Revised Legal Status of Vermicomposting in California

Revised Legal Status of Vermicomposting in California

But PSF’s problem continued. San Bernardino County attempted to close down PSF because of its location in a dairy zone, saying that it needed a conditional use permit and did not possess one. PSF filed an appeal of this ruling and, in April 1997, the Court of Appeal, State of California, Fourth Appellate District, determined that PSF could continue its vermicomposting operation. Citing California’s Food and Agricultural Code, the court agreed that vermiculture is an “agricultural use” and that PSF was in operation for the purpose of producing an “animal product.” (Bogdanov, 1997b)

At least two victories for PSF and the practice of vermiculture in the state of California were won by these decisions. First, vermiculture continues to enjoy an agricultural exclusion from California’s composting regulations by virtue of the fact that the Food and Agriculture Code identifies vermiculture and its by-products as agriculture. And, secondly, pre-composting of feedstock prior to application on earthworm beds does not fall under the CIWMB’s compost regulations. Critics have complained that these exclusions do not allow for a “level playing field” for composters and vermicomposters alike. Additionally, the exclusions open the door for disguising a composting operation by allowing it to possess a small quantity of earthworms and call it vermicomposting. To discourage the possible abuse of vermiculture exclusions, CIWMB is amending its regulations to clarify what it will allow. In its Initial Statement of Reasons, CIWMB wrote: “A revision of the term ‘vermicomposting’ is necessary to clarify that worm castings, not compost, are the primary product of vermicomposting activities” (California Integrated Waste Management Board, 1997b). CIWMB maintains that an enforcement agency has the flexibility to determine whether an activity is or is not a vermicomposting activity. Incidental earthworm activity, in which significant amounts of biological decomposition occurs which is not related to earthworm activity, would not constitute “vermicomposting.” Therefore, according to the CIWMB, the presence of a few earthworms in a compost pile would not qualify the operation as a “vermicomposting activity.”

Meijer’s Pacific Southwest Farms won only a Pyrrhic victory, however, as time-consuming litigation during the Cease and Desist order forced haulers to locate other sites to transport their organic waste. Without tipping fees and feedstocks to continue his operation, Meijer was forced into shutting down the facility.

Rainbow Worm Farm, Davis, CA

For twenty-one years Al Cardoza’s Rainbow Worm Farm has seen steady growth, largely due to Cardoza’s talents and persistence in single-handedly creating a full-service operation. Cardoza obtains dairy manure from Dixon, a small community located a few miles from his vermiculture facility in Davis, west of Sacramento, California. In addition to the expense of trucking this material to his own farm, Cardoza periodically visits the dairy farm to turn the manure, speeding up the pre-composting phase of the feedstock. Four-foot wide windrows, called “ricks,” cover some 3 acres of his twenty-acre farm. Sprinkler irrigation is used to spray a fine mist on the unshaded beds where temperatures frequently hit triple digits in summer. The exclusively outdoor vermiculture operation has 30 ricks approximately 200 feet (61 m) long. “That’s over one mile (1.6 km) in length,” reports Al’s son Dan Cardoza, who took over Rainbow after Al’s retirement.

The rows receive about one inch (2.54 cm) of material every two weeks, amounting to about 40-50 cubic yards (30-38 m³) per row. Earthworms (Eisenia fetida) are harvested in a trommel designed and built by Al. Custom-made earthworm harvesters and blueprints are available for sale. Harvested earthworms are packaged in wax-coated cardboard boxes and shipped by ground carrier and by air freight all over the world. Cardoza applies wax to the interior of the boxes, perforates each one with enough holes to allow ventilation, and applies a red-ink stamped warning: “Alive! Earthworms. Do not expose to heat or cold.” A specially blended bedding mix of peat moss, shredded paper and oyster shell flour is used in packaging earthworms for shipment. The senior Cardoza has designed a heavy-duty blender for mixing earthworm castings with other ingredients to create custom potting soils for nurseries. He also has designed bagging and sealing machines that are used for packaging Rainbow Worm Castings, available in one-quarter and one cubic foot (.028 m³) bags. Cardoza’s how-to video thoroughly covers all aspects of his operation: sprinkler set-up, creation of ricks, feeding, harvesting earthworms and vermicompost, making wax-coated cardboard boxes, and shipping procedures that include preparation of bedding and bagging. (Bogdanov, 1998).

Ecology Farms, Temecula, CA

Figure Vermicomposting operations in arid regions such as Temecula, CA, use considerable water

In February 1995, George Bodlak, together with several partners, started Ecology Farms in Temecula, California. The ten-acre site raises Eisenia fetida on pre-composted yard trimmings adding 10-15% steer manure in the winter. Three different systems for raising earthworms are in use. Shade-cloth covered breeding beds are used to raise earthworms in a closely monitored environment. Moisture content of 80-85% and a temperature of 72° F (22° C) are maintained. From these beds, earthworms are then moved to a second system, fully exposed windrows for “conditioning” where the key process variables are not as ideal and earthworm reproductive activity slows. A third system uses fiberglass bins that were formerly used in trucking agricultural produce. A two-tier design in these bins allows for the collection of “earthworm tea” which Bodlak claims has restorative properties when used as a foliar on plants, although this has not been validated. Demonstration gardens showcasing the benefits of both vermicompost and “earthworm tea” are in use at Ecology Farms as they are at several other vermiculture sites in California.

Figure George Bodlak recycled fiberglass produce bins hauled by trucks into irrigated worm bins with leachate collection underneath

Earthworms have been shipped in large quantities of 5,000 lbs. (4.53 metric tons) or more. Trucks equipped with a “walking floor” trailer expedite the shipping of entire windrows. But this vermiculture operation has also put strong emphasis on its sales of vermicompost as well. Under the “All-In-One” product label, earthworm castings are blended with compost, sea kelp, gypsum, bat guano and saponin from yucca trees. Screening and bagging are done on site by some of the ten employees. Expansion of Ecology Farms to include additional large-scale vermicomposting projects has been reported (Riggle, 1996b).

Figure Ecology Farms' exposed windrow sits astride a shadecloth-covered windrow

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