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Worm farming or vermiculture is gradually getting prominence worldwide. It entails cultivation and nurturing of worms for animal feed and natural manure for plants; hence, it becomes a business when done for profit. This business is cost effective due to the fact that most of the primary resources needed for it are waste of other industries or farms (in form of spent grains or animal excreta) which can be acquired cheaply or for free.

Initially, worm farming business has been associated with rural land owners, but has of late transcended into a viable venture with large farm owners and private laboratories largely involved. The worm market can only expand with numerous research and development on (potential) uses for worm ongoing throughout the world. With expanding income-earning possibilities, it is a sure guarantee of high profits if efficiently managed and practiced.

Worms reproduce rapidly when properly cared for in a conducive environment. The global worm trade is estimated at over $1.2 billion annually with millions of people benefitting both directly and indirectly. While it is a full-time profitable business for many, it is a source of supplementary income for others. Many began worm farming as a hobby for personal use, fish feed or bait as well as for ecological and recycling food waste. Overtime came the realization of a worthy monetary venture that can be grown with little or no stress. Most commercial vermicultures operate as independent business owners working at their own pace and convenience.

Running a worm farm conjunctionally with a livestock farm has proven very efficient and effective. Growing worms in livestock waste and then feeding the animals with crops that have been improved with organic manure from the worms casting completes a very viable nutrient cycle. Many rabbit farmers have diversified into the nurturing of earthworms by placing worm bin directly under a suspended rabbit cage were the worms receive dungs as feed.

Uses of worms

1. Vermicomposting: this is the use of various kinds of worms to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials and worm faeces to create organic manure. Studies have shown vermicompost to be environmentally friendly and very effective in enhancing plant growth, suppressing plant disease, as well as improving water retention, aeration and porosity of the soil.
2. Animal feed: worms are required as feed in places like fish hatcheries, tropical fish stores, pet stores, zoos (with exotic birds of fishes), game bird reserves, frog farms and poultry labs. Similarly, animal feed producers also demand for worms as raw materials for aquatic and birds feed production.
3. Laboratories and recycling plants involve in agricultural related activities often require a steady supply of worms to set up new worm bins for research or recycling purposes.
4. Soil reclamation: industrial and agricultural activities degrade the land and its fertility. Earthworms are good agents for soil reclamation due to their ability to mix and aggregate the soil and its water content which aids decomposition.

Factors to consider when establishing a commercial worm farm

For your warm farming business to be viable, realistic and sustainable, concerted effort needs to be put into its planning, starting, growing and solving through the under listed items.

1. Knowledge of the business: Is literally unwise to venture into any business without understanding the dynamics just because it appears to be profiting those in it. Sequel to engaging in worm farming business, it is important to furnish yourself with requisite information about the peculiarity of the trade. A prospective vermiculture first need to learn how to grow earthworms, what and how to feed them, know how to protect the worms from predators and adverse weather and the kind of labour required. Thus, it is important to engage in broad based feasibility on worm cultivation and the market from available literatures, functional worm farms and from professionals in the field.

A little training or internship will no doubt be an added advantage in complementing      the theoretical knowledge acquired. After having gain confidence in your capacity to raise earthworms you should then consider the suitability of environment.

2. The environment: Worms can only survive under a minimum care requirement that should be maintained at regular intervals. The climatic condition and soil composition are vital in choosing the specie of worm suitable for the proposed farm. The basic internal environmental factors affecting worm reproduction, health and growth that needs daily management and supervision are temperature, moisture, aeration, acidity-alkalinity level and food content.

• Temperature: Worms’ beds need to be at a temperature of between 60⁰F and 70⁰F for intensive cocoon production and hatching while the immediate external environment should be maintained at between 55⁰F and 80⁰ Maintaining temperature will require adding of water, activating fans and controlling the amount of feedstock applied.
• Moisture: Earthworms require a moist environment for respiration. Worm beds need to be able to sustain a moisture range of around 55 to 80 percent but should not be too watery. The worm beds should equally be shaded from direct sunlight in order not to overheat or dry out.
• Aeration: worms can only survive in a moist environment with relatively low oxygen and high carbon dioxide level. However, without oxygen at all they will die; hence the need to employ both temperature and moisture measures to maintain the aeration level.
• Acidity-alkalinity level: a soil PH level is acidic when at 1 to 6 and alkaline at between 8 to 14 with the midpoint 7 as neutral. Earthworm can survive on a PH range between 5 to 8. This should be checked often with a PH kit and if an acid condition is dictated, agricultural lime may be mixed with bedding materials to salvage the situation.
• Food content: worm feed has a tendency of altering the bedding environment. Thus, worm farmers should be conscious of the content, volume and application time of the feed.

3. A business plan: a business plan normally serves as road map that provides a direction to the business future. It is a vital manual for investors or financial institutions you might need loans or grants from. A good worm farm business should include the following vital components.

