US Composting Council grant will fund data collection

The U.S. Composting Council (USCC) has been awarded a grant of $4,400,750 as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA's) 2023 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG). This significant investment will fund the "Comparative and Ongoing Compost Application Trials to Guide and Incentivize Best Use" project, aimed at enhancing compost application practices across diverse agricultural systems.

"The compost industry has long known about the benefits of compost application on soil health and water holding capacity,” USCC Executive Director Frank Franciosi says. “Whereas good data does exist to support these claims, more data, guidance, and information dissemination will bolster the compost industry and compost use. Soil health is a key component of the U.S. Composting Council’s mission and we are emboldened by this dedication of funds to assist with solidifying composts connection to conserving our soil."

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USCC will lead this initiative in collaboration with top researchers and implementation partners across three states: California, Colorado and Washington.

The project will conduct 88 soil health demonstration (SHD) trials to evaluate the environmental, economic and social benefits of compost application. These trials will take place across various soil types, compost types/rates and production systems.

The project has a number of key objectives:

• assess the impact of compost on soil carbon, water-holding capacity and overall soil health;
• develop accessible compost application guidance for producers and technical assistance providers;
• inform potential updates to guidance related to Conservation Practice Standard 336; and
• provide interoperable data to improve the DayCent and MEMS models.

Through these comprehensive trials, the USCC aims to demonstrate the agronomic, social and environmental benefits of compost, ultimately guiding best practices and incentivizing wider adoption of compost use in agriculture.