BRIAN PAIGE
INDUSTRY RECEIVES INNOVATIONS BEACON AWARD
BRIAN PAIGE
INDUSTRY RECEIVES INNOVATIONS BEACON AWARD
Biochar Revisited: Rethinking Its Promise for Turf & Landscape Soils
By Anthony Will
In recent years, interest in biochar has grown rapidly- but so has the confusion about what it actually is and how it works as a soil amendment. Turf managers searching for guidance may find thousands of articles and research papers, many of which make conflicting claims about soil health, nutrient retention, and carbon storage. What’ s really going on?
Let’ s start at the beginning with some key term definitions.
Biochar: What’ s Is It?
Not all biochar is the same; it comes in many forms, depending on the feedstock and how it’ s produced, so not all biochar behaves the same. High-quality biochar offers a remarkable range of benefits for soil health and plant performance while a lower-quality biochar may contain excessive ash, low carbon content, or inconsistent physical properties.
Until recently, there were no commercial-scale pyrolysis plants in New England producing consistently highquality biochar.
Charging Biochar: What’ s the Purpose? Raw biochar acts like a sponge. It readily absorbs moisture and nutrients from surrounding materials, which is why it is commonly used in filtration and remediation applications.
Before being blended into soil, biochar should be charged( also called inoculated) with moisture, nutrients, and beneficial microorganisms. This is most commonly done by mixing biochar with high-quality leaf compost and allowing the blend to age or stockpile for a month or more. This step prevents the biochar from temporarily tying up nutrients after application.
Freshly produced high-quality biochar.
Biochar is produced by heating biomass to a high temperature in an environment with little or no oxygen. This heating process is known as pyrolysis. To understand this fully, it is helpful to define biomass and pyrolysis.
Biomass is organic material derived from living or recently living organisms, primarily plants. Common examples include wood chips, walnut shells, crop residues, and manure. There are literally hundreds of different biomass materials that can be converted into biochar.
Pyrolysis refers to the process, and the equipment, used to convert biomass into biochar. When biomass is heated under low-oxygen conditions, most of the volatile components are driven off as gases and vapors, leaving behind a charcoal-like material that is rich in stable, mineralized carbon.
Modern commercial pyrolysis systems are far more effective at producing high-carbon, low-ash biochar than earlier or less controlled methods.
Magnified view of biochar’ s porous structure, reveals microscopic channels that act as habitats for microbes and enhance water / nutrient retention.
High-Quality Biochar: Practical Value for Turf Managers When properly produced and inoculated, high-quality biochar offers a wide range of benefits to soil health and plant performance:
Efficiency: A Little Goes a Long Way Using a high-quality biochar, even at just 5 % by volume, can make a real difference in soils. When incorporated into rootzones or planting beds— about two five-gallon pails per cubic yard— premium, inoculated biochar has been shown to boost water retention, nutrient availability, continued on page 21
MALP Newsline | Winter 2026 11