LIVINGSTON COUNTY- U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will award an organic composting firm, Worm Power, in Avon with a $99,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant.
Worm Power is a small commercial earthworm composting company that uses a process it calls “vericomposting,” whereby it takes animal waste from dairy cows, composts it, and feeds it to millions of earthworms to create a fertilizer that prevents crop disease. This enhanced fertilizer eliminates the need for synthetic fungicides that can be harmful for both consumers and the environment. The facility currently employs 8 workers in Avon, and this grant will enable them to develop a new product and provide more jobs for Livingston County.
“The innovation of companies like Worm Power has a positive ripple-effect for two of Upstate New York’s biggest industries, dairy and agriculture,” said Senator Schumer. “Their unique composting method eliminates excess waste from our growing dairy industry as they expand to meet new growing demand for products like Greek Yogurt, and it creates a valuable product for our agricultural industry.”
The grant will also link Worm Power with Cornell University’s agricultural scientists to help the business develop an organic spray to coat seeds, to protect them from disease and help them grow larger as they germinate. This seed spray, once developed, could provide a significant boost to the agricultural economy.
Schumer supported this $99,994 SBIR grant from the USDA specifically for Worm Power’s project, “Vermicomposted Dairy Manure as a Disease Suppressive Seed Treatment.” This program is designed to create a new class of disease resistant organic seed. Worm Power will now be able to partner with plant pathology experts at Cornell to develop environmentally safer alternatives to conventional agri-chemicals that are commonly used on seeds. The project, which is anticipated to take about eight months, begins now, in June.
Every year in America, over 50% of seeds are treated and seed treatment products account for over $3 billion in sales, but they typically contain several inorganic chemicals that may have negative side effects. Hopefully, Worm Power can break into this lucrative agricultural sector with a biologically-based seed treatment that is sustainably produced and environmentally-friendly.