Cement Dust Fertilizer Achieves Amazing Results

Cement Dust Fertilizer Achieves Amazing Results FERTILIZER APPLICATION Fertilizer Application (58f) 22-1-41 A new pelletized fertilizer containing cement dust is achieving "amazing results" in field tests on a variety of crops, according to a Missouri farmer who says the product boosts yields and reduces nitrogen leaching. "First year test plots at a Midwest research farm produced amazing results," says Gregory Wommack of Silex, Mo., who's been working on the new fertilizer for years. "Soy-beans treated with the product produced 6.6 more bushels per acre, a 17 percent increase. Alfalfa treated with it produced 1.9 more tons per acre." Similar results were reported in 16 vegetable crops, four cereal grains and corn, Wommack says. The product, Potassa-Cal, is a blend of potassium, ground calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, and a calcium-rich by-product of cement manufacturing called cement kiln dust (CKD). Calcium and other trace minerals contained in CKD are important to plant nutrition and productivity, Wommack ex-plains, and he and scientists have come up with a way to make a soil soluble pellet out of the fine, powdery product. The pellets are brown in color and about the same size as urea pellets, with the same blendability as other dry fertilizers. The fertilizer is broadcast at 300 to 400 lbs. per acre with a truck spreader at planting. Or banded with fertilizer discs on the planter at 220 to 250 lbs. per acre, with placement 3 to 4 in. from the row and 2 in. deep. In soybeans, the product results in taller soybeans with more pods per plant. For ex-ample, in Wommack's 30-in. soybeans, plants averaged 55 to 60 in. tall with 100 pods per plant, compared with a typical height of 40 to 45 in. and bearing pods of 70 to 80 per plant. What's more, in leaching tests on corn treated with a blend of Potassa-Cal and urea, nitrate leaching in the soil was cut by up to 50 percent. "That's particularly impressive considering that the urea added an additional 180 lbs. of N per acre," Wommack notes. "Based on what we've seen, we expect Potassa-Cal could reduce leaching potential by 45 per-cent and could cut N use by 10 to 15 percent in broadcast applications." Full benefits of Potassa-Cal may not be realized for a couple years after it's first applied, as indicated in independent tests by Arise Research, Casey, Ill., and Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Wommack notes. The product is expected to be on the market this year and sell for about $130 per ton. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Magic Green Corporation, 4598 Hwy. H, Silex, Mo. 63377 (ph 573 384-6300; fax 6305).

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