“Probiotic” use of microbes for farm and garden to mimic and supplement Mother Nature

In conjunction with the MOSES Organic Farming Conference 2016, we wanted to share some notes and ideas for you about using microbes on the farm.

Even when a grower or farmer already is taking a deeply holistic and organic approach, we have found there usually are ways that supplementing with beneficial microbes can give incremental tangible benefits and incremental profits.

We like it when we can help you be better prepared for issues that are likely or that you expect, as well as the issues that pop-up unexpectedly, in terms of microbiomes getting a little out of balance. That way, you could handle those issues with more success and ease. And we can do this by mimicking what Mother Nature eventually would do if left to her own devices.

With this approach, we believe that you can realize reduction in odors, better overall animal health, less animal mortality, and a higher quality environment (soil, water and air)… all indicators of a better-balanced local ecosystem. In the process, our intent for you is to also realize the additional tangible benefits of less maintenance costs, increased production and vitality, less time spent on issues and more time for beneficial tasks.

For the Animals:

Chick brooder house

Baby chicks can be highly sensitive to improved habitat, and thrive accordingly. Ammonia odors can be dramatically reduced, mortality rates significantly reduced, and the speed and weight of grow-out significantly improved.Before receiving the baby chicks, the archaea microbes can be added to the litter throughout the brooder house. Or if you already have the chicks and notice ammonia odors, temporarily remove the chicks from the area for easiest application or boosting prior treatments. Because baby chicks are less tolerant of imbalances in their environment, we know the microbes can be exceptionally helpful in this area of operation. 

    Mortality rates decreased by ~50% in this side-by-side controlled experiment case study: http://akayagreen.blogspot.com/2015/12/high-ammonia-levels-poor-air-quality.html

Hens/Roosters/Turkeys overwintering

Before placing the poultry inside for the winter months, the archaea microbes can be added to the litter to prevent ecosystem imbalance/overload, as indicated by the subsequent odors. Microbes could then be added as needed if odors subsequently build up. You would be looking for a decrease in ammonia odor and the need for less frequent carbon lay downs. Also, over time, there can be collateral benefits from the added beneficial microbes, such as an improvement in egg production, less picking on each other, general overall health improvement, etc.

Ducks & Geese overwintering
Since ducks and geese don’t scratch in the same way as chickens, there is less aeration and their area gets mucky. The ‘bad’ microbes start to win out and the odors and ammonia build up. Our microbes can be added to regularly boost beneficial microbial activity during this time.

Pig sheds

The toilet area for the pigs can be treated directly 2-3x per week. The microbes will significantly boost the processing of the waste and ammonia, and a small enough amount can make a noticeable improvement in the odors such that it can be worth it for pigs and people both.  The financial benefit is admittedly more difficult to measure here, and the cost of the microbes vs. measurable benefits to the pigs’ health and quality of environment would have to be determined.

Around the farm:

Wastewater Lagoons

Wastewater and effluent lagoons can be inoculated with the microbes to boost odor elimination and break-down of organics, especially during times/seasons of high use or in the summer when higher temperatures can increase pathogenic microbial activity. The archaea will also take up residence in the slime and muck within the hosing and pump equipment, helping to keep it clear and odor-free. 

Soil remediation, restoration and regeneration

Applications can vary widely here, given the variables. We are happy to discuss with you in more detail, to see if the microbes are an appropriate tool in your situation, and if so to tailor the dosages to the context.

Offal compost

The microbes could help prevent odors here if needed, such as when visitors are expected on your property.

Fuel spills and drips

We recommend keeping small 6 oz shaker bottles of the microbes on hand for diesel, gasoline and other fuel and lubricating oil drips and spills from equipment and around pump/fill stations.

Septic tanks

Our microbe consortium thrives in the challenging and harsh conditions of septic systems. Simply flush a cup down the toilet once every 3 or 4 months (or divide it among multiple toilets that feed to the same septic system). Some powder may stick to the bowl, but should get carried away by the next couple of flushes; or if you want to avoid powder sticking to the bowl, you can mix the microbes in a jar of water before flushing them.

