“Composting is nature’s way of providing for the earth,” said John Harrison, partner in

ownership of Neokla Organics, LLC.

Neokla Organics, a composting business in Rose, has been in operation four years. The company combines litter with sawdust to produce EarthSmart, the company’s composted poultry product.

Neokla Organics is owned and operated by five partners, most of them family. The partners started the business with money from their own pockets.

“We all bring different skills and talents,” said Harrison.

Harrison defined composting as taking anything with organic matter and turning it into fertilized dirt. Neokla Organics uses chicken litter, which is rich in nitrogen. By adding sawdust, a carbon, the company makes fertilized growing media.

Harrison said most fertilizers consist of added chemicals, which wash out with rain. EarthSmart composting continues to release nitrogen over three years. The residual nitrogen allows the composted product to be effective any time of year.

Harrison said a license is not needed to apply the product. He recommends applying EarthSmart compost twice a year at first.

“The soil will continue to get healthier,” he said.

The product consists of approximately 30 percent sawdust and 70 percent litter. Bell said the partners combine the litter and sawdust before loading the mixture into the rotary digester. The digester holds 55 to 60 tons at its full capacity. It rotates seven times an hour.

“We can make 5,000 tons a year,” said Harrison.

The rotary digester regulates the mixture, which must be kept moisturized. The compost processes for 72 hours. The nitrogen builds its own heat, which kills the weed and grass seeds and pathogenic bacteria like E. coli and salmonella. Higher temperatures create cleaner compost.

“When it’s done composting, there’s no heat left in it,” said Bell.

Harrison said the result is a consistent quality product.

“We can remix if it doesn’t come out exact,” said Bell.

The compost steams at 145 to 150 degrees as it leaves the digester. At this stage it smells strongly of ammonia.

The compost is laid out in windrows for a 21-day curing process. The microorganisms in the soil continue to create nitrogen. The partners use a Bobcat or a tractor to turn the compost as it cures.

Harrison said the rain has slowed down the process this year.

The cured product looks and smells like fresh garden soil. A shaker removes the rocks before the compost is sealed in bags. Bell’s wife Carmen, who works as the partnership secretary, operates the bagging machine. Any clodded compost is sold in bulk at a reduced rate, or spread on their own fields.

“We have no waste product,” said Harrison. “Nothing is sent to the dump.”

Neokla Organics currently sells EarthSmart to 17 retailers. Many local stores sell EarthSmart, including Sandusky’s Market in Pryor, Locust Grove Lumber and Spurlock Feed of Locust Grove. Wildwood Nursery east of Locust Grove will soon carry EarthSmart.

“Most people buy it for potted plants and flower beds or home gardens,” said Bell.

The company’s biggest retailer is in Muskogee. Carmen Bell said the company delivered seven tons of EarthSmart to their Muskogee retailer this year. The store sold out of the product in a month and a half.

The state agriculture department inspects the Neokla Organics plant twice a year. Harrison pointed out that EarthSmart solves agricultural health issues with poultry litter. The state recommends five methods of litter elimination. Harrison said three of the methods include composting and selling it out of the area.

“It really does clean up a lot of problems,” he said.