MANAGING PASTURES FROM THE GROUND

DOWN BY Jim Ritchie

(Copied and distributed by permission of "Missouri Beef

Cattleman Mag."

Things are looking down on Lynn Heinze's grass-and-

cattle farm south of Kahoka, in Clark County, Missouri:

It's not that Heinze is of a gloomy turn of mind; in fact,

he's quite an optimist. But the Missourian is keenly inter-

ested in the soil beneath the sod, and he seldom ven-

tures into his pastures without either a tiling spade or

six-foot probing rod, to learn what's happening under his

feet.

"Everything starts with the soil," says Heinze. "If the

soil isn't healthy, the plants that grow in it won't be

healthy and neither will the animals that graze the

plants.

Healthy soil contains a balance of minerals and bio-

logical organisms, Heinze notes. He compares the bio-

logical activity in healthy soil to the activity in the rumen

of one of his Limousin cows.

"We don't know all the microbes and enzymes that

are at work in healthy soil or in a healthy rumen, but I do

know they must be there," he says. "We've mistreated

the soil pretty badly in many areas, and we're seeing the

results: compaction, poor water infiltration, poor root

penetration. But soil can be nursed back to good health,

and in a relatively short time '

Earthworms are an important sign in healthy soil;

thus the spade that usually rides in the back of Heinze's

pickup. His farm is a sort of one-man experiment station,

where Heinze varies soil treatments and observes what

happens.

"Where I manage the soil to encourage earthworm

activity, water goes into the soil better," he says. 'For

example, I can push a soil probe into the ground six feet

deep where good earthworm populations exist. In the

same pasture, in areas where there is little earthworm

activity, the probe only goes in a foot or so '

Heinze explains the difference this way: Earthworms

tunnel into the soil, moving up and down in response to

moisture and temperature. They do this by literally eat-

ing their way through the soil profile digging long tubes

six feet or more below the surface. This activity not only

makes the soil looser and more friable, but also allows

water to penetrate deeper into the soil. This makes a

much larger sub-soil reservoir in which to store water

than if rainfall penetrated, say, only the top one foot of

soil.

"At the same time earthworms pump minerals from

deep in the soil into the plant root zone ' says Heinze.

"Also, earthworm castings (the waste by-product) are

rich in organic matter and nutrients for plants. Organic

matter holds nitrogen, phosphorus and other plant nutri-

ents."

To prove his point, Heinze earlier this year sent two

soil samples for analysis to A&L Midwest Labs, at

Omaha. The first sample contained a high percentage of

earthworm castings. The second sample was soil from

pasture land that had no great population of worms. Here

are the results:

Soil Sample Organic Matter Nitrogen P K Ca pH

ratio

Earthworm

castings 5.9% 107lbs High 252 lb 1.974 7.3

Pasture

Soil 3.3% 80lbs Low 90lb. 1.707 5.8

"The difference in nitrogen alone would amount to

more than $5 per acre, in terms of the cost of commer-

cial fertilizer " says Heinze. "The soil test report also

showed much higher values for sulfur, zinc, magnesium

and boron in the earthworm castings "

Heinze goes back to his observation about water

retention in the soil:

"An acre of soil with 5% organic matter can absorb

about 150,000 gallons of water, or the equivalent of six

inches of rainfall," he says. 'An acre of soil with less

than 2% organic matter can hold only about 27,000 gal-

lons of water, or about a one-inch rain. Nobody in north-

ern Missouri this year can doubt how important soil

moisture is to any kind of plant growth '

They can't do it without the right kind of soil environ-

ment, but earthworms can make a big difference in soil

quality,' adds Heinze: "Healthy soils depend on not just

earthworms, but on a great variety of micro-organisms

and the enzymes they produce. The use of chemicals

and nitrate salt fertilizers have gotten this microbial pop-

ulation out of balance in many soils, and without this bal-

ance, you don't get good earthworm activity in the soil.

Heinze believes he has found a way to encourage

and speed up the growth of soil microbes, and thus

earthworms.

