Starting a biochar business

THis is from Kelpie Wilson's blog, which I recommend.  She is a biochar professional! She talks about how fast biochar is growing, especially in S. California.  Water shortages are getting worse.  Also, much of the available water has been tainted with synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and salts for decades.  The farmers can't drink their well water.   She advises people to start biochar businesses to solve some of the problems.  I think it makes sense.
John S
PDX OR



Kelpie Wilson from The Biochar Prepper
To:  me · Sat, Mar 22 at 2:29 PM
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How to Make BIG Money with Biochar
Invest in Farmland
Kelpie Wilson
Mar 22






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I have been on hiatus for the past two months in order to concentrate on producing and delivering my Practical Biochar course at Regenerative Living Online. It was a great experience and I truly enjoyed meeting and interacting with many of the 80 or so students who participated. If you missed it, no worries as we will soon be offering the course as a self-paced version. Stay tuned for more on that.

For the final session of the course, I shared some ideas for how to make money with biochar. One of my favorites, that I often promote, is biochar as a service. There is a growing contingent of arborists, forestry contractors and ag services outfits that are helping landowners convert their woody debris, grape prunings, hemp stalks and other waste into biochar on site for use on the land. This is a very viable option for those who want to start a small biochar business.

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But where does the big money go that wants to support biochar? Carbon finance has been the answer up till now, but the future of carbon credits seems a bit wobbly. In fact the future of all sorts of investments is cloudy today (for many reasons I won’t go into here), driving in some cases a retreat into gold, and in others a full on rush into crypto currencies.

I am not an investor myself and admit that I know very little about it, but I do know one thing about land - they ain’t making any more of it (unless you think you are going to start a farm on Mars with Elon Musk)! So it makes sense that billionaires seem to be buying up farmland everywhere you look. Here are some basic stats on that from Morning Brew:

   The amount of farmland bought by investment firms has jumped 231% from 2008 to the middle of last year, according to the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. Investors owned $16.6 billion worth of farmland at the end of 2023, up $9.2 billion from 2020.

   Aside from being relatively unaffected by inflation, farmland is a solid investment: The world will need to produce 60% more food by 2050, according to UN estimates.

   The value of farmland increased from $2,700 per acre in 2010 to $5,460 in 2023, according to the USDA.

Corporate consolidation of farmland ownership is a scary idea that deviates far from the Jeffersonian ideal of the yeoman farmer - a republic of small farms grounded in Constitutional democracy.

But what is the alternative? Today what that looks like is barely disguised agricultural serfdom. Farmers who want to compete in the cheap food marketplace have no choice but to buy everything that the chemical, seed, and fertilizer companies are selling. I learned this when I tried to interest poultry producers in using biochar to manage ammonia and disease in poultry houses. Even though individual farmers may own their own land, the system developed by Tyson Foods and other Big Chicken mega-corporations controls every aspect of production. The farmers might see the sense and the savings of using biochar, but the web of chemical suppliers involved in Big Chicken does not want any disruption in their money flows. And so nothing changes.

As Bill Gates and his ilk build out their portfolios with farmland, what are they really buying? A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that more than a third of farmland in the U.S. Corn Belt (nearly 100 million acres) has completely lost its carbon-rich topsoil due to erosion. The loss of topsoil has reduced corn and soybean yields in the Midwest by 6 percent, resulting in a loss of nearly $3 billion a year for farmers.

I get it that investors don’t think long term, but still this looks to be a declining asset, not a growing one.

To actually turn this soil loss around is a huge task. No-till farmers and ranchers are starting to do this with great effort. Here is an inspiring story from John Kempf’s Eco Agriculture podcast: Episode 147: Cutting Costs with Technology and Biology with Justin Wylie. Wylie is a fifth generation pistachio grower in California’s San Joaquin Valley farming ground that is severely impacted by overuse of chemicals and salt accumulation, as well as subsidence from groundwater depletion. Even something as simple as watering the crop is hugely complicated because the farmer has to balance the crop water needs with the danger of salt accumulation from the saline ground water. One of the richest ag regions in the US is rapidly degrading from these impacts.


The west side of the San Joaquin valley is most affected by salt accumulation.

While overall land values have yet to actually go down in the San Joaquin, according to a typically bullish land appraisal report: “Buyers are placing more weight on water security when acquiring agricultural land in California, especially in the San Joaquin Valley... Properties that are solely reliant on pumped groundwater … or are located within federal west-side irrigation districts experienced water shortages or had poor supply outlooks in 2022 … define the lower end of the range, with a stable to softening value trend.”

Salt, water, and electricity prices for water pumping are quickly eroding land value. Justin Wylie spoke of the need to invest in automation to avoid sending his farm workers out in the hot afternoons to manually turn off pumps in order to avoid peak use electricity surcharges. Otherwise he is looking at adding hundreds of dollars an acre for electricity. While a few farmers like Wylie are working painstakingly to reduce costs and improve their land with organics, cover crops and biological inoculants, the recovery progress is slow and difficult.

