The Johnson-Su bioreactor/Courtesy photo

BY OWEN HABLUTZEL

When future historians list New Mexico’s most impactful inventions of all time, there is a strong chance the Johnson-Su bioreactor will land in the top two! If you’ve not yet heard of this simple, innovative yet extremely practical technology—or if you have heard the name but are not so clear on what it does or how—let’s have a further look at this unique, homegrown invention from our great state.

The Johnson-Su bioreactor (JBS) is named for its creators, David C. Johnson—molecular biologist at New Mexico State University (NMSU)–and Hui-Chun Su Johnson—JBS co-creator and researcher. Through experiments in the 2010s thiscouple designed what is likely the most effective biodiversity boosting engine that exists anywhere. The “bioreactor” is a generator for extremely high-quality compost that just about anybody can build and use, for very little expense—and it’s easily adaptable for home, farm/ranch, or commercial-sized operations.

The actual device is not much more than a standing tube of large wire mesh, lined with
breathable landscape fabric, sitting atop a wood-pallet (for drainage and aeration).
Once filled with organic material—yard waste, woody materials, manures—it just sits
‘bio-reacting’ for a year, and beautiful, rich, living compost results. By this process, you
can start with almost any kind or mixture of organic materials and achieve very similar
finished compost quality.

The benefits of this compost–for gardens, pastures, crops and other plant and soil system–have been well demonstrated and replicated in tough field conditions (including highly arid NM environments) and greenhouses. It acts by inoculating soils with nutrient-generating microbe communities, rather than through direct amendment of particular nutrients. Trials showing 2-5 times increases in plant productivity are frequent using JSB compost, or ‘extracts.’

The key to its potency lies in the process, which produces a far more biologically diverse compost than about any other method—2,750 individual species of microbes have been identified in JSB composts, imagine! Importantly, the fungal component is dominant in the highly diverse finished product.

Three factors are most important for these results:
1) adequate AIR (oxygen) throughout the pile,
2) adequate MOISTURE (70%),
3) adequate TIME for the microbes to do their work.

The JBS creates these conditions by design. After building and filling with materials, your main task is keeping an eye on moisture and waiting about a year. You may consider adding earthworms too, early on, once pile is less than 80° F. Many videos and articles exist online about making your own JSB ( .pdf manual:

https://www.scribd.com/document/841209426/Johnson-Su-Bioreactor-1 ). Briefly, the main items needed for a ‘half-size’ starter version (great for most home-gardening or properties under 20 acres) are:

 Wood pallet (standard size, about 40” x 48”)

 Hardware cloth (3 ft. x 1 ft. with ½” or ¼” openings – makes tube for air, placed vertically in center of the unit)

 Wire re-mesh, 12.5 ft. length, 5 ft. tall (sturdy type, often used for concrete—can cut two 2.5 ft. tall lengths for two ‘half-size’ starter JSBs

 Landscape fabric / weed-cloth (about 25 ft. x 3ft for ‘half-size’ starter, or 6ft for
full-size)

Basic steps to construct:

 Cover wood pallet with Landscape fabric

 Roll wire re-mesh into standing cylinder (secure with baling wire or similar) andline inside with Landscape fabric, secure atop wood pallet

 Make tube using the hardware cloth (about same height as big wire cylinder)

 Using previously dried organic materials–soak in a tub, drain off and fill the circular cage (keeping Hardware cloth tube vertical in center)

Since its humble New Mexico origins, the Johnson-Su bioreactor has been rapidly
spreading world-wide, bringing degraded soils back to life. Try out this homegrown New
Mexico discovery for yourself to bring its water-saving, soil-building, biodiversity-
boosting benefits to your local landscape, all while making history!

About Backyard Biodiversity:

Backyard Biodiversity is a series of educational articles brought to you in partnership with local conservationists, scientists, and biologists and Chama Peak Land Alliance. The series highlights the unique and special nature of our area, in the hope that each of us can and will improve our backyards and communities by ensuring biodiversity.
Submitted by Sage Faulkner, Chama Peak Land Alliance
sage@chamapeak.org

About the Author:

Owen Hablutzel consults and offers workshops for regenerative ranch/farm/property planning, design and management. He lives with his wife and three children in Ensenada, NM. Landscape Function Management https://www.lfmranching.com/
Email owen@lfmranching.com