Improving Phosphate Fertilizer Economics
Proper soil nutrient management is a delicate balance between economical fertilizer applications and optimal nutrient delivery.
For many growers, phosphate fertilizer management has remained consistent over the past six decades following the accepted use of superphosphates in the early 1940s. However, the needs of a growing population have driven higher global demand for phosphate ore. As a result, price fluctuations and availability of this once stable commodity has caused an economic challenge for growers in recent years.
Manufacturers continue to produce traditional fertilizer products while facing increased demand and production costs. While commodity pricing is trending favorable for the 2023 growing season, the price instabilities of the past two years are a foreshadow of future market conditions. To ease growers’ concerns, support higher profitability, and achieve optimal phosphorus efficiency, Phospholutions, has commercially launched RhizoSorb® phosphorus fertilizers that improve phosphate efficiency up to 50% and provide better phosphate economics throughout the phosphorus value chain.
Backed by more than three decades of academic research and on-farm trials, Phospholutions Inc. is changing how growers think about and use phosphorus. Following multiple years of field trial success, RhizoSorb® has proven to optimize phosphorus delivery, preserve yield, and improve grower margins by up to 20%.
More Profitably Per Ton
To achieve a new industry standard in phosphorus management, Phospholutions developed its next generation of technology on the cornerstone of serving more acres with fewer tons of product to reduce environmental loss and increase economic benefits to growers and retailers alike. RhizoSorb® fertilizers are optimizing phosphorus use by up to 50%, improving the nutrient use efficiency (NUE) of traditional phosphate sources.
Based on RhizoSorb® application guidelines for RhizoSorb® 8-39-0, growers apply 33% less fertilizer compared to MAP, saving a grower an average of 10% on their fertilizer costs. For growers currently using DAP as their phosphate nutrient source, RhizoSorb® provides greater savings when compared to current market prices achieving the company's acclaimed 20% savings for this essential nutrient.
Additional grower benefits include decreased application rates and freight costs. With fewer tons necessary to meet the crop needs, retailers can serve more growers and expand their business without the need for more bin space.
Better Efficiency and Savings
RhizoSorb® is embedded into the MAP fertilizer granule at production, increasing availability and uptake throughout the growing season. RhizoSorb® retains phosphorus based on a chemical gradient rather than environmental and soil conditions. Phosphorus' negative charge causes conventional phosphorus sources to tie-up in the soil with positive ions including calcium and magnesium. Unlike slow-release granular fertilizer phosphorus products, which release phosphate over a set time period, RhizoSorb® avoids phosphate tie-up, and reduces leaching by only releasing phosphate as crops need it.
The unique metal oxide composition of RhizoSorb® allows the applied granules to act as a reversible phosphorus reservoir. RhizoSorb® fertilizers retain phosphorus throughout the growing season and supply depleted soil solution pool with phosphorus based on the crop's natural uptake of phosphorus. With a plant-driven based release, RhizoSorb® is more available to plants in comparison traditional phosphates that only have 10-30% of availability in the year applied. This helps growers get more out of their fertilizer investment.
When asked about the efficiency benefits of RhizoSorb®, Craig Dick, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, said, “traditionally, overapplying phosphorus has been the only option to ensure proper nutrient uptake for desired yield, but RhizoSorb® technology has proven yield results without the need of excess phosphorus applications that results in luxury consumption and environmental loss.” By avoiding luxury consumption and excess phosphorus purchases, RhizoSorb® reduces fertilizer costs and gives growers the opportunity to invest in other crop nutrients and yield enhancing products.
RhizoSorb® performance corn on-farm field trials, 2021 & 2022. Increased Bushels Per Acre with RhizoSorb® Fertilizers containing 50% less phosphorus fertilizer when compared to MAP conventional granular fertilizers.
Preserved or Better Yield
In four years of plot-on-plot research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, RhizoSorb® out-competes higher application rates of traditional MAP resulting in more profitable harvests for corn and soybean. Based on the company's work with 3-rd party trial partners, RhizoSorb® has achieved yield benefits across more than 93 trial sites in the past two years with growers achieving more profitability during harvest. The average yield advantage in corn for 2022 was +3 bushels per acre and a better harvest in 2021 of +5 bushels per acre. In 2021, similar yield increases up to +5 bushels of soybean have helped growers' bottom line at the end of the season. Download the 2022 Performance Report to learn more about on-farm trials.
For More Information about RhizoSorb® and Phospholutions, Inc.
Contact: info@phospholutions.com
