals from bio-solids. They were also encouraged by the plant growth potential of vermicompost stating that “earthworm excreta (castings) are an excellent soil-conditioning material with a high water holding capacity and ‘natural time release’ for releasing nitrogen into the soil” (Harris, et al., 1990). But other factors, such as increased requirements for production and processing, an increase in time required for vermicomposting, and an increase in surface area, meant that vermicomposting made greater demands than conventional composting.