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Fertilizer 101 Ep. 7: Fertilizer Basics with Scotts

Get ready to transform your gardening game with this episode of Fertilizer 101! Host Morgaine Mertz-Myers and special guest, Scotts’ own biology scientist Sara Eff, discuss the basics of fertilizers. Discover how the right nutrients can take your plants from good to gorgeous, boost soil health, and support sustainable practices. Learn about the big three nutrients—nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK)—and the science behind plant food for efficient, targeted growth.

Tune in on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Apple, or Spreaker, and don’t miss your chance to cultivate success with Fertilizer 101. Subscribe now for your greenest garden yet!

Fertilizer 101 Ep. 6: Feeding the World: The Ammonia Revolution – Global Fertilizer Day Special

In this special episode of the Fertilizer 101 Podcast, titled “Feeding the World: The Ammonia Revolution – Global Fertilizer Day Special,” host Morgaine Mertz-Myers is joined by Karl Wyant, Director of Agronomy at Nutrien, to explore how ammonia production transformed modern agriculture. Celebrating Global Fertilizer Day, the episode dives into the history and significance of the Haber-Bosch process, which enabled large-scale ammonia synthesis and revolutionized fertilizer production. Karl and Morgaine discuss the critical role of ammonia in feeding the growing global population, advancements in fertilizer technology, and the future of sustainable agriculture. Tune in to learn how ammonia continues to shape food security and the innovations driving its efficient use.

Tune in on Spotify, Audible, iHeart Radio, Apple, or Spreaker, and discover how understanding fertilizers can help shape a more sustainable and food-secure world!

Whither the Farm Bill?  Choose Your Adventure

House of Representatives Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA) said this week that his committee will complete its work on the Farm Bill reauthorization effort to craft a new multi-year law addressing USDA programs and other things before Memorial Day.  Meanwhile, this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wrote a Dear Colleague letter to senators that omits the Farm Bill entirely from a laundry list of items to address in the remainder of the year.  You will note the partisan tone of Schumer’s letter that is sure not to impress Republicans — which is perfectly fine with Schumer.  Nevertheless, it does lay out a broad agenda of to-do items, notably including funding Ukraine defense efforts.  Thompson is a seasoned legislator who is well-respected by Republicans and Democrats alike, and he claims to have a solution that will break an impasse in the ongoing negotiations about nutrition programs.  Whether he will succeed on his timeline remains to be seen.  While the House and Senate each conduct business independently of each other, it is not ideal to do a bill that foreseeably cannot advance in the other chamber for an extended period of time.  Much more preferable is to be able to create and rely upon momentum to move a bill through both chambers and then to the president’s desk for signing into law. 

Majority Leader Schumer dear colleagueDownload

4R Research: Meet the Researcher Dr. William Frame

Dr. William Frame

The FERT Foundation is home to 12 research projects that focus on fluid fertilizer and 4R optimization. Members had the opportunity to meet researchers and learn about these projects during last week’s Fertilizer Research Forum. Each week we have been featuring a different researcher in this publication, and this week, we’d like you to meet 4R Researcher Dr. William Frame.


Researcher: Dr. William “Hunter” Frame is a native of Virginia and a graduate of Virginia Tech (B.S. and Ph.D.), as well as the University of Tennessee Knoxville (M.S.). He specialized in Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences and Plant Sciences, with his advanced degrees focusing on nitrogen fertilizer management in winter wheat, corn, and burley tobacco systems. Since May 2012, he has been a faculty member at Virginia Tech, serving as the Field Crop Agronomist. His program concentrates on addressing agronomic challenges in cotton production and enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizer management for non-legume field crops. Currently, he serves as the project director on the TFI 4R funded grant ($874,980): “An Integrated Approach for Nitrogen Management in Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) across the U.S. Cotton Belt” from 2019 to 2024. Outside of his research and Extension program responsibilities, Dr. Frame enjoys watching his daughter play softball and bow hunting for whitetail deer.

Dr. Frame’s work aims to: 

  • Quantify the agronomic response of contemporary cotton varieties adapted to major production regions to varying N rates and placement strategies 
  • Determine the impact of EEF’s on N transformations and increasing NUE in cotton production systems 
  • Measure gaseous N losses, other common greenhouse gases from common N fertilizers, and leaching of N applied at varying N application rates and placements with and without enhanced efficiency N fertilizer additives or products 

4R Research: Meet the Researcher Dr. Patrick Brown

Dr. Patrick Brown

The FERT Foundation is home to 12 research projects that focus on fluid fertilizer and 4R optimization. Members had the opportunity to meet and learn about these projects during last week’s Fertilizer Research Forum. Each week we have been featuring a different researcher in this publication, and this week, we’d like you to meet 4R Researcher Patrick Brown.  

