Franseens focus on fungal facts

STRATFORD, Wis. — Improving soil health is a focus for caprine dairy farmers John Franseen and his son, Mark. The Franseens have started adding a compost inoculant they created using the Johnson-Su composting bioreactor system to their crops.

Developing and improving the soil has been an integral part of the Franseens’ farming model, dating back to John’s original farm in southern Wisconsin. Today, Mark milks 110 goats with help from John near Stratford. John had moved to central Wisconsin in 1989 and milked cows until 1998. In 2005, the goat dairy was established. In 2014, John and Mark began transitioning the dairy, and in 2024, Mark took over the dairy herd. They continue to work together on crops for their two farms, with early 400 combined acres.

With their focus on soil health, John and Mark have become interested in mycorrhizal fungi and the role it plays in soil health and plant growth. Working with the Eau Pleine Partnership for Integrated Conservation, they invited fellow farmers to their dairy for a field day Sept. 24 to share about using mycorrhizal fungi to improve soil health.

“Mycorrhizal … is basically the fungal aspects of the soil that work together in a symbiotic relationship,” Mark said. “The roots and the fungal hyphae work together and develop this super fine network in the soil. Everybody who is doing tillage doesn’t have it, because tillage is basically destroying and tearing it all up.”

The 2024 cropping season marked the first time the Franseens utilized a mycorrhizal-rich compost they created using the Johnson-Su composting bioreactor, a process they began in 2023.

“It’s like compost on steroids,” Mark said. “It’s a static compost that you aren’t stirring.”

The Franseens used the cages for intermediate bulk container totes, which they modified, cutting them at various heights and reattaching them with zip-ties to create easier access points. They lined the totes with landscape fabric. Six PVC pipes were placed, upright, throughout the container, to provide air flow after the totes were filled.

The totes were filled with a mixture of organic material, Mark said, including cornstalks, leaves and green woodchips. Each tote is filled about one-quarter to one-third with manure.

While the basic materials used in the Johnson-Su composting bioreactor are the same as those used in traditional compost, the method of composting is different.

“This is static, we don’t stir it at all,” Mark said. “We’ve got these brackets and these tubes that slide in here, about every 10 or 12 inches. You fill it and let it sit for a day. Then you can pull those tubes out and you can see right down through. It leaves cavities which will ventilate the pile; everything is within 12 inches of ambient air.”

Keeping the compost moist is a must, Mark said. He uses a sprinkling can to add moisture every couple of days throughout the process. The goal he said is to keep it moist without saturating.

To create the mix that goes in the compost containers, Mark starts with wet, sloppy leaves and then adds the next layer of whatever is sloppy. For the manure, he said dried manure works best. The mixture stirred together before it starts composting.

“You want to mix it well; you don’t want big clumps,” Mark said.” I keep mixing the pile with the skid loader, basically homogenizing it, before I put it in the tote. You don’t want layers in the tote, you want it all mixed.”

After the tubes pulled from the tote, he waits three weeks or so while it heats up to around 160 degrees. Then when the compost goes back down to around 80 degrees, he adds worms.

“I bought red worms, but you can dig up your own,” Mark said. “But you want a bunch in there.”

The compost cannot freeze, Mark said. They keep the totes in their heated shop over the winter.

Not stirring the compost after it starts composing is what allows the compost to become a fungal compost, Mark said.

“If you’re stirring it, you’re just destroying the fungal concept of it,” he said. “It takes a whole year for them to break down before you can actually use the compost out of them.”

To apply the compost, they use a pound of compost with 5 gallons of water, mixing it like a tea. That mixture will inoculate an acre of ground.

“We run it through the pop-up system on our corn planter,” Mark said. “We have to run it through filters. We used a quarter-inch hardware cloth that we put over a pail and then sprayed it through. It’s basically a brown water that we’re applying. We’re still just beginning and learning what works best for us.”

The Franseens mix their compost inoculant a day before they plan to plant.

“It was a little slow going, our little homemade system,” John said. “You’re sitting there watching them talk about rain, and thinking you should be out there planting, but you’re still mixing this, and it’s all just experimental at this point.”

The inoculant the Franseens mix has a short shelf-life, they said.

“You can’t let the compost sit in the water very long because of all the biology,” Mark said. “It’ll use up all the oxygen in the water and go anaerobic. You don’t want that. That is when the bad bacteria will start to grow and take over. You always want it to be aerobic.”

For anyone interested in mycorrhizal fungi and using them in their soil health systems, the Franseens recommend doing internet research on Johnson-Su composting bioreactors and reading the book by Jon Stika, “A Soil Owner’s Manual: How to Restore and Maintain Soil Health.”

“It’s eye-opening, but it makes a lot of sense,” Mark said. “At first it seems a little far-fetched, a little warm and fuzzy. But then you think about it. You can either buy all the inputs or you can cut back and let nature do the work for you.”