Crystal Green from Ostara has retailers and farmers rethinking some entrenched beliefs about phosphate fertilizers.
“We are the only game in town; nothing else is like Crystal Green,” says Ron Restum, chief commercial officer for Ostara.
He gives the analogy that crops don’t eat nutrients, they drink them. Therefore, fertilizer products must go into the soil solution to be taken up by the plant. Whereas other phosphate fertilizers rely on water solubility, Restum explains Crystal Green delivers on its designation as an enhanced efficiency sustainable fertilizer by relying on plant signals to release the crop nutrients.
“To release the crop nutrients, a product must be soluble, but it doesn’t have to be water soluble. Water solubility is an agent for loss,” he says. “Plant roots naturally release organic acids, and Crystal Green is organic acid soluble. So, Crystal Green only releases its crop nutrients on-demand, when a plant requires them.”
With a formulation of 5-28-0 with 10% Mg, Restum says their product elevates efficiency.
“Nutrients don’t runoff, leach or tie up when using Crystal Green,” he says. “So, we are much more efficient than conventional phosphate fertilizers—and we’re continually conducting research to quantify exactly how much more efficient we are than conventional products. Crystal Green in probably more efficient than even we think.”
Crop-driven, Root-activated Availability
The early research done by 12 Land Grant Universities helped propel the team at Crystal Green to bring the product to market.
Product pricing for Crystal Green is above MAP or DAP on a per ton basis, but company research shows rates could be 25% to 50% less than other phosphate fertilizers given Crystal Green’s high efficiency and 10% Mg.
“Based on our recommendations, growers should see a similar price per acre, and a retailer would see a similar price per ton when they factor in the yield gain, reduced rates and the environmental pluses,” Restum says. “If you don’t answer the question about return on investment, nothing else matters.”
Physically, Crystal Green granules are manufactured to the same standards of high quality DAP or MAP.
“The product handles like any other granular fertilizer. It’s sized right and really uniform with good dust control and excellent blendability,” Restum says. “With a low salt index for seed safety, Crystal Green draws less moisture and doesn’t ‘set up’ or get crusty. And because of its application efficiency, retailers will have to handle less tons overall. And everyone wants to get more by doing less.”
This fall, the team at Ostara is ramping up production to full capacity at its new St. Louis facility. For the past three years, Crystal Green has been producing its phosphate fertilizer at a 30,000 ton granular fertilizer facility in Florida. However, the new plant in the Midwest will increase production almost 10x to 200,000+ tons/year. And the St. Louis site benefited from receiving an $8 million grant from USDA for domestically produced sustainable fertilizers.
“It was time to step up and build a bigger plant,” says Restum. “We were sold out and oftentimes oversold, which doesn’t make our loyal retailers and growers happy.”
The first railcars of Crystal Green left the new facility in August. Restum highlights how of the 9 million tons of phosphate fertilizer sold every year in the U.S., 6 million is within the easy reach of the new St. Louis plant. By the end of this fall, the company will have 50,000 tons available to the market. And Restum says the next goal is in the next 18 months to find the right location for the third plant to bring online.
“Our goal is to help drive up yields while ensuring fertilizer doesn’t leave the field,” he says. “That’s our North Star: get to the least amount of fertilizer you can put down and get your best yield.”
