Ostara’s Phosphate Innovation: Crystal Green
Crystal Green, by Ostara, has an analysis of 5-28-0 with 10% magnesium to provide crops access to nutrients that remain plant available all season long.
Growers using Crystal Green granular phosphate fertilizer can avoid the inefficiencies of conventional phosphate fertilizers. Crystal Green is unique in that its nutrient release mechanism is determined by the crop and not the environment, a natural process called Crop Driven Release.
In 2019 Ostara started producing Crystal Green in Ft. Meade, Fl. Since then, demand for Crystal Green has exceeded expectations. Ostara is the first company to commercially produce and market a highly efficient granular phosphate product like Crystal Green.
“We began the Crystal Green journey to solve the problem of too much phosphate being lost to the global waterways and causing environmental challenges,” says Ahren Britton, chief technology officer at Ostara. “By producing a high efficiency phosphate fertilizer, Ostara is offering the first manufactured, environmentally friendly fertilizer option where everyone feels the benefits.”
How Crystal Green Works
All crops naturally release organic acids from growing roots, such as citric acid, to solubilize soil-bound nutrients. Crystal Green is sparingly water soluble, minimizing nutrient loss from fixation, runoff and leaching but is 100% soluble in organic acids, such as citric acid, naturally released from roots. By putting crops in charge of nutrient availability and avoiding traditional losses from conventional phosphate fertilizers, Crystal Green is the most efficient granular phosphate fertilizer on the market using Crop Driven Release.
After multiple years of global trials from university and third-party researchers and supportive year-over-year sales growth, Crystal Green is proven to provide the following advantages to growers that provide agronomic, economic and environmental benefits.
- Nutrient Availability activated with Crop Driven Release – Crystal Green only releases nutrients when roots need them for growth and development. As roots grow and exude organic acids, Crystal Green releases phosphate, nitrogen, and magnesium efficiently for optimized uptake and crop response.
- Citrate Soluble – Crystal Green is a struvite-based fertilizer that is 100% citrate soluble and 100% plant available. This one-of-a-kind fertilizer remains in the soil where it’s placed until it interacts with acids released by growing roots, significantly increasing its efficacy.
- Avoids Soil Fixation – Aluminum, calcium, and iron phosphate fixation is a challenge in many soil types. In some soils, fixation can bind up to 80% of applied phosphate. These soils require growers to apply far more phosphate than a crop may require, just to overcome the fixation effect. The unique solubility characteristics of Crystal Green avoids fixation altogether to help reach yield potential with less phosphate.
A Win for All
With continual pressure to improve yield and quality while reducing environmental degradation, growers are looking for more efficient and innovative fertilizers. Growers applying Crystal Green are experiencing results that outperform the use of conventional fertilizers while protecting the environment.
“Crystal Green is the only granular phosphate fertilizer on the market that remains plant available throughout the growing season. Crystal Green, when comparing actual pounds of available phosphate, generally wins hand-down versus conventional phosphate fertilizers,” says Ron Restum, chief revenue officer at Ostara. “By nutrients staying in the soil and being available to crops when they need it, it’s a win for yield, a win for the environment, and most importantly a win for a grower’s bottom-line.”
Due to increasing demand for Crystal Green, currently produced in Ft. Mead, Fl., Ostara is building a significantly larger production facility in St. Louis, Mo. Construction is projected to be complete in fall of 2023.
“Improving nutrient use efficiency and soil health while protecting our environment benefits everyone. We’re excited to be playing a leading role in bringing innovative, sustainable, and highly efficient products like Crystal Green to the Ag and T&O markets,” Restum adds.
Crystal Green is currently available at all major Ag retailers across North America and is available in bulk via railcar, bulk truck or in 1-ton super sacks.
