The Benefits of Compost

By the Editors of Heartspring.net

In August 2005, AAPFCO, an organization of United States fertilizer control officials, gathered research, helping compost producers identify and verify lable claims for their products. On-going compost research, continuies to reveal profound insights into the biological drivers of nutrient cycling that provides evidence for the re-evaluation of both small and large scale agricultural practices. Over the past centrury there has been an explosion in the use of chemical fertilizers, resulting in the continued destruction of coastal habits worldwide. Additional side-effects of chemical fertilizer abuse includes the destrcution of productive top soils and soil demineralization, that results in the demineralization of food, which gives cause for the use of vitamin and mineral supplements. The compost process, and nutrient cylcing, work to reverse the trend of top-soil delpeletion, and food demineralization, and toxic chemical run-off into coastal habits.

AAPFCO - Soil Amendment/Compost - Uniform Product Claims

By: Ron Alexander, AAPFCO Industry Liaison and Professional Horticulturist, Prepared for the US Composting Council

Compost and other soil amendments have been studied for hundreds of years by horticulturists, agronomists and agricultural professionals. A variety of verified product benefits (potential labeling claims) have been identified through research over this same period of time. Below is a list of compost benefits that have been verified and should be available for suppliers or manufacturers to use on their product labels. The list is supported by the attached bibliography of scientific publications and text.

AAPFCO proposes the following as a minimum list of allowable product claims, which may be amended by suppliers or manufacturers with additional verifiable research data. It should also in no way restrict a specific supplier or manufacturer from making additional claims that are specific to a product, if they have research to support such claims.

Verified Compost Benefits

  1. Improves soil structure and porosity – creating a better plant root environment
  2. Increases moisture infiltration and permeability, and reduces bulk density of heavy soils – improving moisture infiltration rates and reducing erosion and runoff
  3. Improves the moisture holding capacity of light soils – reducing water loss and nutrient leaching, and improving moisture retentio
  4. Improves the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soils
  5. Supplies organic matter
  6. Aids the proliferation of soil microbes
  7. Supplies beneficial microorganisms to soils and growing media
  8. Encourages vigorous root growth
  9. Allows plants to more effectively utilize nutrients, while reducing nutrient loss by leaching
  10. Enables soils to retain nutrients longer
  11. Contains humus – assisting in soil aggregation and making nutrients more available for plant uptake
  12. Buffers soil pH

References for AAPFCO Soil Amendment / Compost Uniform Product Claims

It should be noted that several of the following references provide documentation for many of the benefits of compost, but each reference may not have been repeated in all of the appropriate categories. It is also important to recognize that this is just a partial listing, and that hundreds of additional references could be cited to verify compost product claims.

1. Improves soil structure and porosity – creating a better plant root environment

2. Increases moisture infiltration and permeability, and reduces bulk density of heavy soils – improving moisture infiltration rates and reducing erosion and runoff

3. Improves the moisture holding capacity of light soils – reducing water loss and nutrient leaching, and improving moisture retention

4. Improves the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soils – improving their ability to retain nutrients for plant use

5. Supplies organic matter

6. Aids the proliferation of beneficial microbes

7. Supplies beneficial microorganisms to soils and growing media

8. Encourages vigorous root growth

9. Allows plants to more effectively utilize nutrients, while reducing nutrient loss by leaching

10. Enables soils to retain nutrients longer

11. Contains humus – assisting in soil aggregation and making nutrients more available for plant uptake

12. Buffers soil pH

13. Binds and degrades specific pollutants

Compost Photo Gallery

Compost photos provided by Washington State University:

Feeding Indoor Plants With Instant Compost Tea

Healthy Soil = Healthy Plants = Healthy Air.

Here's some practical starter suggestions for using "biologic" growing methods without chemical fertilizers.

How to Grow a Healthy Strawberry

Here's a collection of recent research about the effectiveness of strawberries, and other fruits, on human and animal health to help discover the best practices on how to grow fruit for optimal health.

What's Inside the Soil?

View high resolution microscope photographs of micro-organisms provided by Soil Food Web Testing Laboratories

Health Care Art Gallery - Editorial Policy - Privacy - Funding - Terms of Use - Contact