Fertilizer Gel

Fertilizer Gel FERTILIZER APPLICATION Fertilizer Application (58f) 10-5-24 Fertilizer "gel" that looks like toothpaste but doesn't dissolve or leach away from the soil will soon be on the market, according to a Texas manufacturer. Rancher Cliff Lauderdale has operated a sideline fertilizer and manufacturing business for 20 years. He got the idea for a gel fertilizer as a way to get away from the leachability of conventional dry and liquid fertilizers. "It won't absorb into the soil or leach away. It remains suspended in a gel state in the soil until roots of plants, which are naturally attracted to it, take it up. Because it doesn't leach away you can use much less of it for the same results and you won't pollute the groundwater," notes Lauderdale. Prototype testing of both the gel, and air-powered equipment to inject the gel into the soil, is now in full swing. Other uses include insecticides which will be carried in the gel, along with an attractant so that insects will be "baited" and then killed. Lauderdale says the gel is unique in that a special chemical keeps it sealed up so its contents are not released into the soil around it. He says it'll cost slightly more to apply to fields but will return four times its cost in benefits. He plans to begin marketing the new product in early 1987. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Cliff Lauderdale, Agri-Vator Mfg. Co., Rt. 1, Box 100, Caldwell, Tex. 77836 (ph 409 535-7505 or 535-4124).

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