Kitchen drains and drain lines

The microbes love FOG (fats, oils & greases) and you can rinse a teaspoon down the kitchen sink twice a month to colonize and help clean out drain lines.

Water:

Water troughs in coops (or any water troughs that have similar issues)

If green algae is forming, or a white slimy-type substance that builds up in the watering troughs in the coops, the microbes can be added to prevent this build-up – directly to the troughs, and/or into the gravity feed buckets as long as the nipples aren’t clogged by the carrier in our formula. 

Ponds, Lakes or Irrigation Lagoons

Cloudy water is often a sign of nutrient overload and can be a pre-cursor of algae. Our microbe formula rebalances the excess nutrient load toward the goal of preventing toxic algae blooms.

Streams or Rivers

Do you ever have regulatory issues from manure run-off? If so, the microbes could be used to decrease organic content and E. coli and fecal coliform counts in surface waters.

Our blog has a brief write-up of a pertinent case study where a zoo worked with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to address and remediate an E. coli and fecal coliform runoff problem easily and cost-effectively: http://akayagreen.blogspot.com/2015/12/e.html  

Summary

Basically, there are a couple of primary categories where we have demonstrated results with our archaea-based consortium of beneficial microbes:

a) As a preventative to boost beneficial microbial activity during times when imbalance is likely or predicted.

Examples:

1.      in the brooder house litter just prior to new chicks being brought in

2.      applying microbes preventively in hoop house environments at the beginning of the winter months when the poultry and/or animals will be kept together in close quarters

3.      in the wastewater lagoon during processing when it’s receiving larger quantities of organic influent

b) As a treatment to boost beneficial microbial activity when issues pop-up as a result of an unpredicted imbalance. The microbes can be applied as a treatment to areas that develop an issue, often evidenced by odor build-up. By using odors as a gauge for an ecosystem out of balance, the microbes can be applied to restore balance and provide the animals with a healthier, higher quality environment.

There are many variations of beneficial microbe products on the market but none have the hearty, broad-spectrum, thorough, and effective activity that Akaya’s archaea consortium has. With more than 100 species, including aerobic, anaerobic and facultative anaerobic species, it’s been studied (including two peer-reviewed studies), it’s been tested, it’s been used for decades in all sorts of environments, and it's been approved for use; it’s listed on the EPA’s National Contingency Plan Product Schedule (NCPPS) for bioremediation products - only 12 products have been approved for that list. 

Archaea were thought to be bacteria by scientists until the late 1970's, when it was discovered that there are significant differences, and thus an entire new Third Domain was formed. Compared to bacteria, enzymes and fungi, which are the much more common bioremediation tools, the archaea are much more broad-spectrum and hardy. Archaea tolerate a wide range of temperature, pH, salinity and oxygenation.

All of Akaya’s products are safe for use around your co-workers, flora and fauna, aquatic and on land. They are non-pathogenic, non-GMO,  and 100% naturally cultivated. And it’s proven. We know it works.

Nature figured it out billions of years ago. Applying this knowledge to a wide variety of industrial and environmental settings just makes sense.

- A lifelong sailor and water lover, Kevin Mirise lives and works on the coast in Cohasset, near Boston, MA. He’s a Director at a bioremediation and biorestoration company that uses beneficial microbes to naturally eliminate contaminants from water and soil.  He's also a treatment-free bee steward and a micro-farmer if you count the raised beds and pastured girls.

                                                                                       
Keys: #MOSES2016, Water Quality, Wastewater Treatment, Livestock, Agriculture, Equestrian, Poultry, #Riverkeeper, #Waterkeeper, #Baykeeper, #Waterquality, #Cleanwater, Waste water

'Meet the Microbes' Tour: Akaya Virginia & Pennsylvania visits

We’ll be talking microbes with some farmers and wastewater treatment folks next week— the week of February 8 — in the Virginia and Pennsylvania area. Maybe oil spill response folks, too, if we can connect on any of the recent spills that have occurred.