One issue is the extreme heat in the valley. Adding compost to build organic matter is a great idea, but when I asked a California extension agent about the practicalities of compost for soil building, he told me that it would require two applications per year to keep the soil from reverting back to its low carbon state as the heat and nutrients would promote almost instant mineralization of the compost. And besides, there just is not enough compost to do that.

Biochar, however, could make a big difference. Here is a slide from my recent Practical Biochar course that illustrates the opportunity. Not only can biochar mitigate salt stress and promote salt leaching and drainage below the root zone, it adds permanent carbon to soil that won’t just mineralize into CO2 in the extreme valley heat:



A few years ago, I did a cost-benefit analysis for a client using a San Joaquin pistachio orchard as an example. This case study assumes the addition of 5 tons of biochar per acre at the time of orchard establishment. The biochar is assumed to have the following effects:

   Biochar promotes development of soil structure, improving drainage and salt leaching, thus avoiding the need to buy $500 worth of supplemental freshwater per acre to flush salts every 3 years.

   Biochar inoculated with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) induces systemic resistance to salt stress, increases water use efficiency and produces a 10% annual crop yield increase.

   Biochar is a permanent improvement to the land, equivalent to an additional asset in the land's "water portfolio." At the end of the ten-year investment period, the land is sold at a profit of $5000 an acre.



The IRR chart is from Using Biochar to Improve Agricultural Land in the California Desert - Cost-Benefit Case Studies, a paper I wrote for a client. Students in my Practical Biochar course have access to the paper.

Whether the investment comes from a generational farmer (preferred), a land speculator, or an asset-hoarding billionaire, the end result is to permanently improve land and water resources. Here is another analysis that I did that compares the cost of adding biochar to soil to improve water use efficiency as compared to investing in sub-surface drip irrigation:



Again, I am making the point that farmers should look at biochar as an infrastructure investment, not an annual input, although accounting for biochar as an annual input over a limited number of years is a workable approach as well. Generally dumping a huge amount of raw biochar in soil all at once is not a good idea. Biochar needs time to develop all of its nutrient and water-holding capacities and for microbes to move in and start doing their work. Then, at a certain point, because biochar does not degrade or go away, a farm can stop adding bulk biochar every year, and maybe just add a bit of new biochar in nursery soil or with seed that does a specific job helping the plant grow.

The wine industry in California is starting to fully embrace the biochar approach. Napachar is an ag services contractor that provides biochar as a service to vineyards who are willing to invest in their soil by converting grape prunings and old vines into biochar on site for use right where it is made.

California now has more biochar producers than any other state, so biochar is widely available there. Check out the Directory at the US Biochar Initiative for more info on these biochar sources. If you are interested in buying fixer-upper farmland and flipping it with biochar as an investment, California is a good place to start.

One way or another, let’s get biochar in the ground for all of its benefits to air, water, land, climate, food, and prosperity in general.

Please, if you want to learn more about practical biochar tips and tricks for growing your own food, or you are interested in stewardship biochar for restoring natural ecosystems and biodiversity, check out some of my links below:

The Biochar Handbook by Kelpie Wilson

SPRING SALE! $1995 INCLUDES FREE SHIPPING - Order your Ring of Fire Biochar Kiln: RingofFire.earth

Check out my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@KelpieWilson

The Biochar Prepper is a reader-supported blog.

is that $1995.00 for equipment to make bio-char?

...hmmm  what about digging a hole next to your burn pile, push everything in the hole, wait for a good rain(so your fire doesn't spread), light the wood with a $1.99 bic lighter, push the dirt back over the pile once it burns down to coals, and dowse it with water until you don't see anymore steam?

You have a point.  These kits aren't really for people with small gardens or urban properties.  They're primarily for people who are working on a large scale, as I understand it.  There are many people in the West, in particular, who own forests or large wood lots.  They have many trees on their land.  Some of the trees have fallen over. Some have excess brush that can lead to forest fires.  I think the idea is that you load this kiln onto your pickup or flatbed truck.  Then you drive it around your property or the property you are working on.  You set up the kiln in many different locations and have a burn in each one.  It's a large kiln.  Then you don't have to move trees or large sections of trees for miles in order to clear your property and prevent forest fires.  After each biochar burn, you disassemble the kiln and move it to another location with your truck and do the next burn.

I'm never going to buy one, but I'm not the only person on this site. I live on a small lot that is much less than one acre.   Many people on permies have acreage and can't push trees across their properties into a hole.  The blog isn't only to sell kilns. I've learned a lot from her even if I'm not on that scale.  She is one of the most famous and respected biochar advocates on Earth.  She gives out a lot of free information and also wrote a book that can help almost anyone who wants to make biochar. I don't know her and have no relationship, financial or otherwise, with her.

John S
PDX OR

I thought blog was going to suggest filtering the salt and nitrates out of the water  through the biochar.
I think I've heard her interviewed on the Perennial AF  or No Till Market Gardener podcasts.

