How Biochar Addition Helps Farmers: Evidence from Field Reports and Scientific Trials
Biochar is a carbon-rich material made by heating agricultural waste such as rice husk, wood, straw, or coffee husk in low oxygen. It has been widely studied for soil improvement, but growing research and farm reports now also show its value in animal feed, manure treatment, and farm air quality. Below is a structured summary of proven benefits with direct sources.
1. Benefits for Dairy Farms: Health, Milk Quality, Manure and Farm Economics
High-quality controlled trials on dairy cows often show neutral results on milk yield. However, strong field-level evidence from operating farms shows important practical and economic benefits.
Observed Benefits from Dairy Farms
According to the technical field report by Wilson Biochar Associates based on multiple Swiss dairy farms:
Improved cow digestion and appetite
Better udder and hoof health
Lower somatic cell count in milk, indicating improved milk quality
Reduced veterinary and treatment costs
Improved slurry and manure quality with reduced odor
Better nutrient retention in manure, increasing its fertilizer value
Positive cost–benefit balance at farm level
- Milk fat and protein content were also reported to improve in some herds.
Source: Wilson Biochar Associates, 2014. Costs and Returns of Biochar Use in Dairies.
This report is especially relevant for small and medium farmers, because it reflects real farm conditions rather than tightly controlled laboratory feeding trials.
2. Poultry Production: Broiler Chickens and Laying Hens
Scientific feeding trials clearly show that low-level biochar addition, around 1 to 2 percent of feed, improves both growth and production performance in poultry.
2.1 Broiler Chickens
A 2025 large-scale trial with 800 broiler chicks using 1 percent biochar found:
Body weight gain increased by up to 4.7 percent
Feed conversion ratio improved by about 6.7 percent
Better bone mineralization with higher calcium and phosphorus in tibia
Reduced footpad lesions and leg problems
Improved litter quality with lower moisture and ammonia
Improved antibody response against Newcastle Disease and Infectious Bronchitis
This shows both productivity and animal welfare benefits.
Source with full open access version: Hussain et al., 2025. Veterinary Sciences, 12(7): 680
2.2 Laying Hens
A controlled feeding study on laying hens with 1 to 2 percent biochar showed:
Improved feed conversion efficiency
Increased average egg weight
Improved shell thickness and shell strength
Reduced ammonia and volatile organic compound emissions from manure
Improved air quality inside poultry houses
3. Reduction of Farm Emissions and Odor
From both poultry and manure management studies, biochar consistently shows gas-adsorption and emission-reduction effects:
Reduced ammonia emissions from poultry waste
Lower volatile organic compound release
Reduced odor from manure and slurry in livestock farms
Improved working environment inside animal houses
Source for emission reduction: Laying Hens Biochar Diet Supplementation—Effect on Performance, Excreta N Content, NH3 and VOCs Emissions, Egg Traits and Egg Consumers Acceptance
4. Animal Gut Health and Disease Resistance
Multiple studies indicate that biochar acts as a natural adsorbent inside the digestive system, binding toxins and stabilizing gut conditions:
Improved immune response in broilers
Lower stress from ammonia exposure
Better litter hygiene reduces disease pressure
Potential binding of harmful compounds in feed and gut
5. Benefits for Manure Recycling and Soil Fertility
Biochar improves livestock waste management and fertilizer quality:
Improves nutrient retention in manure
Reduces nitrogen loss as ammonia
Produces a more stable organic fertilizer
Reduces odor during storage and field application
Supports circular farming by linking animal waste to soil improvement
These benefits are documented in both the poultry manure research and the dairy field report.
Sources:
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/6/237
https://www.agproud.com/ext/resources/2022/08/03/WBA-2014_Costs-and-Returns-of-Biochar-Use-in-Dairies.pdf
6. What This Means for Farmers and Waste-to-Value Systems
Poultry farmers can use low-dose biochar to improve growth, egg weight, shell strength, feed efficiency, and bird health
Dairy farmers can gain improved animal health, cleaner manure, reduced odor, lower veterinary cost, and improved fertilizer value
Waste-derived biochar turns farm waste into a productivity input
Environmental pollution from livestock operations can be significantly reduced
Biochar strengthens circular farming and climate-smart agriculture models
In conclusion, scientific research and farm-level experience clearly show that biochar addition benefits farmers most strongly in:
Poultry growth and egg production
Manure odor reduction and emission control
Gut health and digestive stability
Organic fertilizer value and soil improvement
For dairy farms, strong environmental and manure-management benefits are proven, while milk-yield increase is currently supported mainly by field reports such as WBA rather than controlled trials. This means biochar shows the greatest strength as a whole-farm circular-economy tool rather than a simple milk-booster additive.
When produced locally from waste and applied correctly, biochar helps farmers cut costs, improve productivity, protect animal health, and reduce pollution at the same time.
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