Method for production of a soil amendment

A method for processing an organic feedstock into a soil amendment final product having microbial consortiums for promoting growth or increasing biomass of a plant, the method comprising:

• adding the organic feedstock to a first phase space of a bioreactor system to form a working fluid, wherein the feedstock is added to the bioreactor system at a feed rate of about 0.001 to 0.1 pounds of feedstock per cubic foot of a total working capacity of the bioreactor system per day and movement of the working fluid through the bioreactor system is hydraulically balanced;
• producing methane and reducing sulfate in the first phase space wherein microbes having methanogen and sulfur-reducing metabolisms, as determined by sequences of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments, have dominance in the first phase space;
• passing the working fluid from the first phase space to a second phase space of the bioreactor system, wherein microbes having nitrification and denitrification metabolisms, as determined by sequences of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments, have dominance in the second phase space;
• passing working fluid from the second phase space to a third phase space of the bioreactor system, wherein the third phase space includes packed bed reactors and each packed bed reactor includes a fixed media that provides a platform for anchoring biofilm;
• oxidizing methane to carbon dioxide and oxidizing ammonium to nitrate and nitrite in the third phase space, wherein microbes having nitrification and methanotroph metabolisms. as determined by sequences of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments, have dominance in the third phase space;
• passing the working fluid from the third phase space to a fourth phase space of the bioreactor system, wherein microbes having nitrification and denitrification metabolisms, as determined by sequences of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments have dominance in the fourth phase space;
• and
• passing the working fluid through an outlet from the fourth phase space to a storage tank or for further processing to produce the final product, wherein the working fluid is maintained at a temperature of 29° C. to 39° C. in the first phase space, the second phase space, the third phase space and the fourth phase space.