Innovation

Mary Forte breeds, raises, and sells alpacas from her farm in Virginia. She noticed that the grass surrounding alpaca manure piles were lush and dark green and decided to create a fertilizer out of the manure and use the byproducts from her alpacas for commercial purposes. Many alpaca farms sell raw manure, but she started to think about a product that could be used on houseplants and in backyard gardens.

Mary initially took composted alpaca manure and put it in a proprietary tea bag so that users can make compost for their plants. “But then I realized that so much of the good stuff was left in the tea bag and people were ripping open the tea bag”, she said. Most of the nutrients remained in the tea bag even after it was steeped into the water. So, she decided to modify her innovation; “I took the manure and I added two other ingredients and packaged it in a pod.” Thus, Mary’s Alpaca Poop+ Pods were created.

Mary decided to add mycorrhizal fungi and yucca extracts to the manure compost after attending a meeting as Chairman of Horticulture at the Upperville Garden Club three years ago. There, she encountered the book Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels. She learned that soil is filled with life, including bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms. In order to enrich soil and initiate healthy plant pant growth, she decided to add the ingredients of yucca extracts and mycorrhizal fungi to the compost. Mycorrhizal fungi forms a symbiotic relationship with the roots and eventually grow hundreds of miles of hyphae that branch out to reach into all the gaps of the soil. These hyphae reach, absorb, and transport nutrients back to the plant. Mary describes this fungi as being like Spiderman because “It grabs onto the root… goes into the soil and looks for microbes to get what the plant wants.” Yucca extracts are also added to the compost to lessen plant stress in unnatural environments like pots. It also allows the water to hold the ingredients in suspension and the mix to penetrate through the soil surface and efficiently spread to all the roots, where nutrient uptake is significantly improved.

Mary collects alpaca manure from paddocks where her alpacas are organically raised. The manure is then sorted from stones and field debris that detract from the production of the organic fertilizer. Harmful pathogens and weed seeds are then killed when the manure is composted in bins constructed for the purpose of using a proprietary forced-air system to control for optimum temperatures. This process lasts for 3 months and to encourages the growth of aerobic microbes in the compost. Mycorrhizal fungi and yucca extracts are added to the compost. Then, the resulting product is ground multiple times and crushed to produce a powdery substance that boosts solubility and suspension in water. Finally, the fertilizer is packaged in water-soluble pouches made of biodegradable polyvinyl alcohol.

Mary’s Alpaca Poop+ Pods aid in sustainable agriculture and promote a healthy environment. As an organic fertilizer, her innovation does not leak unnecessary chemicals into the environment and is not harmful to local ecosystems.

Inspiration

Mary’s inspiration for this program sprouted after she saw the grass had grown taller, greener, and stronger around the alpaca poop piles in her farm. She learned that the manure was historically referred to as black gold. The purpose of this material was to help plants grow, flourish, and blossom naturally. The nitrogen and potassium content of alpaca manure is comparatively high, which is an indication of a good fertilizer. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are crucial plant nutrients and the NPK value for Poop+ Pods is 2:3:2.

Additionally, alpaca manure is environmentally friendly and sustainable. Mary stated, “The environment starts taking over and you’re squashing instead of being this business, all of these living things in the environment want to live, I hate chemicals come into play that ends up killing your plants, and it kills your soil, earthworms, they get wiped out. You kill the micron and the organics.” Mary also added that she was happy to see plants that responded to the organic fertilizer. Plants continuing to grow and become healthy was a process of feeding the plants, just like feeding a pet what it needs at a particular stage of its growth. It caused no harm to the environment. Mary also mentioned that she does not use pesticides. This organic fertilizer was an "environmentally sensitive product", she stated.

Overall impact

Our environmental issues are more prevalent than ever, and there is a constant battle against environmental deterioration and destruction. Mary's business is not only environmentally friendly but also supports sustainable agriculture. A user of her product said, "All the key nutrients are in the right proportions. This builds good soil structure and stronger, healthier plants that appear to have a desire to bloom much more often. I won't use chemical fertilizers. It's the same as eating a power bar before an athletic event – a quick jolt of energy, but plant health suffers from repeated use. You can't thrive on power bars and plants can't thrive on chemical fertilizers. Mary's Alpaca Poop+ is rich in organics and micro nutrients for a completely balanced meal that is immediately absorbed." Poop+ Pods help plants and the environment to thrive in the long-term, and have won an USDA grant for sustainable agriculture because of their positive effects on the environment.

Throughout the interview, Mary reiterated that the environment does not get harmed with the application of Poop+ Pods, nor does the product harm humans or pets. Mary states that excess product can be used on absolutely anything such as plants and trees, providing benefits to nature and then in return providing us with clean air. Although Mary operates in Virginia, she is able to ship nationwide, providing her product to a wide range of people.

The short-term effects of Mary’s business is that the plants that the Poop+ Pods are applied to grow naturally and successfully. According to Mary, her plants have never thrived so successfully before. Her gardenia and orchids now blossom like never before. Given the general level of difficulty in raising such plants, the investment in her pods are worth it in the long run. A longer survival rate for the plants works in return for the owner. Consistent use of fertilizers puts ourselves and the environment at risk, but Mary’s chemical-free solution is both environmentally beneficial and sustainable.

Business benefit

Mary's business innovation created the opportunity to enter into new markets. Where before, she was limited to one unpopular market before the innovation, she can now enter into both the national commercial market and local markets for individual consumers. Both give Mary the chance to sell an extremely large amount of product to people all around the world.

Mary's innovation gave her the opportunity to expand her company. Many companies buy products in bulk and having access to a commercial market helped to take Mary's company to the next level. Mary said that the two markets that exist for her product are both large markets. Additionally, the markets are ripe because they consist of many people who are looking for a product like the one that she is offering. The innovation has given Mary the chance to raise enough money to expand the business and pursue opportunities previously thought untenable.

Social and environmental benefit

Mary's innovation benefits society because it has led to the creation of many jobs. Her company needs a large amount of work to be completed on a daily basis to keep up with expansion. Additionally, many families can live better lives simply because Mary could provide unemployed people with the work that they were looking for. The innovation has given Mary the ability to have the opportunity to not only change her own life, but the lives of many people within her community.

Mary's innovation benefits the environment because it is not being mass produced in pollution-creating factories that have a negative impact on the environment. It does not leak chemicals into the environment and causes no harm to our ecosystem. Many companies produce products that can damage the Earth that we live on, however, Mary's product does not harm the environment because she took the time to develop a product that actually protects the environment. As previously mentioned, the nitrogen and potassium content of alpaca manure is comparatively high, which is an indication of a good fertilizer and enables plants to naturally flourish. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are crucial plant nutrients and the NPK value for Poop+ Pods is 2:3:2.

Furthermore, Mary's innovation allows people to realize that great products can be made from using simple materials. Mary's innovation will help people realize that we need to care for our environment because we cannot live in a deteriorated environment, and that we can make so many new products if we simply take the time to care for and preserve the Earth.

Interview

Mary Forte, Owner