• Have you had odors that were a nuisance or a health risk and wished there was a more natural solution that didn’t cause unintended consequences like some of the expensive chemical approaches?
• Are you a sewer treatment plant operator or manager of industrial waste for a plant and who has had FOG issues, out-of-range wastewater effluent or excessive sludge disposal costs in the past? Or had the nagging concern that there were residuals remaining and think there’s more you could have done?
• Are you a safety/compliance manager at a fracking, drilling or petroleum company and want to know more about the least expensive and thorough clean-up in situ of spills small or large?
• Are you a Riverkeeper or other environmental steward interested in learning more about the possibilities of using natural, EPA-approved bioaugementation to more deeply and completely remediate persistent pollution in hard-to-treat areas or ecologically sensitive wetlands without harming flora or fauna, aquatic or on land?
• Are you a farmer, animal sanctuary steward or equestrian center interested in how the microbes can inexpensively improve animal welfare and deliver a net-cost-savings at the same time?
• Or maybe you are simply intrigued and curious about how microbes work, or how a more biological approach could work for your business?

In any case, we’d love to talk with you about how we can solve your issues and make your operations more efficient, healthier and cheaper. Sometimes it’s difficult for people to wrap their heads around the science behind a bunch of microbes being a powerful keystone of environmental management. How can these incredibly tiny creatures that we can’t even see without powerful microscopes have so many capabilities of addressing the messes we make?

We’ve learned it’s a bit of a leap to understand how microbes can fit into one’s toolkit of approaches – which is understandable since emphasis over the past decades has been on chemical and mechanical solutions. But there is now a groundswell of research focused on biological approaches, as well as enough practical field applications that we and others have proven that it works. Our microbe consortium can either replace chemical and mechanical approaches completely, or work with them to enhance likelihood of a complete recovery, and restoration to a more sustainable balanced condition. 

Clearly, in some cases microbes are not appropriate to use at all, and we will be quick to tell you that if that’s what we think. But whatever the case, our goal is to let everyone know there is a now a more complete set of choices available to meet your goals – more tools in the toolkit than most people know. Our expertise is focused on getting to the root of a solution for the benefit of your business and your daily work, as well as the greater community and environment.

Sometimes it’s easier to discuss it in person, over a coffee, with some sketches and conversation rooted in the details of your unique issues. As we like to say, nature figured it out billions of years ago. Applying this knowledge to a wide variety of industrial and environmental settings just makes sense. So contact us and let us know if you’d like to talk microbes and solutions?

That’s us applying microbes to difficult-to-treat marsh grass and mudflats after some of the heavy oil was removed from the adjacent river and mudflats by mechanical means. A perfect example of how we work with multiple methods to enable the most thorough and complete recovery.

www.akaya.green

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AkayaGreen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akayaenvironmental 

Case study blog: http://akayagreen.blogspot.com/

Example verticals where our microbes have been used successfully:

• Sewage treatment (several different areas of use within this, including lift stations, collection systems, plant process and efficiency improvements, and crisis solutions such as ammonia spikes, FOG caps and fracking fluid contamination)
• Food processing waste treatment and wastewater treatment
• Industrial wastewater treatment
• Petroleum spill cleanup
• Soil and water environmental remediation and cleanup
• Agricultural amendments for improving soil quality and fertility
• Marine shipping oily-bilge water and ballast water
• Septic systems and dry wells
• Sewage holding tanks on ships, boats and recreational vehicles
• Agricultural runoff remediation (excess nitrogen, phosphorous, etc)
• Algae prevention in lakes, fish ponds and irrigation lagoons and golf courses
• Farms, zoos, and equestrian centers for animal habitats and bedding, effluent ponds and waste treatment

Nature figured it out billions of years ago. Applying this knowledge to a wide variety of industrial and environmental settings just makes sense.

