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FAQs Article Index Bug Identification Worm Bin Setup. Home Compost In the Classroom Worm Business Worm Buyers Worm Compost. Solar Items Greenhouses Wind Energy Preparedness. Worming For Dollars Can I Make Money Raising Worms? Or is it just a scheme? Welcome to the wacky world of worm farming. If worms were a form of currency, Clyde would be rolling in it.

It seemed a nice investment and a good change from carpentry work. That was a lot of money to sink into some soil squigglers.

Ready to become a worm farmer and turn your trash into cash? A little over two months ago, a truck picked up 1, pounds of his worms and transported them up to a Washington farm owned by CRS. Something went terribly, terribly wrong, resulting in mass vermicide.

He pressed them, saying that once the worms were out of his hands, he was longer responsible for their vitality.

That was more than 60 days ago. The question of what to do with thousands and thousands of worms when a buy-back plan goes awry has been burrowing across the country for months.

Vermiculture companies have created billions of pounds of worms, but there are only so many farms, bait shops and composters looking for worm wares.

Squiggle Worm buy-back programs have been around off and on since the s.

The concept is simple: Investors are not just getting worms for their money, but a buy-back guarantee on their worms. You know, worms are not that picky. To find customers, they place ads in various newspapers, ranging from The Nifty Nickel to USA Today. That could take some time, since the company seems to worm under the radar well.

The buy-back programs get attention from time to time, like last month, when the state of Mississippi filed cease-and-desist orders against CRS and another Nevada company, Organic Systems and Waste Solutions Inc. One farmer signed a contract and bought thousands of pounds of worms, which he would tend to and sell to the next guy who came along and signed a contract, and so one down the line, Slocum explained in a telephone interview with Las Vegas Weekly. Most of whom were left high and dry when Bradley died last January, and the company declared bankruptcy.

He was a glib salesman. All I can say is, I went out to the health department, got a certified copy of his death certificate and it appears to be in order. He died in well-respected hospital here. Not only because of the worms that were flooding the marketplace, but because the two companies have stronger ties than a love for red wigglers.

The men who run—or ran—the companies both started at the same place: Around that time, another VermiTrade owner joined up with a man named Barry Wise, and they formed CRS. Slocum says all three companies have used the exact same business model. And that could spell disaster. They used their ks, people who used their retirements to do this who now will never be able to retire, the stories have been heart-wrenching—far and away the hardest thing to deal with.

Raising Earthworms for Fun and Profit - Sustainable Farming - MOTHER EARTH NEWS

Stephanie Boyles was shocked—shocked—to hear of the horrors visited by humans on worms. How May I Dissect Your Call?

The following is an excerpt from a real live conversation with a real live vermiculture representative. Seemed appropriate while the rep sought reinforcement from his boss. Just tell me about how you invest. Can you hold one second? Now what was your name? Basically, I want to hear what you tell people when they call. But I really just want to hear a sales pitch. So you just want to hear how our business works?

So give me, if not this evening, I can call you back tomorrow. Squirmy After attending a CRS seminar in Lawrence, Mississippi, back in March, James Shaw Jr. Daughtry, along with other investors, made the rounds and visited nearby worm farms before sinking any money into vermiculture.

He saw checks written for thousands of dollars and fertile worms, everywhere. Patricia Jarman-Manning, commissioner for the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division, wonders the same thing.

Can I Make Money Raising Worms?

Her division has received nine complaints about CRS. And, once again, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Some of it almost goes back to the consumer. So that would have been the first red flag for me. Soon after they handed over their checks, Daughtry, Graves and Shaw became nervous. Shaw recalls one phone call conversation with a CRS representative. But neither did an exchange of money or worms.

CRS places vermiculture business opportunity advertisements in newspapers across the country, the calls roll in and the contracts are signed. These worms can be used for many different uses including composting, the elimination of waste, they could be used for a various number of reasons, and a Ponzi scheme is equivalent to what Social Security is, with the newer purchasers buying out the older people.

Clyde says CRS has never attempted to buy worm castings off of him. They just buy worms, and except for the time that his wares died on the way to a Washington farm, his worms have always been sold to other CRS contract holders.

How To Raise Earthworms for Easy Money | ToughNickel

But at what cost? Or learn a lesson from a Pahrump worm farmer who decided to go it alone. There was no mood music needed, no fertility encouragement required, since worms are self-fertilizing hermaphrodites that lay a capsule about once a week, which contains up to 20 potential worms.

On the outskirts of Pahrump, his worms eat, drink, lay capsules and excrete black gold inside of an eight-foot-byfoot shed that might just wriggle if you stare at it long enough.

Or, Tropical Giant Worm, next to a box of disposable gloves, a large bag of Purina grains and a scattering of four large, plastic storage bins and garbage cans that hold those 90, red wigglers. He went to a vermiculture convention in Oregon last October looking to soak up some worm-farming knowledge, and remembers a strange encounter with a fellow worm farmer—this one not so independent.

The farmer wanted to know which buy-back program Doug had selected.

He really started to get mad or something. See the little—those are babies. They just came out. Slime So what does someone do with , worms? I went down there last Monday, Tuesday morning there was about pounds on the floor. Worm Bins - Specials Worms Seasonal Sitemap Contact Us Information Worm Farming FAQs Sustainable Energy.