Developing Best Practices for In-Vessel Composting on Cut Flower Farms in the Northeast

This project aims to develop best practices for using high-volume, in-vessel composters on cut flower farms in the Northeast. These composters, originally developed by the livestock industry to compost poultry mortalities, have the potential to solve many problems faced by cut flower farmers in the region (outlined below). Additionally, new funding including through the NRCS makes these composters more affordable for farmers than ever before. However, many farmers are not aware of the advantages of these composters and best practices around how to use these composters on cut flower farms do not currently exist. Linda D’Arco of Little Farmhouse Flowers, a cut flower farmer, bulb importer, and farm educator, is one of the only cut flower farms in the Northeast currently utilizing this composting technology. This grant project will enable her, in her role as farm educator, to train partnering farms on using these composters for maximum benefit on their farms.

Most cut flower farms in the Northeast rely heavily on peat-based soilless mediums for seed starting and planting bulbs, which are often grown in containers such as bulb crates on flower farms. For example, at Moonshot Farm in NJ, the farm used over 35 cubic yards of peat-based medium for planting their 2024 crate-grown tulips alone, at a cost of over $8000. Use of peat moss by farms is contributing to climate change, as well as a significant expense for farmers. 

Many cut flower farmers in our region, including Fivefork Farms and Moonshot Farm, the collaborating farmers on this project, utilize windrow composting methods to compost organic materials such as spent flower stems, crate medium, and flower bulbs, from their farms. Windrow composting is labor-intensive and easily mismanaged, leading to disease buildup, weed infestations, and poor quality compost. Many small farms don’t have the staff or time to properly manage compost piles and monitor them for the correct carbon to nitrogen ratio. As a result, most buy in both potting medium for containers and compost for their field beds. Neither Fivefork Farms nor Moonshot Farm currently re-use their farm-made compost in plug trays or container plantings due to concerns around disease. In 2023, Fivefork Farms spent over $12,0000 buying compost to topdress their high tunnels and amend a new field. The compost expense on both Farms will continue to rise as both Farms’ production grows. 

The use of high-volume, in-vessel composters aims to resolve many of these issues. Rather than putting spent peat-based medium and used bulbs into windrow compost piles, Fivefork Farms and Moonshot Farm will be able to put these materials into the in-vessel composter, which gets reliably hot enough to kill pest and disease, while being less labor-intensive than their current composting systems. They will then be able to use the resulting compost in future container plantings, as well as a source of organic matter in flower beds. The result will be a greatly reduced reliance on peat-moss and purchased soil mediums, significant cost savings, and improved resistance to pest/disease.

While both Fivefork Farms and Moonshot Farm have already received funding to build the actual composting facility and infrastructure, they now need guidance on how to most effectively utilize the composter on their farms. This grant will enable Linda D’Arco of Little Farmhouse Flowers to train these farms on composting best practices, develop recipes for the in-vessel composter, test the resulting compost, and trial using it both in container plantings and on farm beds. The result will be a set of guidelines that can be used by flower farms across the Northeast region to reduce their reliance on peat moss and create their own potting soil and field amendments, without contributing to build up of pests, diseases, or weed seed. Ultimately, there will be a reduction of environmental and risks in agriculture and conservation of soil due to farms using less peat moss and composting their own waste. This will lead to improved productivity, reduction of costs and/or increase of net farm income as these farms will be able to spend less money on purchasing compost, planting medium, and soil amendments.