You're right William.  She didn't detail mechanisms of salt filtering.  I also would have loved to have heard more about solutions to the excess nitrate situation.  She did mention this though:

"Biochar, however, could make a big difference. Here is a slide from my recent Practical Biochar course that illustrates the opportunity. Not only can biochar mitigate salt stress and promote salt leaching and drainage below the root zone, it adds permanent carbon to soil that won’t just mineralize into CO2 in the extreme valley heat:

A few years ago, I did a cost-benefit analysis for a client using a San Joaquin pistachio orchard as an example. This case study assumes the addition of 5 tons of biochar per acre at the time of orchard establishment. The biochar is assumed to have the following effects:

  Biochar promotes development of soil structure, improving drainage and salt leaching, thus avoiding the need to buy $500 worth of supplemental freshwater per acre to flush salts every 3 years.

  Biochar inoculated with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) induces systemic resistance to salt stress, increases water use efficiency and produces a 10% annual crop yield increase.

  Biochar is a permanent improvement to the land, equivalent to an additional asset in the land's "water portfolio." At the end of the ten-year investment period, the land is sold at a profit of $5000 an acre. "

I thought it was pretty interesting.
John S
PD XOR

Pardon my confusion. Giant faceless corporate funds are consolidating ownership of farmland. Farmers lease this land, and live or die based on what they can produce in a given year. But farmers are expected to improve the land with long term, slow acting additions that build soil fertility? Have I misunderstood the narrative? How does this compute?

I think the idea was to improve your own land.  That might improve your profits and the quality of the food you grow.  Also the quality of the food you grow and eat, which is my angle.  Then perhaps, you can pass it on to your children, who will also benefit.  Society will benefit as well.

The other thing she talks about is running a biochar service.  You take their wood, prevent fires, and give them biochar in their soil, that will also decrease the likelihood of fires. Many people are learning about the benefits of biochar.  However, most people running businesses don't know a lot about making biochar, so her idea is to do it for them and charge a fee.

John S
PDX OR

Okay, now I understand. Thanks.

Wouldn't it be great if she could convince the jet-setting absentee landlords to adopt this?

That would be fantastic!
John S
PDX OR

"This case study assumes the addition of 5 tons of biochar per acre at the time of orchard establishment. "

So the biochar needs to be incorporated in soil prior to planting an orchard? For an established one, how to effectively mix biochar without disturbing the root system?

Great question.  I don't till in biochar.  I broadfork it in.  I actually mostly use a shovel, but it's the technique.  I simply open up the soil by digging in vertically, then jimmying it back and forth until I have a crevasse that is wider at top than at bottom.  That way, I'm not grinding up the microbiology, nor am I mixing up the depth of it, which typically kills it.  I add in the crushed, charged, activated biochar at the dripline of my trees and bushes, because that is where the roots are most active.  These roots are constantly growing and dying back.  Will I cut the end of some tiny roots? Yes, but this is where it happens naturally anyway.  I prefer not to cut the large, major feeding roots that are emanating closer to the trunk, because those will take a long time to recover.  It's like putting a plate with the food at the mouth of the tree, the tiny roots at the dripline.  That is also where the tree sends its exudates to create the soil food web that it desires to help it grow well.  

John S
PDX OR

I like the idea of filtering excess nitrates ...wonder if it would then be a great source of nitrogen for potting soil

John Suavecito wrote:...They're primarily for people who are working on a large scale, as I understand it.  There are many people in the West, in particular, who own forests or large wood lots.  They have many trees on their land.  Some of the trees have fallen over. Some have excess brush that can lead to forest fires.  I think the idea is that you load this kiln onto your pickup or flatbed truck.  Then you drive it around your property...
John S
PDX OR

You have good points too.   Sorry if you detected some angst in my post.   Its rough when i see friends buy stuff like that and then never fully utilize it ...then sometimes they get discouraged and quit.  Im hoping more people will be patient enough to start small and grow what they are doing slow and steady ...lolz, with free stuff! Thers soo much stuff in our world.

The Ring of Fire kiln is meant to be portable for on-site biochar making, although with fairly high quantities. I think they serve a purpose and for that price aren't an unreasonable approach. I've seen much smaller scale setups being offered for sale for more.  I've never used a Ring of Fire, so can't offer up personal feedback, but if we're going to produce biochar at the scale we all think we need to, we'll need many, many approaches.

The big question of "who will pay for all of this?" is a tough one. The way the political winds are blowing, I think it's safe to say the answer isn't the federal government. These wealthy landowners certainly could be the answer, if they believe in long-term investment to improve their holdings. I dunno, though...when I hear Bill Gates talk about everyone having to eat fake meat when he could literally jump start the compost and biochar industries just with his own landholdings, I have my doubts that the billionaires will save us.

I think we're at the "start small and prove it out" stage. It's painful to be so much at the beginning of the journey, but hopefully we'll get more and more converts quickly who are willing to put in the blood, sweat, and dollars to do the work that we all know offers up many benefits.