Keys: Wastewater Treatment Plant, Waste Water Treatment Plant, Sewage Treatment Plant, Agriculture, Wastewater Lagoons, Waste Lagoons, Sewer Collection Systems, Wastewater Collection Infrastructure, Utility Infrastructure, Biological Wastewater Treatment Products, Beneficial Microorganisms, Beneficial Microbes, COD Reduction, Wastewater Treatment Odors, Bioaugmentation

E. coli and faecal coliform runoff from zoo’s bison and elephants

When E. coli and fecal coliform counts were found elevated in a brook running through the local zoo and public park land in the city center, something had to be done. And when the waterway continued into a nearby public river and on to the bay, fixing the problem was all the more of a priority.

Working with the state DEP (Department of Environmental Protection), the zoo personnel narrowed in on sources like fecal matter runoff from the bison and elephant habitats, especially after heavy rainfall. They also discovered that some of the pollution sources were from further upstream, causing water quality issues before the water even reached zoo property.

Initial seeding doses of a bioremediation and biorestoration product were used to build up the levels of waste-metabolizing microbes. The archaea-based formula they chose has been used for more than 25-years, and it repeatedly has been shown to have zero pathogenic properties. In addition, it does not colonize and overtake the indigenous, established beneficial microbe community. Even in ideal conditions with a continuous food supply of contaminants for the beneficial microbes, you still will need to reapply, with any one dosage shown to last only about 3 or 4 months.

If we think of the parallel to probiotics we would take to rebalance our gut microbiome after it’s been thrown out of whack by the latest attack of gastroenteritis, just 5 or 10 years ago only a small proportion of doctors routinely were prescribing probiotics to their patients. But now it’s a common refrain after a course of antibiotics and other GI-tract disruptions. The probiotics provide a temporary boost to the body’s ability to rebalance the gut microbiome back to healthy functional parameters. But a week or two later if you binge on a fast food diet or go crazy with the Halloween candy, you’ll likely need to mind your microbes with a swig of kefir or cup of yogurt.

As for the zoo, as the months went by, they successfully were able to transition to smaller maintenance doses of the beneficial microbes, and they recorded dramatically-reduced E. coli and coliform pathogen counts, even after heavy rainfall events. The brook has been restored to a more healthy natural environment, and the bioremediation techniques were deemed a resounding success.

- A lifelong sailor and water lover, Kevin Mirise lives and works on the coast in Cohasset, near Boston, MA. He’s a Director at a bioremediation and biorestoration company that uses beneficial microbes to naturally eliminate contaminants from water and soil. 

Keys: Water Quality, Wastewater Treatment, Sewage Spill, Livestock, Agriculture, Equestrian, #Riverkeeper, #Waterkeeper, #Baykeeper

Odors in your barn, coop or animal bedding?

PRODUCT INFO sheet for:

Akaya ST for Farm and Animal Care

Akaya ST contains beneficial microbes that eat animal and sewage waste. The formula is designed to break up and eliminate fats, oils, and grease (FOG), and to metabolize ammonia and sewage at the molecular level. This results in minimizing annoying odors at the source, reducing the frequency of bedding replacement, and improving soil and water quality in the surrounding environment.

• Used in stalls and bedding, coops and pens – anywhere there’s urine and feces or other waste.

• Eliminates odors.

• Eats ammonia, sewage and organic waste.

• Reduces E.coli and coliform bacteria levels.

• Controls algae by correcting the imbalance of nutrients in ponds and surface waters.

• All-natural, non-toxic, non-pathogenic, and non-GMO.

Microbes are nature’s way of recycling organic materials. Our beneficial microbial products work in harmony to supplement this natural process. Basically, they act like a probiotic for the environment, cost-efficient and highly effective.

How it Works

Our archaea-based formula digests the the organics present in the solid and liquid waste and the ammonia in urine. The by-products of this remediation process are simple elements such as water, carbon dioxide and harmless essential fatty acids which in fact are food for plants, fish and other small organisms. 

