Process for making a fully water-soluble granule comprising humic acid and a microbial community composition

1. A process for making a fully water-soluble granule comprising humic acid and a microbial community composition, the process comprising:

obtaining a sample of a carbonaceous substance comprising humic acid and one or more other substances;

contacting the sample with an amount of an alkaline mixture, thereby forming an extraction mixture, the extraction mixture consisting essentially of a sludge component, the sludge component comprising, predominantly, the sample, and an extraction component, the extraction component comprising, predominantly, the alkaline mixture;

maintaining the sludge component in contact with the extraction component for a period of time sufficient for the extraction component to become relatively enriched in humic acid and the sludge component to become relatively depleted of humic acid;

separating the sludge component from the extraction component;

spray drying the extraction component, thereby forming a plurality of humic acid enriched powder particles;

combining a microbial community composition to the plurality of humic acid enriched powder particles, thereby forming a powder combination,

wherein the powder combination has a ratio of about 1:100 to 1:50 microbial community composition to the plurality of humic acid enriched powder particles; and

compacting at least a portion of the powder combination under conditions wherein the at least a portion of the powder combination, as a result of the compacting, are made into a form of a granule;

thereby making a fully water-soluble granule comprising humic acid and a microbial community composition.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the microbial community composition includes a plurality of microbial species in a dormant and/or endosporic state.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the microbial community composition includes at least one species selected from the group of genera consisting of: Acetobacter, Agrobacterium, Aquifex, Arthrobacter, Azoarcus, Azorhizobium, Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Bacillus, Beijerinckia, Burkholderia, Chlorobium, Chloroflexus, Chryseobacterium, Enterococcus, Escherichia, Flavobacterium, Flexibacter, Frankia, Gloeobacter, Gluconacetobacter, Halobacterium, Herbaspirillum, Lactobacillus, Leptonema, Mycobacterium, Paenibacillus, Phyllobacterium, Planctomyces, Pseudomonas, Rhizobia, Rhizobium, Rickettsia, Rhodocyclus, Sinorhizobium, Sphingomonas, Streptomyces, Synechococcus Thermotoga, Thermus , and Trichoderma.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the microbial community composition comprises a lyophilized microbial powder.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the compacting is effected by an apparatus comprising a roller compactor.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein the roller compactor maintains a speed of about 8 rpm and wherein the roller compactor exerts a pressure of about 1700 psi.

7. The process of claim 5 , wherein the roller compactor does not exceed a temperature of about 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the fully water-soluble granule comprising humic acid and a microbial community composition is utilized in a dry granule form.

9. The process of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

solubilizing the fully water-soluble composite granule comprising humic acid and a microbial community composition, thereby forming a fully solubilized solution; and

applying the fully solubilized solution to a desired location.