Researcher: Dr. Patrick Brown is the Professor of Plant Nutrition at the University of California, Davis – USA. He received his B.Sc. in 1984 from Adelaide University, Australia and Ph.D. from Cornell University, USA in 1988.  Dr. Brown has authored more than 250 scientific journal articles and numerous books and is among the highest cited experts in plant nutrition, biostimulants, boron, foliar fertilizers and horticulture. Dr. Brown is recognized globally as a leader in both basic and applied plant nutrition and has served as a member of numerous scientific and technical committees for governmental agencies including US-EPA, USDA, Californian Dept. Food and Ag and the International Standards Organization. Dr. Brown is a member of the IFA’s Science Panel for the Responsible Use of Fertilizers. Dr. Brown has received many awards national and international for excellence in research and extension. 

Project Name: Optimizing Potassium Management in Almond  

University: UC Davis  

Years Funded: 2021-2023 

4R Questions Addressed: Rate, Source, and Place  

Dr. Brown’s fluid project is designed to: 

  • Determine the extent and causes of in-field K variability 
  • Develop cost-effective methods to identify areas of differential K demand 
  • Development of optimized K- fertilization sources and strategies, including site-specific fertilization strategies suited to the modern fertigated orchard context 

TFI State Biostimulant Legislative Initiative Underway

This week, TFI organized a strategy meeting involving state advocacy experts from Nutrien, Helena, Corteva, BIO, CropLife America, and Southern Crop Production Association. Together, they outlined essential steps to implement the plan for achieving state adoption of the biostimulant model state legislation. This initiative aims to establish a consistent definition and uniform label across all 50 states. The strategy will complement TFI’s ongoing efforts to educate and garner support from NASDA, state agribusiness associations and local farm bureaus.  Please contact Ed Thomas with any questions.

Do Drivers Need a Paper Copy of Your Bill of Lading When Transporting a Load? 

A TFI member recently reached out with a question regarding truck drivers’ bill of lading paperwork when picking up loads at plants or terminals and whether a pdf on an app would suffice.  Under Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration revisions to the Code of Federal Regulations from a couple of years ago, drivers do not need to possess a paper copy.  Read the final rule regarding electronic recordkeeping below.  The real thing is just that you have to ensure the necessary record availability and record retention.  Electronic means of doing so is sufficient.  Just for your awareness when reviewing the document, not every reference to bill of lading highlighted because not all references were relevant.  For more information contact Tom Lynch.

FMCSA Electronic Records Fed Reg 2018-07749 (1)Download

The Importance of Adding Phosphate and Potash to the Critical Minerals List

Deep mine of potash production.

The United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) 2022 list of critical minerals, essential to the nation’s economic and national security, notably does not include phosphorus and potash, vital elements for agriculture and our food supply.

Efforts to include phosphorus and potash in the critical minerals list have gained momentum with legislation being introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Supporters of the legislation make the compelling case that these minerals are essential for agriculture and, by extension, national security, and economic stability. The reevaluation of the critical status of these minerals is crucial, especially given the current challenges in the global fertilizer market.

The need for phosphate and potash to be included on the critical minerals list becomes evident when we consider that both are non-renewable resources and geographically limited. Being geographically limited means that the supply chains for phosphorus and potash are concentrated in a few countries, leading to potential geopolitical risks. For instance, most of the world’s phosphorus reserves are located in Morocco and Western Sahara, while Canada, Russia, and Belarus are major potash suppliers. This concentration raises concerns about U.S. national supply security, especially during times of political instability or trade disruptions. Recent global events have highlighted the vulnerability of fertilizer supply chains. Including phosphorus and potash in the critical minerals list would emphasize the need to develop more resilient supply chains and domestic sources, reducing import dependency and mitigating the impact of global shortages.

The U.S. has both phosphate and potash production, but expanding mines and opening new ones is a costly and time-consuming process measured in years and in the tens of millions of dollars for permitting alone. Being listed as critical minerals would not exclude these projects from environmental reviews, but would assign a single permitting agency to be responsible and streamline the process.

Adding phosphate and potash to the Critical Minerals list would be a significant step towards securing our own future and sending the clear message that safeguarding our nation’s food supply is not only an economic imperative, but a strategic priority that ensures our well-being.