Assessment of on-farm biochar production and performance as a peat substitute

Collin Eaton and Caleb Wehrbein Author

04/01/2021 Added

25 Plays

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Presentation of research relating to on-farm production of biochars using agricultural waste material and assessment of performance within chrysanthemum cutting and kale seed propagation as a viable peat substitute.

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[00:00:01.710]Hello,
[00:00:02.430]and welcome to the presentation of assessment of on-farm biochar production and
[00:00:07.380]performance as a peat substitute by Collin Eaton and Caleb Wehrbein.
[00:00:13.890]Sphagnum peat moss is a widely used growing mixed component used in the greenhouse
[00:00:17.910]industry. While Peat as a resource is renewable,
[00:00:21.690]it would take a far greater amount of time to regenerate the resource compared
[00:00:26.040]to the rate at which the greenhouse industry consumes it.
[00:00:29.730]Therefore, it is crucial for the industry to find sustainable substitutes for the
[00:00:34.290]peat resource that is easily affordable and widely available.
[00:00:39.780]Over the past couple of decades,
[00:00:41.580]biochar has been discussed as a potential source of long-term carbon
[00:00:45.390]sequestration that may have additional uses past carbon storage.
[00:00:50.400]Biochar is a pyrogenic carbonaceous material generated from slow
[00:00:54.750]pyrolysis of organic materials.
[00:00:58.290]These materials are often derived as agricultural waste products and can include
[00:01:03.180]materials such as rice hulls, manures, or woody materials.
[00:01:08.880]When discussing biochar,
[00:01:10.290]there are two different methods of production each with its own advantages and
[00:01:14.580]disadvantages while batch production, in comparison to
[00:01:18.900]continuous production of biochar, contributes to a low char yield,
[00:01:24.240]it represents an economical option to small farmers with minimal investment and
[00:01:28.680]equipment. Batch production of biochars also boasts the potential of
[00:01:33.210]on-site preparation of biochar with local waste materials contributing to
[00:01:38.600]the sustainability and improved economics of the farm operation.
[00:01:44.580]In this study,
[00:01:45.420]we are seeking to understand the performance of on-site production of biochar
[00:01:49.890]and incorporation into chrysanthemum cutting and kale seed propagation as a
[00:01:54.540]candidate for sphagnum peat replacement. In assessing performance in
[00:01:59.280]chrysanthemum cutting and kale seed production,
[00:02:02.280]we will then be able to determine whether a percentage of sphagnum peat can be
[00:02:06.960]replaced by biochar derived from batch production in these horticultural media
[00:02:11.850]mixes.
[00:02:15.410]For this study, untreated white oak wood stakes and locally sourced
[00:02:19.610]composted chicken manure were subjected to pyrolysis using a modified
[00:02:24.440]hybrid top lit updraft retort. Feed stocks placed in
[00:02:29.390]a 30-gallon drum were sealed and covered in fuel material within the
[00:02:33.830]55-gallon drum and lit. After pyrolysis, created
[00:02:38.570]biochars were wetted down until safe to handle, crushed, and sieved to a
[00:02:43.130]uniform size using a 4,000 micron sieve.
[00:02:47.720]During the chrysanthemum cutting part of the study,
[00:02:50.240]a custom Cornell seed starting mix was created with treatments of 20%
[00:02:55.460]and 50% sphagnum peat replacement with both the wooden stake and chicken
[00:03:00.460]manure biochars.
[00:03:02.500]Locally sourced, pre-bloom chrysanthemum material was used as the
[00:03:07.480]mother plant for propagule production.
[00:03:11.230]After four weeks sitting under mist, the cuttings were sampled for
[00:03:14.500]characteristics of root vigor by measuring properties such as root length and
[00:03:19.150]root number. To assess performance of kale seed production,
[00:03:24.250]a custom Cornell seed starting mix was created with treatments of 10%
[00:03:29.320]and 25% peat replacement with wooden stake and chicken manure
[00:03:34.030]biochars. Additional treatments of chars were created,
[00:03:38.830]with saturated cation exchange sites using ammonium
[00:03:43.660]sulfate and calcium nitrate fertilizers. Kale was then
