Composting and Compost Use in Organic Systems

• Compost Carryover Effects on Soil Quality and Productivity in Organic Dryland Wheat – Recorded webinar
  • eOrganic. 2015
• Compost Production and Use in Sustainable Farming Systems
  
  • Center for Environmental Farming Systems. 2005
    
• Composting to Reduce Weed Seeds and Plant Pathogens
  • eOrganic. 2013
    
• Making and Using Compost Teas – Recorded webinar
  • eOrganic. 2015
• Making and Using Compost for Organic Farming
  • eOrganic. 2013
• Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture [PDF - 955 kB]
  
  • OACC
• Manure Composting as a Pathogen Reduction Strategy
  • Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. 2005
• Manure Composting Manual
  • Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. 2005
• Notes on Compost Teas
  • ATTRA. 2002
• Outcome of Effect of Compost Extracts on Organic Seed Germination and Reduction of Weed Seed Expression
  • Organic Farming Research Foundation. 2015
• Sustainable Organic Vegetable Systems: Evaluating Green Manure and Biowaste Composts [PDF - 83 kB]
  • OACC. 2010
• Temporary Field Storage of Solid Manure or Other Agricultural Source Material
  • Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. 2010
• Vermicasting (or Vermicomposting): Processing Organic Wastes Through Earthworms
  • Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. 2010
• Vermicomposting: The Basics
  
  • ATTRA. 2013
    

Compost effects on agricultural systems

• Altered food web structure and C-flux pathways associated with mineralisation of organic amendments to agricultural soil
  • Applied Soil Ecology (2011) 48: 107-116
• Biologically Regulated Nutrient Supply Systems: Compost and Arbuscular Mycorrhizas—A Review
  • Advances in Agronomy (2015) 129: 293-321
• Changes in Bacterial and Fungal Communities across Compost Recipes, Preparation Methods, and Composting Times
  • PLoS ONE (2013) 8(11): e79512
• Economically Optimal Compost Rates for Organic Crop Production
  • Agronomy Journal (2010) 102: 1283-1289
• Profitability of Cropping Systems Featuring Tillage and Compost
  • Agronomy Journal (2010) 102: 450-456
• Quantifying the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as a result of composting dairy and beef cattle manure
  • Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems (2005) 72:173–187
• A review of the use of composted municipal solid waste in agriculture
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment (2008) 123: 1-14

Compost effects on crops

• Compost-based Nursery Substrates: Effect of Peat Substitution on Organic Melon Seedlings
  • Compost Science & Utilizations (2009) 17: 220-228
• Composts from various municipal solid waste feedstocks affect vegetable crops. II. Growth, yields, and fruit quality
  • Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science (1997) 122: 433-437
• Cured Dairy Compost Influence on Weed Competition and on ‘Snowden' Potato Yield
  • Weed Technology (2013) 27: 378-388
• The effects of organic amendments on mineral element uptake and fruit quality of raspberries
  • Plant and Soil (2008) 308: 213–226
• The effects of organic and conventional nutrient amendments on strawberry cultivation: Fruit yield and quality
  • Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2008) 88:2669–2675
• Influence of biodynamic preparations on compost development and resultant compost extracts on wheat seedling growth
  • Bioresource Technology (2010) 101: 5658-5666
• Influence of Orchard Floor Management and Compost Application Timing on Nitrogen Partitioning in Apple Trees
  • HortScience (2010) 45: 637-642
• Long-term influence of compost on available water capacity of a fine sandy loam in a potato rotation
  • Canadian Journal of Soil Science (2007) 87: 535–539
• Nitrogen and Carbon Mineralization Rates of Composted Manures Incubated in Soil
  • Journal of Environmental Quality (1994) 23: 1184–1189
• Nitrogen Availability from Composts for Grass and Legume-Grass Forage Production
  • Journal of Environmental Quality (2004) 33: 1509-1520
• Organic tomato transplant production in compost-amended substrate
  • Acta Horticulturae (2008) 782: 241-244
• Season-long supply of plant-available nutrients from compost and fertiliser in a long term organic vs. conventional snap bean rotations experiment
  • Organic Eprints. 2008
• Soil microbial biomass, functional microbial diversity, and nematode community structure as affected by cover crops and compost in an organic vegetable production system
  • Applied Soil Ecology (2012) 58: 45-55
• Soil organic amendment impacts on corn resistance to Helicoverpa zea: Constitutive or induced?
  • Pedobiologia (2012) 55: 343-347
• Soil physical properties and organic matter in forages receiving composts, manure or fertilizer
  • Compost Science and Utilization (2005) 13: 252- 261
• Suitability of composts as potting media for production of organic vegetable transplants
  • Compost Science & Utilization (2005) 13: 150-156
• Transplant growth and stand establishment of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants as affected by compost-amended substrate
  • Acta Horticulturae (2008) 782: 223-228

