Biodynamic (BD) agriculture is an organic farming system that relies heavil
y on compost as a fertilizer. Six herbal preparations are added to composti
ng materials in order to make BD compost. Proponents claim these additions
produce higher quality compost under farm conditions. In this study, BD com
post preparations were applied to 3.5 t compost piles made of dairy manure
and woodshaving bedding. Application of the BD preparations also requires 6
1 soil and 8 1 water; therefore control piles received the same additions
of soil and water as BD compost piles, but no BD preparations. Biodynamic-t
reated composts maintained an average 3.4 degrees C higher temperature thro
ughout the eight-week active composting period, suggesting more thermophili
c microbial activity and/or faster development of compost with BD treatment
. Final samples were taken when active composting slowed and the piles ente
red a ripening stage. At the final sampling, BD-treated piles respired CO2
at a 10% lower rate and had a larger ratio of dehydrogenase enzyme activity
to CO2 production. Microbial communities in the finished BD and control pi
les were differentiated by principal component analysis of microbial phosph
olipid fatty acids. Final samples of BD-treated composts also had 65% more
nitrate than control piles. Biodynamic preparations thus effected discernib
le changes in compost chemical and microbial parameters.