Who uses Loop®
Loop® biosolids has been used throughout the Pacific Northwest for decades. As a natural soil builder, it enriches soils and helps plants grow bigger and better. Loop is mostly used by commercial farmers, but it is also used by commercial foresters. Degraded lands, such as old logging roads and mines, have been restored to grasslands and forests using Loop.
Loop is only available to large scale commercial customers, but we are exploring bringing a new retail product, Loop compost, to market. With our own compost product, we could expand our Loop product line, access new markets, and keep more Loop local, since Loop compost could be used by anyone.
Who turns their dirt around with Loop®?
Boulder Park Inc.
Thanks to Boulder Park, Inc., many farmers and landowners have already reaped the benefits of Loop. Boulder Park is a farmer-owned company managing the distribution and use of Loop in Douglas County.
“Biosolids like Loop are an outstanding fertilizer replacement and soil amendment option for farmers in Douglas County. In 1992, three local farmer/landowners began applying King County’s Loop biosolids to their wheat ground. Other farmers and the community at large could see that biosolids were a good value: they produced equal or higher yields than chemical fertilizer, increased soil organic matter, retained soil moisture, reduced wind erosion, and provided the ability to bale more straw without worrying about erosion. Our project has grown from 3 initial farmers to more than 130 farmers wanting Loop from King County.
We strongly support university research on our fields. Scientific studies in Douglas County have demonstrated the safety and benefits from using biosolids. A recent joint UW-WSU study showed that even when the wheat straw is baled, Loop biosolids increase the carbon stored in the soil. Because of the numerous benefits to our soils and crops from using biosolids, many Douglas County farmers use it and more are waiting to receive it.” — Dave Ruud, Operations Manager, Boulder Park Inc.
Natural Selection Farms, Inc.
Natural Selection Farms, Inc. is a third generation family farming operation on the southern side of Snipes Mountain in Yakima County, WA. They believe holistic farm management practices should be used to promote crop growth and maintain harmony with nature. Natural Selection Farms has been committed to returning carbon and nutrients in biosolids to soils since 1980. Their use of Loop has reduced the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides on thousands of acres of canola, hops, alfalfa, wheat, orchards and managed rangeland.
Snoqualmie Tree Farm
The Snoqualmie Tree Farm has been applied with Loop since 1987. Every year, Loop supplies about 1,000 acres of timberlands with nitrogen and other essential nutrients to help trees grow. Loop substitutes for commercial fertilizers while enhancing soils and wildlife habitat.
Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Loop is used to improve soils and provide nutrients for trees in state forests in King County, primarily in Marckworth Forest near Duvall. King County partnered with DNR in 1995 as part of the Mountains to Sound Greenway biosolids forestry program. Loop helps store carbon in wood and forest soils.