Harsh chemical disinfectants and chemical deodorizers simply mask odors temporarily, but do nothing to solve the root of the problem. Akaya ST powder is an archaea-based consortium of beneficial microbes, highly-concentrated and activated by water. Our formula has been listed on the U.S. EPA’s National Contingency Product Plan Schedule (NCPPS) since 1991. Unlike bacteria, enzymes and fungi, our archaea tolerate a range of harsh environmental conditions and will degrade a wide variety of contaminants. 

It works great on oil spills too. The microbes eat petroleum hydrocarbons. So in addition to the bucket in the barn, we recommend having a small shaker of the Akaya powder in your tool cabinet, next to the duct tape. One of the benefits of our product is that “a teaspoon or a ton” can be used depending on your needs.

Where It’s Used
• Equestrian centers use it regularly in stables.

• It’s great for poultry coops, sheep and goat sheds, rabbit hutches, etc.

• When a poultry operation tested it in the litter underfoot in sections of the grow house, the birds congregated in the areas where the microbes had been used, and the odors were significantly lower.

For more unusual or complicated use questions, just give us a call. We have users applying the formula in:

• Zoos for bison and elephant pastures to reduce odors and to eliminate high E. coli and fecal coliform counts in nearby streams and rivers due to runoff.

• Zoo water habitats like penguin rocks and seal pools.

• Fish ponds and coastal ponds where it controls nutrient levels and eliminates toxic algae blooms.

How to Use the Product

For stalls, coops and animal bedding, the best time to apply the product is when the straw or whatever bedding you are using is swapped out for fresh material. That way, the microbes have a chance to grow their population along with the fresh food source getting subsequently added. Dosage and application method can be tailored to your needs. The formula will not harm vegetation, concrete, asphalt, wood, metal, fiberglass and other construction materials, and is safe for use around humans, plants and animals, on land and aquatic.

Sizes and Packaging

Akaya ST comes in three strengths: ST-5, ST-20, and ST-100, at 5 billion, 20 billion, and 100 billion microbes per gram, respectively. Stronger is not always better, and our team can work with you to determine the best solution for your application setting. The powder is packaged in 6 oz and 3 lb shakers, 25 lb buckets, bags from ¼ lb to 100 lbs, and barrels or other containers customized for high-volume users.

Please contact Akaya with any questions you have.

#agriculture #farm #animalwelfare #animalwellbeing #equestrian #livestock #animalwellness #poultry

High ammonia levels, poor air quality, and high mortality rates in a poultry house

An experimental study was done using an archaea-based formula of beneficial microbes in a Maryland chicken house prior to release of the new chicks. The product was spread in a dry powder form in the litter in one section of the house. During grow-out, the farmer noticed significantly less ammonia in the air in that section, and the chickens also tended to congregate in the area that had been seeded with the microbes.

After about 4 weeks, litter samples were taken both from the area where the archaea consortium was used, as well as from an adjacent untreated chicken house with chickens of the same age, and litter of the same type of shavings.

Parameter	Results (mg/Kg) Without Microbes	Results (mg/Kg) With Microbes
Nitrogen, Ammonia	6,600	3,900
Nitrogen, Nitrate	1,000	53
Nitrogen, Nitrite	310	20
Nitrogen, Total Kjeldahl	6,500	4,400
Phosphorus, Total	3,000	2,100
Phosphate, Total	9,200	6,400
TCLP Phosphorus, Total	360	140
(RCRA Hazardous Waste Characterization) (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure) (TCLP)

The lab tests showed significant differences in both the nitrogen and the leaching characteristics of the phosphorus. The reduction in ammonia also resulted in improved poultry health, with mortality rates decreased by about 50% and grow-out times reduced as well, both resulting in increased total production.

Clearly there is a net monetary gain to be had from the faster grow out and improved vitality, while at the same time benefiting animal welfare.

- A lifelong sailor and water lover, Kevin Mirise lives and works on the coast in Cohasset, near Boston, MA. He’s a Director at a bioremediation and biorestoration company that uses beneficial microbes to naturally eliminate contaminants from water and soil.

#agriculture #farm #poultry #livestock #animalwelfare #animalwellbeing
#animalwellness