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Black Soldier Fly Maggots, No-Smell Feed, Humic Acid

May 25, 2025 · by Drake Weinert

Drake opens with the I Ching hexagram of Duration, a call to stay steady on the path. He talks about keeping the body fit for farm work, and mentions suggesting an IMO bath and egg yolk oil to his uncle, who has cancer.

A viewer asks about mixing humic acid powder into apple cider vinegar; Drake says just use the powder with water, no vinegar needed. He also shows an AI-generated music video for his IMO song and gives a tour of the KNF course library on his YouTube channel.

The Master Cho training video covers mixing animal feed: what Cho calls "yeast" is really fermented grape juice, one part sugar to one part grape, the same ratio as FPJ. He adds 30% sea water and raw LAB to speed fermentation, and keeps the mix at 50 to 70% moisture depending on the stage. Getting rid of bad smell and building a good one changes the microbiome so animals eat more.

The back half covers raising black soldier fly maggots for protein: about a foot of IMO bedding in a tub, blood or milk to attract bigger flies, roughly 10% maggot in the feed mix. Maggots are best used fresh, not stored, since drying takes too much energy. Drake also says oyster shell works in feed for protein or dissolved as liquid calcium.

Questions answered

  • 10:05 Should humic acid powder be mixed 1 part to 10 in apple cider vinegar? — No, just use humic acid powder with water; it works well on its own without vinegar.
  • 26:33 What is the "yeast" Master Cho makes for feed? — It's fermented grape juice, one part sugar to one part grape, no added water, the same ratio as FPJ.
  • 28:36 Why add sea water to the IMO and manure mix? — Ocean water, about 30%, makes the fermentation faster and more effective.
  • 30:53 Why get rid of the bad smell before feeding animals? — A bad smell means bad microbes; once it smells good the microbiome has changed and animals eat more.
  • 32:13 How much moisture should the feed mixture have? — Somewhere between 50 and 70% moisture depending on the stage; less in humid climates, more if it's dry.
  • 49:21 How do you raise black soldier fly maggots for protein? — Put about a foot of IMO bedding in a tub, add manure or a fish head, and maggots show up fast.
  • 52:15 How much maggot protein should go into animal feed? — About 10%, which makes a very high protein diet.
  • 54:09 What attracts bigger flies and bigger maggots? — Blood works, and so does milk; both help grow bigger maggots with more protein.
  • 55:29 Can maggots be stored, or should they be used fresh? — They can be boiled and dried to store, but that takes a lot of energy; just-in-time, used right away, works best.
  • 58:41 Is Robert Olivier's Biopod worth buying for black soldier flies? — No, don't buy it; it's just molded plastic. Follow Master Cho's simple method instead.
  • 1:02:10 Does oyster shell have a place in natural farming? — Yes, supplement it into animal feed for protein, or dissolve it to make liquid calcium.

Topics: black soldier fly, maggots, imo, lab, fpj, yeast, humic acid, no-smell feed, oyster shell, liquid calcium, chicken feed, pig feed

KNF Office Hours is a free live Q&A every Sunday at 9 AM HST. Bring your question to pureknf.org/learn/questions or join live.

In this episode

  1. 0:00 Cold open and office hours welcome
  2. 3:02 I Ching: hexagram of Duration
  3. 4:35 Staying healthy: the body as the farmer's tool
  4. 10:05 Q: humic acid powder ratio
  5. 14:32 AI-generated IMO song music video
  6. 19:51 Tour of the KNF course library
  7. 23:58 On AI training and ownership
  8. 26:33 Master Cho video: yeast is fermented grape juice
  9. 28:36 Sea water and LAB in the feed mix
  10. 30:53 No-smell feed for chickens and pigs
  11. 32:13 Moisture content through each mixing stage
  12. 49:21 Black soldier fly maggots for protein
  13. 52:15 How much maggot to add, about 10%
  14. 54:09 Blood and milk attract bigger flies
  15. 55:29 Storing maggots vs. using them fresh
  16. 58:41 Skip the Biopod, use Master Cho's method
  17. 1:02:10 Oyster shell for calcium and protein
  18. 1:02:50 Closing thanks and sign-off

Transcript

Auto-transcribed with Whisper. Click any timestamp to play from there.

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