Hans-Peter Schmidt

There are some real Jewels in the Ithaka journal's article 55 uses for Biochar

http://www.ithaka-journal.net/55-anwendungenvon-pflanzenkohle?lang=en

Mr. Schmidt makes a good point that biochar provides more value when it's used for other purposes before it is worked into the soil, and then he does a nice job of laying out the pathways to do so.

One of my favorites

Cascading uses of biochar in farming with animals.

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ithaka Journal Home Garden Study Results

Ithaka Journal worked with home gardeners from across Switzerland to conduct a 2 year home garden test plot study. In the study, home gardeners aged the biochar in their own compost, and applied the biochar on a 1 Meter square test plot, then compared the results with an identically planted 1 Meter square control.

The results were mixed, and there were a lot of reasons given by the authors for this. The biggest variable that they isolated in the study was the compost. Apparently the quality of the compost varied quite a bit, and could easily have accounted for a lot of the mixed results.

Additionally, the biochar amended compost was mixed into the top few inches of the planting beds. Some crops are fairly shallow rooted, and that get good benefits from this type of amendment, but most plants will do better if the biochar is blended with good compost and soil and applied to the whole root zone. We've seen better results when the planting holes are amended.

the Methodology in full:

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From the Ithaka journal, "Biochar in poultry farming "
http://www.ithaka-journal.net/pflanzenkohle-in-der-geflugelhaltung?lang=en

This is a practical article that provides simple advice for using biochar to help manage disease in commercial poultry operations. The authors point out that many birds end up spending time in direct contact with their manure and suggest blending 5-10% by volume biochar into the bedding or silage used to in the coops and poultry houses can help the birds resist diseases in addition to helping filter the ammonia and reducing the impacts of the bird wastes.

The primary article also gives specific recommendations for using biochar in feed to help prevent intestinal diseases, and they recommend the following studies:

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