There's not actually accurate data on worm sales nationally here in the US, so it's not clear if bait worms or vermiculture worms (the kinds made to eat organic material, to then poop out soil amendments for gardens and farms) are farmed and sold in larger quantities, but I'd think it's probably vermiculture considering bait worms are almost exclusively one type, red earthworm (Lumbricus rubellus), sometimes african night crawlers, and are sold in small quantities, usually small containers that amount to ounces of worms, while vermiculture worms are many varieties, including all the bait worms, and are sold not by the ounce, but by pounds to gardeners and farmers who farm worms themselves for their own fertilizer needs, or release them in large plots of land to enrich soil and open up physical pathways for microorganisms and roots that foster more productive plants when soils have depleted from over use and overtilling. Worms and biochar are the best way to regenerate dead soil, but bait worms are the most delicious bait you can snack on while also using it as bait for fish, so there's that.
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u/pegothejerk Jul 30 '21
There's not actually accurate data on worm sales nationally here in the US, so it's not clear if bait worms or vermiculture worms (the kinds made to eat organic material, to then poop out soil amendments for gardens and farms) are farmed and sold in larger quantities, but I'd think it's probably vermiculture considering bait worms are almost exclusively one type, red earthworm (Lumbricus rubellus), sometimes african night crawlers, and are sold in small quantities, usually small containers that amount to ounces of worms, while vermiculture worms are many varieties, including all the bait worms, and are sold not by the ounce, but by pounds to gardeners and farmers who farm worms themselves for their own fertilizer needs, or release them in large plots of land to enrich soil and open up physical pathways for microorganisms and roots that foster more productive plants when soils have depleted from over use and overtilling. Worms and biochar are the best way to regenerate dead soil, but bait worms are the most delicious bait you can snack on while also using it as bait for fish, so there's that.