Why Hot Mix?
An article from Foxnews.com on February 1, 2022 read "Massive fire rips through North Carolina fertilizer plant, thousands asked to evacuate over explosion fears." This article stated that "North Carolina officials are asking thousands living within a one-mile radius...to evacuate Tuesday amid fears of a large explosion."
Since 1955, Growers Mineral, Corp. has suggested to farmers that a true solution fertilizer was superior to a mere suspension fertilizer. The reason for this improved product revolves around the fact that nutritional elements stay in a soluble state for better usage by the crop and the soil microbes and the elements stay in a uniform concentration within the liquid. With this uniformity when the liquid is applied, the correct concentration of elements is used at the point of application. This fact is very critical when applying trace elements to high valued crops or making sure every plant has access to the various trace elements when applying a starter fertilizer through an in-furrow application for early season environmental stress. The importance of uniformity is probably even more important when discussing feeding GMS to livestock.
The protocol of "hot mixing" to achieve a "true solution" has been used by Growers Mineral, Corp. since 1955. To achieve a "hot mix" solution, the mixture should reach temperatures of 170° to 180° Fahrenheit which allows for the "molecular agitation "which creates a "true solution." However, as the temperature of the mixture approaches the boiling point of water, the physical environment can create a potential dangerous environment for combustion, fire, or explosion. This risk entails countless hours of training to prevent the type of problem that is exposed by the headlines from North Carolina.
Most companies, large or small, do not feel the need for a uniform fertility solution is worth the risk to fund the expense to safely create the true solution of the "hot mix." Some companies claim "hot water" (90° to 120° Fahrenheit) temperatures will establish a "hot mix" solution; however, the long term uniformity of these materials eventually demonstrate their inability not to "settle out." Growers Mineral, Corp. has encountered sources of GMS that were manufactured 40 years prior to discovery that were still of uniform concentration.
The bottom line problem for a company not "hot mixing" is the expense to prevent a North Carolina-type problem. Simply put, it is a business decision about how an organization does business.
This is an excerpt from the Late Fall Growers Solution (2022) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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