[Terrapreta] Charcoal on Sandy field

[Jon C. Frank]

Hi Ron,

I did some further digging and here is what I found.

The land was purchased 6 years ago.  It was pure sand to begin with.  As an
initial application he put 15-20 tons per acre and then only put about
400-500 lbs. every year thereafter.  The soil started out looking like lake
bottom sand is now a black sand look with a lot more structure.

Corn yields increased from 90 bushels per acre to 180-200 bushels per acre.
Neighboring fields are still around 90 bushels per acre.  The field is
regularly fertilized with low to medium levels of NPK that are blended
together with the charcoal powder.  NPK sources are mostly sourced from
industrial waste streams and includes calcium.  The field is irrigated.

I don't know the answers to the rest of your questions but I can tell you
that the powder greatly stimulates the production of mycorrhizal growth.  It
is quit visible after the powder is exposed to moisture and oxygen.  Fungal
molds grow in this powder like crazy.

I will try to post a side by side picture of the powder as it looks fresh
and compare it to what happens when it sits in a bag outside picking up
moisture from the rain.

Jon C. Frank
www.aglabs.com




  -----Original Message-----
  From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org
[mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org]On Behalf Of Ron Larson
  Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 5:05 PM
  To: Jon C. Frank; Terrapreta
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] manure biochar N-P-K question


  Jon:

      You have described something that is approaching true commercial
scale.  Could you ask this "customer" at what price he would be willing to
buy similar char?  Need to ask with various assumptions on what happens to
productivity in out-years - including the option that there would be no
diminution in production.

       Any way of estimating how much the value of the land has increased?

      I wonder also whether he has a way of measuring the soil carbon
content - whether he can see any new growth of bacteria and fungus.  Does
the soil look and feel a good bit different?

      Thanks for a very helpful report.

  Ron
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Jon C. Frank
    To: Terrapreta
    Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 1:19 PM
    Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] manure biochar N-P-K question


    One additional point.  We have a customer who has access to large
quantities of charcoal powder that was used by industry as a filtration
product for syrup.  This product has pyrogenic characteristics so is
difficult to market.

    To prove a point at how effective it is in soil restoration he bought an
extremely sandy field on the river bottom of the Mississippi River.  He
applied 15-20 tons of this product per acre and plowed it into the soil.  He
saw tremendous visual difference in the plants and in the root growth as
compared to his neighbor with whom he shared part of the pivot for
irrigation.  When looking at roots that encountered chunks of this charcoal
powder the roots would explode with massive growth inside the chunk of
charcoal powder.

    The conclusion of this farmer was that adding large quantities of
charcoal powder increased the need for nitrogen on corn.  I suspect this
might also be the case with biochar, at least in the first year after
application.  I wonder if biochar made from manure would significantly slow
the release of NPK as compared to using the manure fresh.  I believe so but
have no data to back up my beliefs.  Kind of hard to get bio charred manure
around our area. :)

    Jon C. Frank
    www.aglabs.com

      -----Original Message-----
      From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org
[mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org]On Behalf Of Adriana Downie
      Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 5:55 PM
      To: 'James Oliver'; terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
      Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] manure biochar N-P-K question


      Hi James,



      It very much depends on the temperature and processing conditions.
Generally the P and K will stay with the char, you will loose some nitrogen
but if you keep the temperature below 400C you will keep a significant
amount of it. The availability of the NPK in the char also changes
significantly with process conditions.



      Regards,



      Adriana Downie

      BEST Energies Australia



      -----Original Message-----
      From: James Oliver [mailto:jwogdn at yahoo.com]
      Sent: Monday, 10 September 2007 11:16 PM
      To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
      Subject: [Terrapreta] manure biochar N-P-K question



      I have seen discussion of turning manure into biochar.  Is the N-P-K
retained in the biochar if manure is used as feed stock?



      JW




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