OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP)--EEUU, Yuck!

There they sit, a squiggly, slithering mass, in a tub in Dan Holcombe's yard--maybe 4,000 to the cubic foot.

But these worms are now officially respectable, taking their place alongside cattle and Wheat as a recognized crop, ready to do their duty as soil conditioners, composters or fish bait.

A bill signed in late July by Gov. Ted Kulongoski declares vermiculture, or worm farming, an official form of agriculture, and worms will join other crops on the state's list of tax-exempt farm products when the bill becomes law in January.

Holcombe has spent most of his life farming. His 17-year-old business, Oregon Soil Corp., has accepted waste from grocery stores and other outlets for years.

So far few companies have begun using worms as a sort of composting. Holcombe hopes the new status of his squirming charges will change that.

"Most people, when they think about worms, think, 'Yucky,'" Holcombe told The Oregonian. "They don't think about what worms can do."

In a worm tank's dark and rotting waste pile, the worms work constantly.

The so-called Red Wigglers eat kitchen scraps, fruit and vegetable peels, bread, or just about any food. They can eat their weight in a day.

Holcombe won't discuss money but says he and his family get by.

Worm droppings infuse the soil with the fresh, fertile material needed to grow new plants, says Jim Johnson, land use and water planning coordinator for the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Adding worms to the state's list sounded like a good idea to Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, himself an organic farmer. He co-sponsored the bill with House Majority Leader Wayne Scott, R-Canby, at Holcombe's request.

Nationally, vermiculture appears to be catching on, says Clive Edwards, an entomology and environmental science professor at Ohio State University who has worked closely with Holcombe. He says more and more farmers are raising them.

For a dozen years Holcombe spent long days with vermiculture as a contract waste collector for the Fred Meyer grocery chain. He would criss-cross Portland collecting unsold produce and return home with a batch of worm food on his truck.

Once the worms have finished eating, deodorizing much of the waste, a conveyor skims away the nutrient-rich remnants Holcombe makes into plant food.

He gave up his route last year in hopes of building, contracting and selling worm-waste equipment to others. Demonstrating the uses to potential buyers, he has shown just how much the worms can eat.

His worms can break down rotten food as well as animal and human waste.

His wife, Jane Holcombe, had nothing but good reviews.

Glancing over at the tank, she smiled: "They're like family."

Date: 8/25/05