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With fertilizer prices continuing to rise and fall with energy prices, producers are looking for new ways to increase the efficiency of phosphorus and nitrogen applications on their farms.

Dave Schwartz, national products manager for SFP, says that under certain conditions, 75 percent to 95 percent of the phosphorus fertilizer growers apply to their soil may not make it to the roots of their plants.

“Instead, the majority gets tied up in the soil by elements like calcium, iron, aluminum and magnesium,” he says. “At the same time, as much as 50 percent of the nitrogen you apply can be lost due to volatilization and leaching when atmospheric conditions are favorable for that to occur.”

Schwartz was one of several speakers at this year’s technology update seminars at the Sunbelt Expo in Moultrie, Ga. He talked about Avail and NutriSphere-N, which are designed to help farmers get more production from each unit of phosphorus and nitrogen applied.