Page 19 - GM summer French 2025

Part 1:
SPECIALTY MARKETS
ORGANIC NUTRIENT
TECHNOLOGIES
Breaking down the goodies we use in
organic nutrition is critical as the
space is huge and can be
overwhelming. Placing some broad
strokes on these, we ironed out some
categories and in the interest of
simplicity, this article only focuses on
categories we currently see in the
turf nutrition space.
Included are some use cases
where organics are being modified
and refined for even better consumer
properties. Many of these categories
can be used in solid or liquid form.
Solid forms might be added to a
fertilizer blend or applied as a stand-
alone, where liquid forms have a
multitude of possible uses.
The newest technology is now
using amino acid complexing with
proteins for efficacy, balancing, and
stability. Couple this with pH
modifiers, hormones, and rapid
carbon sources and we see end user
value increase exponentially.
Definitions of Organic Terms
Biochars – Newer to the market,
biochars are hugely impactful on in
the carbon management space of
organic fertilizer. As heat is required
to effectively “cook” biomass, we find
biochars predominantly as granular
forms.
Biochar created using higher
heat will be a slower release, more
densely structured product, while a
lower heat production results in a
more readily available compound
with less physical structure.
Sourcing can be tricky as biochars
can be plant or animal based, or a
combination of both and depending
on the source, properties of individual
biochars can vary greatly. There is
certainly value in discovering the
source of a biochar and choosing
production methods that focus on
benefits important to end-users.
Biproduct and Waste Materials –
Most commonly viewed as manures,
this category uses biproducts from
animal or human production and find
ways to prill the product. Sometimes
we find these manures in liquid form
but often, they will be presented as a
granular.
In industry, we know Milorganite
as one of the biggest organics to
come to our space in over 30 years.
As always, sourcing is critical as there
are many available options. Manures
are wonderful carbon sources to add
to the microbial system to promote
soil health. Leaning towards carbon
to nitrogen conversion ratios, these
organics are tried and true.
Meals – Traditionally, meals are
ground organic matter whether
bone, feather or other animal-based
or plant-based organic. Sometimes
viewed in the cringeworthy area of
organics, meals are most often
thought of as animal-based organics,
however newer technologies are
pushing the focus into the plant-
based space. These newer options
include soy, kelp, and alfalfa meals
using plant-based organic options.
In production, meals are easiest to
use as a fine powder and prilled
through homogeneous prilling. Some
manufacturers pre-prill their meals to
allow for blending. A beautiful thing
about meals is that they are lightly
processed, always sourced directly
from a plant or animal but
consequently, can have huge variability
in their end result. Meals are the largest
area of organics to unpack and dig
into sourcing.
Kelps – One of the stronger originators
of organics in liquid form, kelps are
most commonly known for their
hormone balancing ability in our
plants. They can exist as meals,
powders, or liquids and extraction of
their “goodies” can vary hugely.
When used in fermenters, kelps
can give some of the highest yields of
amino acids. The resulting products
provide hormones that can rapidly
promote plant health by reducing
stress, promoting cell growth, or in
some cases, reducing water needs.
If kelps are used as a powdered or
granulated form, we see most effective
use as a food source for our microbe
systems.
In the manufacturing space, kelps
in proper liquid extracted form can
function as a nutrient carrier with light
chelating or complexing properties.
Sugars – We often see sugars as a
generalized term for additives or
carbon sourcing in organic materials.
Most common by far, molasses
dominates this space as this was one
of the original liquid organic options
brought to market.
GreenMaster • CGSA •
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