More than a year ago, I started experimenting with a

product called SpewxZyme;" he says. "This is a liquid,

enzyme-producing soil amendment, and I still don't

know everything there is to know about why it works, but

it does. I can demonstrate that by increased earthworm

activity, more friable soil and moisture to greater depths

And i can see it in the grass and legumes growing on

the soil.'

SpewxZyme is marketed by Larry Ehlert, of Ehlert

Enterprises at St. Joseph. After managing BioZyme

Enterprises; Inc. for years, Ehlert stepped down as pres-

ident of the company over a year ago, and devoted his

attention to this soil amendment, which he calls a 'com-

post'.

"SpewxZyme is no miracle cure for all the soil ail-

ments in the world; says Ehlert. But it can help estab-

lish and maintain a balance of soil friendlies, like earth-

worms."

The enzyme-producing substance was developed by

H. E. "Gene' Kistner, Sabetha, Kansas; the biochemist

who also developed Amaferm(R), which is a principal ele-

ment in BioZyme Enterprises feed products. In fact, Kist-

ner uses a Strain of Aspergillus mold, or fungi, in much

the same process by which Amaferm(R) is made.

Kistner graduated from the McPherson College,

McPherson, KS., after studying both chemistry and biol-

ogy. For the next several years, he worked in the live-

stock and poultry feed industry. Then, during World War

II, Kistner and other scientists studied fermentation pro-

cesses in alcohol production.

"After the war, I continued my research with

Aspergillus strains from the Orient," recalls Kistner. "I

developed and patented a deep-culture fermentation

process to reproduce the organisms quickly, and in

1959, started producing and selling the Amaferm prod-

uct"

In 1968, Kistner sold his business and manufacturing

processes to Ehlert, who established BioZyme Enter-

prises. Gene Kistner technically retired then, but he

. didn't stop working.

"I have continued to study different cultures and pro-

cesses all alone " Kistner says. "We in effect domesticat-

ed a wild natural strain of Aspergillus and put it to work

We still only partly understand what enzymes these

organisms produce and what they do, but there's no limit

on the application of these materials "

The most recent material to flow from Kistner's fer

mentation processes is the soil amendment used by

Lynn Heinze.

"I use two ounces of SpewxZyme in 20 to 30 gallon

of water per acre, applied with a conventional sprayer

says Heinze. "The investment is about $5 per acre, or

about the value of the nitrogen in the extra organic ma-

ter from earthworm castings "

"You still need to add calcium where soil needs it, as

many ag chemicals will upset the balance of organisms

in the soil," he continues. "But the soil where I had

established a balance of microbes, enzymes and earth-

worms, these organisms work pretty cheap "

(Picture Mr. Heinze probing his soil)

A soil-probing rod pushes easily into moist soil, notes Lynn

Heinze. Where earthworms are in good population, water pen-

etrates soils to five feet or deeper. In the same kind of soil

without many earthworms, only the top foot or so of soil is

moist enough to be probed

(Picture of Mr. Ehlert and Kistner)

A liquid, enzyme-producing compost called SpewxZyme was

developed by H.. E. Kistner foreground of Sabetha, Kansas

and is being marketed by Larry Eh!ert, of Ehlert Enterprises,

St. Joseph, Missouri. Kistner also developed Amaferm(R) the

enzyme-producing material used in BioZyme Enterprises feed

supplements.

Missouri Beef Cattleman gives permission

to James L. Kistner, Sr. to use this article,

"Managing Pasture from the Ground Down"

Note: The patented product mentioned in this article is now marketed as

A.O. 458. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT James L. Kistner Sr.

670 Arrowhead Lane, Cave City, Ar. 72521 [email protected]

H. E. Kistner Patented Product 4,670,037

PATENTED NATURAL FERTILIZER UTILIZING A CHITIN-PRODUCING

FUNGUS AND METHOD FOR ITS USE. U. S. PATENT # 4,670,037