• The farm owner: with articles as address, city, telephone, fax and email
• Executive summary: should explain the general fundamentals of the farm in one or two pages. Though coming second, should be written after the business plan have been completed for consistency.
• General farm description: mission statements, goals and objectives, industry information, strength and core competencies should be highlighted under this section.
• Products and services: they mainly are worms, worm tea, worm castings and vermicomposting related services.
• Marketing plan: items to be expressed include the targeted market, benefits of your products and services, likely competition and market strategy.
• Operational plan: production processes, location, legal environment, personnel required will be important here.
• Startup expenses: captures all cost to be incurred before starting operation on the farm
• Financial plan: should consist of profit and lost projections, projected cash flow, break-even analysis
• Appendices: attachment of all documents and studies used in drafting the business plan. Examples include pictures, charts, brochures, articles etc.

4. Feeding the worms: worms feed on organic matter like kitchen waste, animal manure, shredded paper and any decaying organic matter. Rabbit, swine, goat, horse and diary manures are rich worm feeds. While poultry manure is not suitable due to high concentration levels of mineral salt and nitrogen. Feeds that are poor in nutrients can be supplemented with protein and nitrogen from mashes, grains and cottonseed meal.

Before using manure or any organic material as feed, make sure you test its suitability. This can be done by placing the feed material in a small bowl along with a few worms, observe their behaviour for about a day. If the worms consume the material, then is suitable, but if they crawl or at worse die then such feed is not healthy.

Worm feeding requires a schedule, mostly one or twice a week depending on their rate of consumption and growth level. Too much feed may overheat the beds making it oxygen deprived or high in acid. Removing excess food, adding calcium carbonate and mixing the bedding can mitigate this problem.

5. Farm equipment: sundry farm equipment as gloves, wheelbarrow, shovel and rakes are needed; but the major equipment for a commercial worm farm is the worm bed.

Worm growers often use half barrels of steel or wood, discarded refrigerators, old livestock water tanks, washing machine tubes, or large wooden or metal containers as worm beds; these are gotten for free or very cheaply. Others with more capital could construct a standard worm bed which will guarantee the worms health, reproduction and growth.

A standard worm bed should have a width of 3 to 5 feet and depth of 12 to 24inches. Some growers make theirs as long as 8 to 10 feet long and install dividers for ease in feeding, harvesting and cleaning. These beds can be constructed with woods, blocks and metals in areas of conducive climates. While in places where there is likely to be fluctuation in temperature, worm beds are best when build 12 to 24 inches below the ground. Although most worm farmers prefer using beds, others method such as windrows, the wedge system or continuous-flow reactor are also common.

6. Harvesting: the suitable time for worm harvest is early morning. Harvesting the worm beds regularly optimizes worm production because it provides more feed and space for the worms to move more easily.

Worm harvest can be done using several methods; common among them is ‘table harvesting’. This is done by placing a table covered with waterproof palatine bag across the worm bed frame, then containers with about 2 inches of pre-soaked bedding for the harvested worms. Using a pitchfork, carefully lift the top 4 inches of bedding and place it on the harvesting board. With adequate radiation or light the worms will move deeper into the pile and most will end up on the board.

Another technique is to create a box using wooden bases and a mesh bottom and put manure on it. Place the box right on top of the bed, this will compel most of the worms to crawl through the mesh bottom for food. Then just pick up the box and package the worms.

Lastly, a simpler but less effective method is by setting a plastic sheet with fresh feed or manure on top of the worm bed. A significant number of worms will crawl to the sheet which should then be lifted off the bed.

There are various ways of packaging worms for shipping. They packages can be specially design cartons, attractively printed and fitted with perforated covers for air entry. Breather type paper bags are also recommended. For more protection, the small packages are then put in corrugated boxes or lightweight wooden containers for long distance delivery.

7. Marketing: marketing of worms simply entails reaching out to the right people that you have worms, knowing exactly where to target, and adopting the appropriate language to get it out there. You must find a way to reach your buyers, sell to them, and be certain that what you are selling conforms with their needs both in quantity and quality. Once the earthworms a properly nurtured and catered for their quality of your product is automatically guaranteed.

Your targeted market could be your locality or afar, hence adopting suitable marketing measures such as verbal expressions, the internet or flayers could all be efficient. Worms and its bye products can best be marketed based on purpose it will serve the buyer.

• Marketing of worms as fish baits: if your farm in an area with lots of lakes and rivers for fishing, you already have a customer base. There are basically two ways to go; you can sell to the fishermen themselves or to bait shops or even to both groups. Selling directly to the fishermen will earn greater profits, but if it proofs difficult selling to a bait shop in large quantity will also insure the farm’s stream of revenue.
• Market your worms and worm beds to Verm composters and gardeners: if your immediate locality is a farming hub, then you have an added advantage. Farmers, fertilizer blending plants and local municipalities are becoming more interested in Verm composting to make ecologically friendly fertilizers; this group are dependable buyers. Similarly, gardeners are among the biggest customers of worms and worm casting because it enhances the growth and quality of vegetables.
• Selling worm and vermiculture services online: this requires setting up a website and social media handles for the business. In the digital age no platform gives a wider audience of customers than the web space. A worm farmer can explore it to showcase his farm, its products and even feedbacks from previous customers. Online platforms are also avenues to showcase various services directly related to worm farming which you can offer. These services include, worm farm system installation and setup, consulting, waste pick-up (with off-site processing), school presentations and workshops, food garden installation and eco-landscaping.

