Healthy soil grows healthy crops. At Carbon Cycle Consulting, we help farms and landowners rebuild soil function with compost-backed programs that are practical, measurable, and field-proven. From custom compost and compost tea to on-farm facility design and support, our focus is simple: make soils easier to work, hold more water, cycle nutrients more reliably, and keep yields steady through the season.
What “compost-based” really means
Compost is more than broken-down organic matter. When it’s made well and matched to your field conditions, it delivers living biology, stable carbon, and a balanced mineral profile. That combination improves structure, increases water infiltration, reduces crusting, and supports roots so plants handle heat and short dry spells better. We build programs around three pillars:
- High-quality compost that fits your crop and soil
- Liquid extracts and teas to jump-start biology where it’s thin
- Simple management changes that protect gains you’ve made
Products that do the heavy lifting
We manufacture and source composts that each play a specific role, then help you use them where they’ll matter most.
Living Carbon “designer compost” Built for high-value acres, beds, orchards, and vegetable ground. It carries diverse biology and a consistent mineral profile for reliable results across blocks.
Liquid Living Carbon “compost tea” A carefully brewed liquid that carries beneficial microbes and soluble metabolites. Use it in-furrow, as a drench on transplants, or through irrigation to wake up tired soils and support roots early.
Carbon Cycle Compost (manure-based) A dependable, bulk option for broadacre fields and pasture renovation. It adds stable organic matter and helps tie up salts that can build under heavy fertilizer use.
Biochar-integrated blends For sandy soils or slopes that shed water, biochar mixed with compost adds pore space and long-lasting carbon. It reduces nutrient leaching and helps keep moisture where roots can reach it.
If you’re unsure where to start, we’ll test a few field-representative spots and place the right material on the right acres first. You’ll see results sooner and spend money where it counts.
Custom compost for farms
Every farm has a different mix of soils, residues, manures, and time. We design recipes and process maps to fit what you can source and manage. A typical plan includes:
Feedstock strategy What to collect and what to skip. Moisture, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and particle size are the big levers for clean, even heating.
Process control Piles that reach sanitizing temperatures, hold long enough to finish the job, then cure properly so they spread easily and don’t rob nitrogen. We set turn schedules you can maintain with the machines you already own.
Quality checks Simple temperature, oxygen, and moisture tracking during active composting, followed by stability and basic biology checks before application.
If you’re ready to build capacity on your own farm, we also offer on-farm compost facility design—from pad layout and drainage to traffic flow and covered curing areas—so you can scale safely and meet local rules.
Compost tea without the guesswork
Compost tea is most effective when the brew is clean, oxygenated, and made with mature compost. We keep the steps straightforward:
Clean water in, sanitized equipment, measured foods for microbes, continuous aeration, and strict brew times. Each batch is checked for odor, dissolved oxygen, and micros under the scope. Application is tied to crop stage: seedling sets, early root flush, post-transplant recovery, or stress periods. Most farms see the best return with in-furrow or transplant drenches, then a light follow-up through irrigation.
How we build a soil program with you
- Walk the fields We start with a spade, a penetrometer, and your notes. Texture, compaction, residue breakdown, water movement, and past inputs point us toward the fastest wins.
- Test what matters Soil chemistry, organic matter, and a few practical biology indicators give us a baseline. If budget is tight, we focus on the fields that drive income.
- Map simple changes A few examples: keep residue on the surface longer, swap one deep tillage pass for a shallower, timed pass, plant a cover that feeds fungi after a heavy brassica rotation, or adjust irrigation sets to reduce surface sealing.
- Place compost where it pays Bed tops, transplant rows, orchard bands, and compacted headlands usually pay first. Broadacre applications follow once the high-value zones are set.
- Support through the season Short check-ins keep the plan on track. If a field isn’t responding, we adjust rate, timing, or placement. If a field is ahead, we bank the win and move to the next priority.
Practical rates and timing
Compost Vegetable beds and orchards often respond to 4–8 tons per acre in bands or beds. Broadacre fields see steady gains from lower rates placed where roots are dense or where water typically stalls. If you’re spreading more than you can make, we’ll help prioritize acres by risk and return.
Compost tea Light but well-timed applications beat heavy, occasional ones. Think ounces per gallon in the brew, applied as a drench at set-out or through drip early in the day. Clean lines, screens, and tanks are non-negotiable.
Cover pairing Compost plus covers compounds gains. After crops that leave soil bare or salty, we’ll choose covers that rebuild structure fast and mine nutrients back into the root zone.
What success looks like in the field
Soils that take water quickly and hold it evenly. Fewer crusts, fewer puddles, and less rill erosion after heavy rain. Shovels that slide into a crumbly profile instead of a plate. Roots with more fine hairs and fewer brown tips. Even stands that shrug off a three-day hot spell without wilting by noon. Sprayers spending less time on rescue applications and more time on timely nutrition. These are the day-to-day signs your program is working.
For landowners and reclamation projects
If you manage hunting land, prairies, or slopes that wash after storms, compost can help re-establish cover faster and hold seed in place. Our land reclamation compost services focus on stabilizing surfaces, adding organic matter that resists wash-off, and building structure so the next rain soaks in instead of running off.
Why farms in Wisconsin and beyond work with us
Cold snaps, wet springs, and short planting windows are a reality in the Upper Midwest. We build schedules and material choices around that calendar. Our recipes, tea protocols, and field steps were designed to perform in those conditions, then adapted to other regions as clients asked for the same approach.
Clear numbers, simple records
You will know rates, dates, and the why behind each step. We track inputs per acre, estimate the carbon added per application, and record what changed in the field. When the season ends, you’ll have a short report that shows what paid, what to repeat, and what to tune next year.
Ready to get your soil moving in the right direction
If you want to improve tilth, make water work for you, and get more predictable growth without chasing inputs, we’re ready to help. Start with a field walk and a small pilot. We’ll prove the value on the acres that matter most, then scale at the pace your operation can support.
