Worm Mod – Large-Scale, Modular Worm Farm

The first design challenge was to address the market gap (Australia/overseas) between micro-capacity-domestic worm farms and mega-industrial processing plants. The second challenge was for users to be able to harvest vermicast easily from the bottom of CFT worm farm, without having to dig out the entire worm farm to access the bottom layer of vermicast. Thirdly, the system needed to be easily scalable (modularity) to grow as the user's input volumes increased. Finally, the WormMod needed to be an aesthetically pleasing, low-maintenance, safe commercial/agricultural-scale worm farm, able to be shipped economically (Aust./international) and easily warehoused (wholesale distribution market).

WDU designed a scraper-blade system (patented), enabling users to manually agitate the bottom-layer of vermicast, causing it to drop onto an easily accessible platform for the user to harvest, with no digging/emptying required. Organic material is consistently fed to the worm bed surface, worms process the material and the wormcast is collected from the platform below. The easily assembled, modular design and novel joiner system enable unlimited units to be added overtime and for multiple flatpacked units to be shipped on single pallets. This significantly reduces the cost of shipping and allows for warehousing of the boxed flatpack worm farms.

WormMods impact two inextricably linked pathways we have framed as: ‘Worms-for-Waste’ (WFW) i.e. vermicomposting of organic waste otherwise destined for landfill (schools/organisations/hospitality/corporates); and 'Worms-for-Soil' (WFS) i.e. farmers/growers producing beneficial microbe and nutrient-rich vermicast from on-farm inputs (manures/crop residue). Farmers utilise vermicast (or liquid brew extracted from vermicast) to restore the soil’s microbiome and sequester carbon as soil organic matter to regenerate farms and reduce use&cost of chemical fertilisers/pesticides/herbicides. Whether our customers’ focus on WFW or WFS (or both), the impacts include: the facilitation of a circular economy, restoring soils, sequestering carbon, reducing methane/CO2, improving drought resilience & climate change outcomes

The WormMod’s functional design features were driven by gaps in current market offerings, customer feedback and our own experience as commercial worm farmers. We recognised the need for a high-end, yet commercial product that would economically freight, while adapting and scaling to the needs of various customers. Understanding the value of vermicast is essential to appreciate the WormMod's importance in waste-management and soil regeneration. Vermicomposting is 3-5 times faster than conventional thermophilic composting, producing a higher diversity & abundance of beneficial microbes. Vermicast is teeming with beneficial bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, PGPs and enzymes. When added to plants and soils, plant disease is supressed, yields increased, , and nutrient availability to plants, create drought-resistant soils, and increase carbon sequestration. The WormMod facilitates rapid production of vermicast and enables customers to harvest these outputs in a user-efficient way. For a café, school or organisation, a single module can divert upto 3.5tonnes of waste from landfill p/year, while a farmer can produce about 4000L of beneficial vermicast/year/module and 40,000L of liquid worm cast extract/year/module. WormMod allows us to enrol nature's 'ultimate waste-management system' (wormsµbes) to restore soils' microbiome, increase water retention capacity, grow nutritious food, sequester carbon, reduce GHGs, .