[00:03:48.520]double seeded into plastic draining cells in a 16-pot treatment pattern
[00:03:53.440]and placed under greenhouse conditions.
[00:03:56.180]For the kale, we measured germination counts across the first few weeks,
[00:03:59.970]and then across the entire six weeks of growth, we also measured height,
[00:04:03.540]leaf counts, SPAD values. And then at the conclusion of the project,
[00:04:07.050]we recorded both the fresh and dry root and shoot biomass.
[00:04:13.060]We have a table outlining some of the results from the chrysanthemum trials.
[00:04:17.160]We have the number of root, total root length,
[00:04:20.010]and mean root length for both trial
[00:04:21.810]one and trial two. The values weren't significantly different from one another,
[00:04:26.430]but we did notice that at this chicken 20% rate,
[00:04:29.490]we did have a reduction in the number of roots and total length for both
[00:04:32.880]trials, but we think that might be due to some heterogeneity in the feedstock.
[00:04:37.380]So it contained both the composted chicken manure, as well as the wood bedding.
[00:04:43.890]And then here for the kale,
[00:04:45.210]we have a graph comparing the type of fertilizer that the
[00:04:49.980]char was soaked in versus the dry shoot biomass of the kale.
[00:04:54.510]So here we have AMS ammonium sulfate, CAN calcium nitrate,
[00:04:59.040]and then NON just means there was no fertilizer that it was soaked with.
[00:05:02.550]And we can see that those chars soaked with ammonium sulfate had a
[00:05:07.410]higher dry shoot biomass in both trials,
[00:05:12.000]while the calcium nitrate in that not soaking charred performed similar to one
[00:05:16.080]another.
[00:05:17.160]And we think that might be due to ammonia being released over time while the
[00:05:21.090]plants were growing. Then here,
[00:05:24.630]we've got another graph for the kale comparing the dry shoot biomass
[00:05:29.310]versus the feedstock and the percentage of incorporation.
[00:05:32.580]So you've got composted chicken manure incorporated at 10% and then 25%.
[00:05:37.500]And then wood biochar incorporated at 10% in 25% and then our control.
[00:05:43.020]So for trial one,
[00:05:43.890]we can see that most of the biochar makes it perform similar to control
[00:05:48.720]except for the wood 25%.
[00:05:50.970]And then for trial two chicken incorporated at the 10% level did perform
[00:05:55.710]slightly better than the medium mix.
[00:05:59.850]You think that maybe this chicken 10% perform a little bit better because it's
[00:06:03.560]the residual organic nitrogen left after pyrolysis,
[00:06:07.670]but across both trials, we can see that as a trend,
[00:06:10.550]as the amount of bio char went up in the mix,
[00:06:13.160]we did have a reduction in dry shoot biomass.
[00:06:18.260]So in conclusion,
[00:06:19.130]we determined that for cuttings, wood biochar could serve as a viable peat
[00:06:22.940]substitute up to 50%, but the composted chicken manure did show some variability.
[00:06:27.660]And again, that could have been due to the heterogeneity of the feedstock.
[00:06:31.380]And then for plug production,
[00:06:32.960]biochar mixes up to 10% could serve as viable peat substitute.
[00:06:37.520]But once we started to hit that 25%,
[00:06:39.530]we did have reduction in performance of the shoot.
[00:06:43.850]And then as a general trend from figure two,
[00:06:46.250]the increasing the amounts of biochar did slightly reduced plug performance.
[00:06:51.020]We also determined that the opportunity exists to improve biochar by soaking it
[00:06:55.280]with a fertilizer and saturating the CEC sites.
[00:06:58.700]And also that batch production of bio char is a feasible method of producing a
[00:07:02.780]usable product from agricultural waste.
[00:07:08.240]We would like to thank Dr. Wortman our UCARE advisor, Dr. Paparozzi
[00:07:12.830]for lending us some of the equipment that we use throughout the
[00:07:17.630]project. Zemua Baptista for donating some composted chicken manure,
[00:07:23.030]and then also the UCARE foundation for sponsoring the project.
[00:07:27.250]Thank you very much for watching.

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Assessment of on-farm biochar production and performance as a peat substitute

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