Poultry & Farm Biology

Change Who’s Leading Your Litter’s Microbiology

A small fraction of the microbes in your barn — as little as 0.01–1% — determines whether the whole system runs fermentative or putrefactive. TerraFerm’s ASAM brewing program shifts that leadership, facility-wide, starting at the water line.

Consistent Outcomes Reported in Field Use and Research

• Noticeable reduction in litter and facility odor within days
• Fly populations decrease
• Manure and litter become more liquid, plant-available, and easier to handle — supporting longer usable litter life between clean-outs
• Reduced respiratory stress reported in animals
• Waterline biofilm reduces over time

One Inoculation Point, Facility-Wide Shift

TerraFerm’s brewing program is built around the pump-house principle: introduce a fermentative microbial concentrate at the pump house, before water enters the distribution system, and every downstream point — water lines, troughs, floor drains, bedding, manure contact surfaces — receives water already carrying that fermentative signal. You’re not treating individual birds. You’re treating the ecosystem they live in. This is an ongoing input, not a one-time treatment — the shift holds while inoculation continues.

Five Microbial Families, One Brewing Program

ASAM is TerraFerm’s brewing framework, built around the same functional microbial families used in “Effective Microbes” (EM)-style systems worldwide. Five families anchor the culture:

These five families describe the same functional microbiology categories used in EM-style systems generally — not a claim that ASAM is or contains any specific branded EM product.

What DNA Sequencing Actually Found

Independent DNA sequencing of EM-style blends turns up far more than those five headline families — a working crew of nitrogen-fixers, decomposers, and immune-priming bacteria:

• Rhizobia — best known for fixing nitrogen on legumes, also active as a primary decomposer in compost.
• Azospirillum brasilense — a heavily researched plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and natural biofertilizer.
• Frankia — a second, distinct nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
• Acetobacter — an acetic-acid-forming bacteria linked to triggering plant immune response.
• Burkholderia — a nitrogen-fixer that populates leaves and roots, often working alongside Rhizobia inside root nodules.
• Achromobacter — notably capable of digesting and breaking down glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide.
• Paenibacillus — another PGPR that supports root development and immune priming.

Who’s In Charge? The Biology of Microbial Leadership

Every microbial community splits into two poles. Putrefactive organisms break proteins and sulfur compounds apart, releasing ammonia, H₂S, and the other compounds behind factory-farm odor. Fermentative organisms do the opposite — producing organic acids, enzymes, and B vitamins that feed plant roots, support animal gut health, and build soil structure. In between sit the vast majority of microbes — commensals — that don’t lead either direction. They follow whoever does.

The organisms that actually set that direction — the “leaders” — often make up only 1–5% of the total population, sometimes far less. Three research findings illustrate the pattern:

• Porphyromonas gingivalis at under 0.01% of a bacterial community was sufficient to remodel it from healthy to disease-producing (Hajishengallis et al., Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2012).
• A Bifidobacterium strain at roughly 0.2% of its population shifted an entire infant gut microbiome toward a healthy, bifidus-dominant ecology (Gotoh et al., Microbial Biotechnology, PMC6389856, 2019).
• In poultry specifically, introducing beneficial microbial communities caused Salmonella colonization to fail even without direct displacement — “it is not as important who is present as what the community does” (PMC9868637, Frontiers in Physiology, 2022).

Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) is the measurable signal of which pole is leading — TerraFerm’s ASAM brewing process targets ORP below 160 mV, approaching negative values, to carry a strong fermentative signal into the environment it enters. Full mechanism, citations, and the water-line application method: Microbial Leadership: Fermentative vs. Putrefactive.

Tested Against the Best Compost There Is

DNA comparison testing between bottled EM-style culture and two top-tier composting methods — Catalyst Bio compost (built by leading students of Dr. Elaine Ingham) and Johnson-Su bioreactor compost — found the same core organisms present in all three. The best hot composts and long-aged bioreactor composts are already full of these microbes.

That also puts to rest the old “dangerous anaerobic” rumor: these organisms are facultative anaerobes, thriving in the middle ground between high and low oxygen — which is exactly where healthy soil and healthy litter sit. Fully aerobic soil, often the result of tillage, tends to be oxidized, alkaline, and energy-depleted.

What TerraFerm Provides

Ready to Shift the Microbial Leadership in Your Facility?

Talk with TerraFerm about a consultation, or review the ASAM kit options for your operation.

These are outcomes reported in field use and research on fermentative-leadership programs generally — see the full detail and citations at Microbial Leadership: Fermentative vs. Putrefactive. They describe TerraFerm’s brewing program, not a guaranteed result for every operation.

The microbial strains used in the ASAM culture — lactic acid bacteria, photosynthetic bacteria, yeasts, actinomycetes, and fermenting fungi — are classified Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) under FDA standards. Adding any substance to livestock or poultry water supplies is subject to federal and state regulation, including FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine guidelines and state agricultural rules that vary by species, system, and location. Confirming applicable requirements is the buyer/operator’s responsibility. This page is educational and does not replace veterinary, regulatory, or legal advice.