Too good to be true

By Doug Rich

Do you believe in miracles?

Judging from the number of "miracle products" on the market, companies across the country are banking that producers do believe in miracles. These products are always there but they seem to peak in numbers whenever fertilizer prices begin taking a bigger than normal bite out of farmers' pocketbooks.

These non-traditional soil amendments include non-conventional fertility concepts; biological inoculants or activators; mineral nutrient sources used in non-conventional manners; plant stimulants and growth regulators, wetting agents and surfactants; and soil conditioners.

According to K-State Research and Extension non-traditional products can be classified as non-fertilizer material applied to soil or plants claiming to improve vigor, growth, or quality; or a guaranteed fertilizer material that is used in an unconventional manner, such as in very small amounts.

Kenny Naylor with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture said biological products are very popular right now.

It is only natural that producers want to get everything they can out of the fertilizer they use and if anything will make it more effective they are interested. But they need to be careful that they are not throwing their hard earned money away.

Most states have laws or acts on the books pertaining to fertilizer products, everything from ag lime to non-traditional products. Naylor said Oklahoma has three laws dealing with fertilizer products, a Fertilizer Law, the Agricultural Liming Materials Act, and the Soil Amendment Act.

According to the Oklahoma Soil Amendment Act, "soil amendment" includes any substance which is intended to improve the physical, chemical, or other characteristics of the soil or improve crop production. This includes the various products which are sold for water retention purposes, claims of vitamins, contains humic acid and the supposedly wonder products (a drop in a gallon of water will provide your plant all the nutrients it ever needs).

Kansas has a Soil Amendment Act, also. It requires registration and proof of efficacy for any substance which is intended to improve crop production. Commercial fertilizer and agricultural liming material are exempt from this act.

Proof of efficacy is defined in the Kansas Law as satisfactory supportive data to substantiate the value and usefulness of the active ingredient. Producers have a right to know if these products have been adequately tested and preferably tested by a land grant university.

Kenny Naylor said they require that companies submit efficacy data for registration of their products.

"These tests do not have to be done in Oklahoma but they must meet certain standards," Naylor said. "We have had some test results submitted that have not even used check strips in their field trials."

Dale Leikam, nutrient management specialist at Kansas State University, said they have done some testing in the past. But he said that there is not as much money being spent on testing by these companies today as there has been in the past. He said producers should be leery of unsubstantiated claims. This includes claims that one pound of particular product can replace a specified number of pounds of nitrogen or other commercial fertilizer in your fertility program.

"If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is," Naylor said.

K-State recommends that the data come from reputable research organizations. In an article by David Whitney, soil fertility specialist, he said producer testimonials and in-house demonstration results are not considered reliable research.

"Research results from three soil types common to Kansas for a period of two years at each location is considered as a minimum research base," Whitney said. "The research must be on agricultural crops common to Kansas."

The same could be said for any other state or regions. Make sure the research is relevant to the area and the common farming practices in your area. The research should be replicated in different areas and on different soil types. Do not depend on testimonials alone that do not utilize factual data to support their claims.

A product that did undergo university testing before it was released to the public is Avail, produced by Specialty Fertilizer Products (SFP). According to SFP, Avail is a water-soluble additive for granular or liquid phosphorus fertilizer that enables the phosphate to remain free in the soil, providing opportunity for greater plant update with minimal costs. This product is not really a soil additive or soil amendment but a fertilizer enhancement.

"For our company university testing is the only way we do anything," Jake Sanders, SFP spokesman. "We feel that is the best way to validate the product, by third party testing. There is no better way to do it."

Avail has been tested around the United States on various crops including potatoes, wheat, corn, soybeans, rice, onions, cotton and sugar beets.

"When developing our Avail product we spent the first five years in university testing before our product ever went out to the farmer," Sanders said.

Some of these studies were done in Kansas by K-State Research and Extension. An e-Update report from K-State Extension in September 2006 mentioned the AVAIL research studies. Barney Gordon, agronomist-in-charge at the North Central Experiment Field Near Belleville, conducted several years of research with AVAIL on irrigated fields.

Although there was a measured yield increase, the report said that AVAIL is not a substitute for phosphorus fertility management. Phosphorus rates should not be reduced to offset the cost of AVAIL.

This is consistent with material provided by SFP which states that cutting phosphorus rates when using AVAIL is false economy.

Before purchasing any soil amendment or soil additive product Sanders said producers should look for university testing, talk to Extension agents or the Extension researcher that did the testing, talk to the retailer or dealer to get more information on the product, or call and talk directly with the manufacturer. Sanders suggested starting out with a test strip to begin with to see how the product works on your individual farm.

A good source of information on this topic is a website run by Iowa State University, it is http://extension.agron.iastate.edu/compendium/indec.aspx. This is a compendium of research reports on the use of non-traditional materials for crop production.

If producers are tempted to try some of these products K-State suggests producers run their own field checks on a limited basis. Treat a strip in the field and leave the rest of the field untreated or leave an untreated strip in a treated field.

Everyone wants to believe in miracles, but be cautious about those that come with a price tag.

Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304, or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com.

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6/11/07

Date: 6/7/07

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