Johnson-Su…Bokashi…Luebke…what do all these terms have in common? If you answered that they are all methods for composting organic wastes and turning them into useful soil amendments, you are right!
Composting has been having a moment recently, with many people promoting their preferred methods with evangelical zeal. One of the goals of the Feed the Soil project is to compile and synthesise the existing evidence about different methods of composting and provide some objective information on the pros and cons of each approach. Our newly published literature review in the journal Next Research provides an overview of different systems, starting with a typology of composting methods. Six methods are described: windrow, hot composting, biodynamic, aerated static pile, lactic acid fermentation and vermicomposting. The review goes on to assess the evidence for impacts of these methods on crop yields, nutritional quality, soil health and carbon footprints. For a robust comparison of composting methods, studies are needed that start with the same feedstocks composted using each method; unfortunately these types of studies are rare. Some positive news about integrated fertiliser management – using composts in combination with synthetic fertilisers – is reported. And biodynamic methods appear to benefit soil health, although it is difficult to pick apart the effects of the whole biodynamic system from the composting method specifically. You will have to read the paper to learn more about the outcomes, but it will not surprise you to hear that one key take-home message is that we need more research!
Cooper J, Mackintosh I, Willoughby C (2026) On-farm composting systems for regenerative agriculture. A review, Next Research, Volume 7, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nexres.2026.101475.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S3050475926001727)
