Worm Farming Requires Attention To Detail
 ✖  |
When Mike Larson left his family’s bee farm 40 years ago to work in finance and computer software in Minneapolis, he never imagined becoming a worm farmer. But he grew bored and needed something to do when he retired to Brooten, Minn. The operator of a Racine, Wis., worm business inspired him.
Since Larson and his wife Karen started Brut Worm Farms 6 years ago, there’s been a sharp learning curve in caring for worms.
“If your worms are happy and healthy, then everything works,” Larson says. He went into the business fully aware of get-rich-quick schemes raising worms in buckets and bins that failed a couple of decades ago.
“African nightcrawlers need to be at the right temperature, at the right pH, and have the right feed amount. They eat a lot,” Larson says, to produce good worm castings every couple of weeks.
The process starts with the right bedding. The worms do very well in the reed sedge peat that happens to be nearby. Initially, Larson harvested it himself, but he often got stuck in the bog. Now, he hires an excavator to dig enough peat in the winter to last a year.
The peat goes into large bins along with 10,000 worms. They’re fed a proprietary mix of certified organic grain, including barley and alfalfa meal, which decomposes the peat’s high organic matter for the worms. After a couple of weeks, the bins are turned upside down, and everything goes through a screening device to separate worms, cocoons, and castings. The cocoons go to a nursery to raise more worms, the worms go into a bin with fresh peat, and the castings are bagged for sale.
“Worm castings are full of microbes and are like a probiotic for the soil to help plants grow. Without that biology, minerals don’t get to the plants,” Larson says. “It’s the secret sauce to make things grow better.”
When planting plants, customers mix it with soil in gardens and containers and use it as a top dressing. The microbes go dormant, so castings never go bad, he adds.
The worms are raised in buildings where Larson’s father once worked to make parts for Brut snowmobiles, which were very popular in the early 1970s. Larson appreciates that he was able to repurpose the buildings and has friends and family who provide organic chicken and cow manure that he uses in other products he sells. One is Worm Dirt, a nutritional mix of organic components to revitalize tired soil.
The operation keeps the Larsons and a few full and part-time workers busy harvesting castings three or four days a week. The whole process can be seen on a short YouTube video: Brut Worm Farms Explained. Products can be purchased through their website, on Amazon, and at some big-box online stores. A 30-lb. bag of worm castings costs about $34 (free shipping in the continental U.S.), and other sizes are available.
“Worm farming is an interesting kind of business,” Larson says. “It’s more work than we expected and took more money as an investment. But we like to think we’re working with nature and provide a way for growing healthy food.”
He’s willing to offer advice to others considering worm farming.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Brut Worm Farms, 450 Industrial Park Rd., Brooten, Minn. 56316 (ph 320-634-6727; www.brutwormfarms.com).
Click here to download page story appeared in.
Click here to read entire issue
Worm Farming Requires Attention To Detail SPECIALTY/SERVICES When Mike Larson left his family’s bee farm 40 years ago to work in finance and computer software in Minneapolis he never imagined becoming a worm farmer But he grew bored and needed something to do when he retired to Brooten Minn The operator of a Racine Wis worm business inspired him Since Larson and his wife Karen started Brut Worm Farms 6 years ago there’s been a sharp learning curve in caring for worms “If your worms are happy and healthy then everything works ” Larson says He went into the business fully aware of get-rich-quick schemes raising worms in buckets and bins that failed a couple of decades ago “African nightcrawlers need to be at the right temperature at the right pH and have the right feed amount They eat a lot ” Larson says to produce good worm castings every couple of weeks The process starts with the right bedding The worms do very well in the reed sedge peat that happens to be nearby Initially Larson harvested it himself but he often got stuck in the bog Now he hires an excavator to dig enough peat in the winter to last a year The peat goes into large bins along with 10 000 worms They’re fed a proprietary mix of certified organic grain including barley and alfalfa meal which decomposes the peat’s high organic matter for the worms After a couple of weeks the bins are turned upside down and everything goes through a screening device to separate worms cocoons and castings The cocoons go to a nursery to raise more worms the worms go into a bin with fresh peat and the castings are bagged for sale “Worm castings are full of microbes and are like a probiotic for the soil to help plants grow Without that biology minerals don’t get to the plants ” Larson says “It’s the secret sauce to make things grow better ” When planting plants customers mix it with soil in gardens and containers and use it as a top dressing The microbes go dormant so castings never go bad he adds The worms are raised in buildings where Larson’s father once worked to make parts for Brut snowmobiles which were very popular in the early 1970s Larson appreciates that he was able to repurpose the buildings and has friends and family who provide organic chicken and cow manure that he uses in other products he sells One is Worm Dirt a nutritional mix of organic components to revitalize tired soil The operation keeps the Larsons and a few full and part-time workers busy harvesting castings three or four days a week The whole process can be seen on a short YouTube video: Brut Worm Farms Explained Products can be purchased through their website on Amazon and at some big-box online stores A 30-lb bag of worm castings costs about $34 free shipping in the continental U S and other sizes are available “Worm farming is an interesting kind of business ” Larson says “It’s more work than we expected and took more money as an investment But we like to think we’re working with nature and provide a way for growing healthy food ” He’s willing to offer advice to others considering worm farming Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Brut Worm Farms 450 Industrial Park Rd Brooten Minn 56316 ph 320-634-6727; www brutwormfarms com
To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click
here to register with your account number.
