Biochar at White Feather Farm
What is biochar?
Biochar is a charcoal-like product made from sustainably sourced organic materials, either low-value or waste materials, for use in agricultural, environmental, and even building materials. It is one of the most readily available tools for soil, agronomic, climate, and ecosystem benefits. It has significant potential to improve soil health, aid in waste management, provide clean energy, and aid in climate mitigation and adaptation. It is not a new technology, but rather an area of study that was sparked by research on the Terra Preta de Indio soils of the Amazon.
Implementations at White Feather Farm
Soil Health
Used as a soil amendment, biochar offers several benefits, including carbon sequestration (building soil carbon), increased nutrient retention, and optimized soil aeration and drainage. Its properties allow it to contribute to soil regeneration, limit the use of fertilizers and sustain water resources.
Due to the high porosity it creates the perfect habitat for microbial life. Biochar can also hold up to 5 times its weight in water and retain nutrients that would otherwise be lost through leaching
Water Filtration
Another area we have been experimenting with is using biochar for water filtration and inoculation. Due to its high porosity and with the right post processing biochar can rival fossil derived activated carbon filters for trapping organic and inorganic contaminants including metals and fixing them indefinitely. Additionally, when used to filter the water in our pond we are able to absorb nutrients and microorganisms.
Compost
One of the best ways to inoculate or charge biochar is through composting. This allows the biochar to be in contact with the microbiology processing the biomass when it is most active. Biochar can easily be blended with compost when applied in soils resulting in benefits beyond what either amendment would supply if used alone. Biochar helps with the composting process and composting helps inoculate or charge the biochar resulting in enhanced nutrient conservation and loading, reduced GHG emissions, and odors, improved habitat for microbiology, and higher compost maturity and stability. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Here at White Feather Farm we believe that biochar has the power to slow and even reverse climate change by sequestering carbon and regenerating our soils to provide food security in a changing climate.
We are consistently looking at new ways to utilize biochar on the farm and beyond. From reducing ammonia in the chicken coops to the filtering the pond to removing contaminants from runoff in the stream to the adding carbon to the fields to new materials and products. Although biochar has been used as a soil amendment for thousands years, we are just rediscovering what it can do to restore soil and so much more. This is the beginning of a new age for biochar.
Research and Analysis
Education
Our goal is to reach the people in our community through our education programs and the growing resources available on our website. It remains critically important to spread awareness of the many benefits of biochar as a tool to fight climate change, grow food and clean up our environment, especially for the next generation. We have workshops several times a year here at the farm as well as a mobile demonstration kit that we have brought to schools and organizations to teach about the process of making biochar.
The core of our mission is to connect with our neighbors and build community through workshops, open houses and other events. Biochar is a great way to connect with the larger community, almost everyone who lives in a rural area has some amount of biomass residue or waste that they can transform into this viable resource. Whether it be grass clippings, tree branches, or hedge prunings. The natural “waste” doesn’t need to become a brush pile, it can be used to make biochar, be added to your compost pile to create your own super soil!
Community
Meet Our Director of Biochar and Sustainability
Bill Hilgendorf, formally trained as an industrial designer with over two decades of experience in sustainable production, has spent much his career focused on upcycling materials and telling their story through the design and process of creating new and functional objects. Biochar represents the ultimate upcycled material. Not only are you able to utilize vast amounts of biomass residue and waste that left alone become a carbon liability, but through the process of pyrolysis, you can convert that waste to a highly stable carbon that will persist for a millennium and in the meantime can be used to help rebuild soils, suck up toxins and decarbonize the built environment.
In 2024 we’re proud to partner with American Farmland Trust
We're thrilled to share our newest collaboration with the renowned American Farmland Trust, as a key player in their pivotal National Biochar Field Trial, aptly named "Breaking Down Barriers to Biochar. This partnership is a leap toward sustainable farming and climate-resilient agriculture. Together, we're on a mission to revolutionize the way we enrich our soils, ensuring that all farms across the nation can thrive. With biochar, we're not just planting seeds; we're sowing the future of farming, aiming to secure a bounty of food while steering agriculture towards a climate-neutral horizon.
More exciting news and updates to come!
Resources
Farmland - Biochar
New York Soil Health
Biochar- International
Biochar- US
Farmland - Current Insentives