Biochar Sales

I purchased a device for producing biochar, because I hadn't yet heard of Johnson-Su bioreactor compost, and so I am considering selling some authentic biochar to those who still consider it useful, but I can't say I know the reasonable / normative going rate (I was told $5/L was pricey--I'm selling it raw, but I remember paying $25 for a Liter of inoculated biochar).

What would a reasonable price for biochar would be?

Thanks!

Stude Baker wrote:I purchased a device for producing biochar

Biochar being made

Where are you going to sell it? The prices online are all over the place, and I suspect that shipping it is going to be kind of a pain, so it seems like it would be important to find the right marketplace. I had thought about trying to partner with a farmer who goes to a farmers market, but I do not really need the income so I have not pursued it too much.

If you have access to enough feedstock, making the char in a pit is a good way to scale up. Once all the biomass is on site, I can make about a quarter of a ton in a morning. I find that it takes quite a bit of biochar to really make much of a difference in the soil consistency. I feel like i have heard 10% being thrown out as a target. So to amend a 100 sq ft garden bed to 1' of depth would take like 10 cubic feet, or about 75 gallons.

Carl Nystrom wrote:Where are you going to sell it? The prices online are all over the place, and I suspect that shipping it is going to be kind of a pain, so it seems like it would be important to find the right marketplace. I had thought about trying to partner with a farmer who goes to a farmers market, but I do not really need the income so I have not pursued it too much.

If you have access to enough feedstock, making the char in a pit is a good way to scale up. Once all the biomass is on site, I can make about a quarter of a ton in a morning. I find that it takes quite a bit of biochar to really make much of a difference in the soil consistency. I feel like i have heard 10% being thrown out as a target. So to amend a 100 sq ft garden bed to 1' of depth would take like 10 cubic feet, or about 75 gallons.

Having spoken with Michael of Blue Sky Biochar, I know and can say that the recommendation is 10%... but of compost... not sure if it needs to be stated, but you really really don't want to put raw biochar into soil.
To say you can make a quarter ton of biochar in a single morning--a lot more than I can make. I'm using a FabStove, so I can only make a very very little at a time... but it is real deal first rate TLUD biochar.

I would only sell local.

I'm doing wholesale for $2 NZ per litre at the farm gate, bring your own bag. I also make blends with fish hydrolysate and mycorrhizal fungi inoculants that sell at the local fruit tree nursery for a fair bit more than that.