Benefits of Worm Farming

1. A viable source of income: many people world over have started raising earthworms as a means of earning. Livestock farmers, coastal dwellers and worm enthusiast have embraced worm farming as a main or diversified source of income. As very profitable as the endeavor is, intending worm farmers are encouraged to explore local markets potentials, especially when the intention is to run it as a full-time job, due to its domesticated nature.
2. Management of organic waste: often times, livestock dungs are disposed and end up as useless pollutants. Worm farming provides an opportunity to utilize these excreta for worms breeding, feeding and vermicomposting. These has minimised waste and created efficiency within the agricultural value chain with an operable farm nutrient cycle.
3. Sustainable agriculture: this is a process of producing livestock and crops without altering or degrading the environment in such a way that it affects future production. The extensive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in modern agricultural practices has on one hand boasted crop yield and enhanced productivity, but has deteriorated the soil quality and caused a step fall in biodiversity. Worms and its bye products are now viable environmentally friendly alternatives; as they have the capacity to not just improve soil fertility but plant’s immunity as well.
4. Relatively cheap to operate: most factor inputs require in establishing and running a worm farm are locally available and inexpensive. It is a business that you can start small and utilise successive stream of income to expand and even modernise. The raw material required a partly waste products and it is normally run with subsistence labour; therefore except for exigencies, a $2000 dollar budget should be able establish a standard worm farm.
5. Reduces farming cost: this is applicable to crop farmers and gardeners alike engaged in worm farming. They will use worm cast and worm tea from their vermiculture activities as manure in place of spending money on less efficient fertilizers. It will equally reduce how much they spend on disposing kitchen and plant waste that will instead be channelled into worm feeding.

Worm Pest and Pathogen

Worm pest is the major challenge for most earthworm farmers. They are in form of birds, snakes, moles, rats, gophers, toads and other insects that feed or molest worms. Soil arthropods such as ants and mites are basically the greatest pest concern to worm farmers.

How do mites and ants affect worm growing?

Mites: these are natural sand and manure inhabitants. Most worm bed have a small population of mites, which if not promptly addressed can multiply to very high numbers. An improperly nurtured worm bed can create an environment of acidity which becomes a condition for mites to flourish.

White and brown mites are non-predaceous and mostly feed on decaying or injured worms. However, during infestation this mite can feed immensely on worm feed; hence depriving them of needed nutrients. This will no doubt increase mite population within the bed while diminishing the health, growth and reproduction rate of the actual bed owners

On the other hand, red mites are naturally parasitic towards worms. They attach themselves to the worms and suck its body fluid. They are capable of piecing cocoons and feeding on their fluids. The red mite is smaller to the white or brown mite, has an egg-shape and has eight legs; it can best be dictated through magnification

Ants: several species of ants find worm beds attractive due to high concentrated feed, the temperature, worm eggs and even small worms. The small sized specie of ant is capable of habiting the worm bed for long time unnoticed. Though ants cause less damage compared to mites their presence in the worm bed affects worm feeding, growth and reproduction.

Pest control.

The best pest control measure for earthworms is prevention. Adequate and proper care for worm beds will eradicate any chance of mites or ants build up because standard worm bed condition is not conducive for them. That is to say poor bed practices as overfeeding, excessive water and flashy feed are mainly responsible for mite and ant infestation. Treatment methods include use of sunlight, applying light dust of soil Sulphur, water heavily to float the mites and ants.

Other challenges of worm farming startups are:

Land: the impediments around land as an integral factor of production mainly affect new entrants who are neither traditional land owners nor farmers. Most governments do not see vermiculture beyond waste dropping hence are very passive towards granting land occupancy and license for it; specifically, in areas where the government manages waste. This situation will give only buoyant individuals and firms with capacities to start and run large scale vermicomposting the edge.

Noticeable odor: Worm farming have odor that can become very offensive if not checked. This has made worm farming difficult in closely spaced residential area. This has created public health concerns around it. Problematic smell from worm farms has made the practice more of an off-home endeavor.

High maintenance: Worms can only eat very little at a time, so the farmer has to add new food often and monitor the worm bin to ensure that worms are not overwhelmed by the feed. Furthermore, the farmer has to constantly monitor moisture levels to ensure the are stable if not he will have to add or reduce water.

Agriculture

Tags: Agricultural business ideas, Business ideas, Worm farming