Compost effects on soils and nutrients

• Available nitrogen and phosphorus in soil amended with fresh or composted cattle manure containing straw or wood-chip bedding
  • Canadian Journal of Soil Science (2010) 90: 341-354
• Biowaste usage for soil erosion control and soil physical improvement under potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) in Atlantic Canada
  • Canadian Journal of Soil Science (2010) 90:103-111
• Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks and Nitrogen Mineralization in Organically Managed Soils Amended with Composted Manures
  • Journal of Environmental Quality (2012) 41: 1337-1347
• Compost, rapeseed rotation, and biocontrol agents significantly impact soil microbial communities in organic and conventional potato production systems
  • Applied Soil Ecology (2012) 52: 29-41
• Effect of Composted Greenhouse Wastes on Macro-Nutrients Concentration and Productivity of Cucumber
  • Acta Horticulturae (2001) 549: 123-130
• Effects of land application of municipal biosolids on nitrogen-fixing bacteria in agricultural soil
  • Biology and Fertility of Soils (2010) 46: 407-413
• Forms of phosphorus in composts and in compost-amended soils following incubation
  • Canadian Journal of Soil Science (2012) 92: 711-712
• High-nitrogen compost as a medium for organic container-grown crops
  • Bioresource Technology (2005) 96: 419-427
• Nitrogen Availability from Composts for Grass and Legume-Grass Forage Production
  • Journal of Environmental Quality (2004) 33: 1509-1520
• Nitrogen Availability from Composts for Humid Region Perennial Grass and Legume–Grass Forage Production
  • Journal of Environmental Quality (2004) 33: 1509-1520
    
• Organic plum cultivation in the Mediterranean region: The medium-term effect of five different organic soil management practices on crop production and microbiological soil quality
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2016) 221: 60-70
• Residual Effects of Compost on Soil Quality and Dryland Wheat Yield Sixteen Years after Compost Application
  • Soil Science Society of America Journal (2011) 76: 278-285
• A short-term comparison of organic v. conventional agriculture in a silty loam soil using two organic amendments
  • Journal of Agricultural Science (2008) 146: 677-687
• Use of 13C and 15N Natural Abundance Techniques to Characterize Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics in Composting and in Compost-Amended Soils
  • Soil Biology and Biochemistry (2006) 38: 103-114

Compost effects on pathogens, antibiotics and GMOs

• Biodegradation of genetically modified seeds and plant tissues during composting
  • Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2010) 90: 650-657
• Compost for Management of Weed Seeds, Pathogen, and Early Blight on Brassicas in Organic Farmer Fields
  • Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (2014) 39: 3-18
• Compost induces protection against Fusarium oxysporum in sweet basil
  • Crop Protection (2002) 21: 583-587
• Compost suppressiveness against Fusarium oxysporum was not reduced after one-year storage under various moisture and temperature conditions
  • Soil Biology and Biochemistry (2010) 42: 626-634
• Compost tea: Principles and prospects for plant disease control
  • Compost Science & Utilization (2002) 10: 313-338   
• Compost Teas and Reused Nutrient Solution Suppress Plant Pathogens In Vitro
  • HortScience (2013) 48: 510-512
• Does organic farming increase soil suppression against Fusarium wilt of melon?
  • Organic Agriculture (2012) 1: 203-216
• Effect of non-aerated compost teas on damping-off pathogens of tomato
  • Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology (2012). 34: 51-57
• Guidelines for Assessing Compost Quality for Safe and Effective Utilization in Vegetable Production
  • HortTechnology (2017) 27: 162-165
• Induced resistance as a putative component of compost suppressiveness
  • Biological Control (2010) 54: 46-51
• Minimal Composting of Beef Cattle Manure Reduces Antibiotic Levels
  • USDA ARS. 2008
• Plant waste-based composts suppressive to diseases caused by pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum
  • European Journal of Plant Pathology (2006) 116: 267-278
• Recent Advances in Soil-Borne Disease Control Using Suppressive Media
  • Acta Horticulturae (2009) 819: 125-134
• Suppression of Allium white rot (Sclerotium cepivorum) in different soils using vegetable wastes
  • European Journal of Plant Pathology (2005) 111: 101-112
• Suppression of bacterial canker of tomato by composts
  • Crop Protection (2009) 28: 97-103
• Supressiveness of 18 composts against 7 pathosystems: Variability in pathogen response
  • Soil Biology & Biochemistry (2006) 38: 2461-2477
• The use of compost in growing media as suppressive agent against soil-borne diseases
  • Acta Horticulturae (2008) 779: 39-49

Composting and compost application

• Economically Optimal Compost Rates for Organic Crop Production
  • Agronomy Journal (2010) 102: 1283-1289
• Production of high-quality composts for horticultural purposes: A mini-review
  • HortTechnology (2005) 15: 52-57
• Use of compost made from livestock manure as an organic substrate for cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) grown in greenhouse
  • Acta Horticulturae (2009) 819: 367-372

Compost teas

• Antifungal effects of compost tea microorganisms on tomato pathogens
  • Biological Control (2014) 80: 63-69
• Are compost teas an effective nutrient amendment in the cultivation of strawberries? Soil and plant tissue effects
  • Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2009) 89: 390–397
• Compost Teas and Reused Nutrient Solution Suppress Plant Pathogens In Vitro
  • HortScience (2013) 48: 510-512
• Compost tea: Principles and prospects for plant disease control 
  • Compost Science & Utilization (2002) 10: 313-338
• Effect of non-aerated compost teas on damping-off pathogens of tomato
  • Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology (2012) 34: 51-57

Vermicompost

• Benefits of Vermicompost as a Constituent of Growing Substrates Used in the Production of Organic Greenhouse Tomatoes
  • HortScience (2010) 45: 1510-1515
• Impact of vermicompost on vegetable transplant quality
  • HortScience (2005) 40: 2020-2023
• Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Tomato and Lettuce as Affected by Vermicompost Water Extracts (Teas)
  • HortScience (2012) 47: 1722-1728
• The use of vermicompost in organic farming: overview, effects on soil and economics
  • Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2015) 95: 1143-1156
• Vermicompost as a substitute for peat in organic potting media: effects on germination, biomass allocation, yields and fruit quality of three tomato varieties
  • Scientia Horticulturae (2007) 112: 191-199