Fertilize for Profit, Not Yield
We hear and read all of the time about yield: Who has the biggest yield, this farmer had 350 bushels of corn, Jow Farmer broke the dry land record for yield, yield pays for the bills, etc. I do not ever recall reading any articles about who has the most profit!
Farmers today are faced with the endless marketing of products they cannot supposedly farm without. You need this fertilizer, this biological application, this starter, this herbicide or pesticide, this planter, this tractor, this seed, this cover crop, this tiller, this, this, this…All designed to remove as much PROFIT from the farmer’s wallet as they can. Don’t worry about the profit, only the YIELD. While yield is important, profit over yield since 1955.
Today all of the talk is about soil health, biological technology, cover crops, no-till, and cutting back on nitrogen. All of which makes some sense.
They are preaching soil health and enhancing biology with, of course, another revolutionary product. They will fix the soil and plant health by adding foreign microbes to your soil and claim their microbes will enhance and work with the native microbe population. At Growers, we believe the native microbes will complete with foreign microbes, eventually destroying the foreign population. Our belief is that you enhance your native microbe population and production with a well-balanced soil, starting with the appropriate application of high calcium lime and effective/efficient use of Growers Mineral Solution with targeted applications on the seed, two-by-two, foliar spraying, etc. (The Growers Program).
Lately, compost, compost tea, biochar, and blended compost have been a point of discussion. Compost has been used for well over 2,000+ years. The ancient Akkadian Empire in the Mesopotamian Valley referred to the use of manure in agriculture on clay tablets. Most farms have what it takes to create some form of compost. Today, farmers are again exploring various compost options. Composting requires proper management, time, compost material and space. Compost improves soil structure, increases microbial activity and soil fertility, and enhances plant disease suppression. Compost material includes manure, dead livestock, spoiled hay or straw, green chop from cover crops, shed waste, etc.
Compost Tea is a form of compost where you create a tea or extract liquid, mixing compost in water to extract the plant nutrients and microorganisms. There is no one right way to make compost tea. Just like farming, it requires trial and observation. Two methods for preparing compost tea are aerated and non-aerated. Aerated compost teas are actively aerated with oxygen (with a blower or other device used to force air into the liquid). Non-aerated compost teas are occasionally missed or stirred to re-suspend settled materials. The process to produce teas varies from farm to farm.
The Book’s (Jim and Oliver), Grower’s customers in Indiana, produce compost tea using only their farm materials. They start with manure from the dairy operation, mix with worms, coffee grinds, etc. to produce a worm casting dirt that is placed in a bag, submerged in rainwater, and circulated. They remove the bag and add fresh raw milk and Growers Mineral Solution to the tea. The tea they produce has allowed them to eliminate any extra nitrogen used on the farm. Their standard application is Growers Mineral Solution on the seed, and side dress (4 inches from the seed) with the compost tea solution.
Biochar is a high-carbon, fine-grained residue that is produced via pyrolysis. It is the direct thermal decomposition of biomass in the absence of oxygen, which produces a mixture of solids (the biochar proper), liquid (bio-oil), and gas (syngas) products. Used by humans for over two thousand years as a soil enhancer, it has helped increase yields while sustaining essential soil biodiversity. Natural biochar occurs when vegetation is left to smolder in layers on the forest floor following a fire. Biochar today is produced in a kiln which slowly bakes biomass in a nearly oxygen-free environment until it becomes carbon-rich charcoal. Most of the biochar is made from plant and animal biomass (plant trimmings, food processing residues, and forestry cuttings, etc.).
Jerry Stutzman, Growers Mineral District Manager in the Missouri area, has been working on developing a biochar agriculture retail product utilizing wood chips burned with little or no oxygen, producing a true biochar product. Not all biochar is created equal. There are biochar byproducts that utilize other materials not as effective as the wood biochar produced in the pyrolysis process.
Blended compost is relatively new, consisting of compost farm materials, high calcium lime, soil from the farm (local microbes), and other compost materials not available from the farm. The idea is to enhance normal compost with local microbes (from the native soil), calcium to balance the compost, and other materials. Loren Scherping, Growers District Manager in Minnesota, has a customer – Gregg Harren from Eagle Bend, MN – who uses the local meat rendering company to deliver bee intestine waste to his piles of farm compost (manure and plant biomass). He plans to add the high calcium lime and soil from his farm (soil microbes) along with the Growers Mineral Solution to complete his blended compost, enhancing the local microbe population. He believes this is the perfect solution for his farm, and it allows him to avoid costly inputs and possibly have a profit at the end of the day.
Dennis Grove, Growers Mineral District Manager in Delaware, has several customers exploring compost blending with wood chips, chicken litter, high calcium lime, municipal waste, etc., and mixing in Growers Mineral Solution. This also allows the farmer the flexibility to control and sometimes eliminate the need for additional nitrogen applications.
There are several biological products available that mimic the various composts and biochar, but are expensive and unproven technology. Big Fertilizer spends millions on marketing these products before proven. Most of these products are using the farmer as the guinea pig, and are another way to influence the farmer into paying for yet another product that may or may not help improve his yield. Again, they only promote yield, not profit. The only profit they promote is their own. It’s time for the farmer to take control and make decisions with proven products and ideas that benefit his bottom line (PROFIT) and which is best for the farm and the family.
Growers Mineral, Corp. will continue to discuss composting/biochar options and processes in future articles and the monthly Thursday calls (second Thursday of the month at 9pm EST). If you have a compost and/or biochar process you would like to share, please send the information to your local District Manager/ Rep or to out office in Milan, Ohio.
This is an excerpt from the Late Fall Growers Solution (2023) written by Chris Kohls, National Sales Manager.
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