The Growers Solutionstrawberry operation clearly shows that GMS can successfully supply the elements necessary for profitable plant production. Florida Hydroponic Strawberry operation

WINTER 2007 VOLUME 20 ISSUE 1© Copyright 2007, Growers Mineral SolutionsThe Growers SolutionPrinted on Recycled Paper

By Jennie Henry

In our TGS Winter 2006 issue, Dennis Jergertold us about their experiment with Italianryegrass in an alfalfa field and how well the

cows performed. Dennis and Kevin Jerger farmnear Barnesville in the Red River Valley ofwestern Minnesota. In February, they had apleasant surprise at their West Otter Tail CountyDairy Herd Improvement Association annualmeeting. Dennis can tell the story.

“They picked the top three cows from about4,700 head on the Association’s test. Out of 75herds, we got the top cow. The award was forthe ‘DHIA High Cow-Dollar Value,’ which

means she produced the mostmilk/income. We also had thenumber three cow in thatcategory.

“We’re not feeding the waymost dairy farmers traditionallyfeed their cows. We feed alfalfahaylage, corn silage, oats,shelled corn, and balance theration with linseed meal andcorn distillers. Then to the grainmix we add Growers (GMS) atthe recommended rate, pluslimestone.

Inside The Solution

Jerger Farm Has High DHIA CowsJennie Henry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 1

Soils, Their Use, Abuse and RestorationSam Niblett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 1

Elemental Balance Is NecessaryJim Halbeisen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 2

Antibiotic Resistance: Agriculture andHuman Medicine

Jim Halbeisen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 3

On The Road Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 3

Committed To GrowersJennie Henry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 4

Who Is Guarding The Chicken House?Jim Johns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 5

Early Order Discount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 8

1-800-437-4769 • Fax 419-499-2178 • [email protected] • www.growersnutritional.com

Please Turn To Page 6

Soils, Their Use, Abuse and Restoration(In this third segment, our Maine potato grower,Sam Niblett, describes his dubious discovery ofMore Food From Soil Science, Dr. Tiedjens,Wilbur Franklin and calcium. Eds.)

By Sam Niblett

It was during the winter of 1977-78 that Ibecame very serious about looking foranother way of farming or looking for a job.

One or the other. I was young enough to dosomething else and could perhaps outlive thestigma of bankruptcy, especially if we left thearea, but “it was such a nice place to live!”

Luck is sometimes described as, “That pointwhen preparation and opportunity meet.” I thinkDivine Providence plays a part, too. Be that as itmay, in the fall of 1977, in the midst of my searchfor a way to grow potatoes that would yield, store


An 11-inch potato weighing 3 pounds,9 ounces, Sam Niblett, Easton, Maine.(Fall 1987)

Jerger Farm Has High DHIA Cows

Left to right: Ken Jerger, Jim Halbeisen and Dennis Jerger.

PAGE 2 THE GROWERS SOLUTION WINTER 2007

Elemental Balance Is NecessaryBy Jim Halbeisen

According to many plant nutritionists,approximately 16 elements are requiredto grow a plant to maturity. Charts

similar to the one shown here, Table One, listthe elements and the quantities the nutritionistsfeel are necessary in plant tissue.

For years Growers Mineral Solutions(GMS) representatives have helped farmersunderstand the importance of growing cropswith the complete balance of bothmacroelements and microelements. During Dr.V. A. Tiedjens many years of early research,which included much hydroponic work, helearned the value of nutrient balance needed forsuccessful plant growth. Accordingly, in GMShe placed each of the elements in relativeproper amounts. The element balance in GMSis unique in the agricultural industry, andensures Growers Chemical Corporation’scompetitiveness.

It is pretty well known that Dr. Tiedjensdeveloped GMS’s balanced nutrition formula,in part, by way of his early and extensive workin hydroponics. For proprietary reasons, theformula remains secret, however, Dr. Tiedjensalways said the secret is easily found; just go tothe field, like he did, with uncounted differentplant food nutrient ratios and then observewhich one from plots replicated many, manytimes will make the farmer the most profit. Noproblem. It only took him, a very intelligentscientist, a large part of a lifetime.

Dr. Tiedjens’ very important and relevantwork has never been, and probably never willbe, repeated. The beauty of his research is thatGMS stands the test of time—over 50 years—and continues to perform on the farm as heintended.

Recently, while working with livestock andvegetable producers, our Florida GMS salesrepresentatives learned of a nearby hydroponicstrawberry operation needing help. Bydefinition, hydroponic crops are not grown insoil. This means all the nutrients necessary togrow the crop must be supplied in liquid formwhich can be, and almost always is,complicated and difficult. This operation wasusing a three-element (N, P, K) liquid fertilizermaterial that had them adding extra elements.

GMS was introduced to the strawberries intwo ways; through a trickle type wateringsystem into the growing media and by foliarspraying the plants. With the change from theiroriginal embellished three-element fertilizer toGMS, strawberry production improveddramatically. Inspired, the producer now

successfully uses GMS in all the other sectorsof his operation.

It is important to note that the water usedhere for watering and foliarspraying is very soft which isideal. GMS when mixed withwater with much hardness in itcan have some of nutrientsprecipitate resulting in nozzleor emitter plugging problems.Soft water has very littlechemical interaction withGMS resulting in hardly anyamount of GMS elementimbalance. And, softer watercarries a very low dissolvedsolid load which means therewould be very little, or no, salteffect on the plants’ leaves androots. On the other hand, softwater carries practically nominerals, so minerals (GMS)have to be added to supply theelements needed byhydroponically grown plants.

Since neither the water northe growing media is able tosupply nutrient elements tothe growing plant, thisstrawberry operation clearly

shows that GMS can successfully supply theelements necessary for profitable plantproduction.

Florida Hydroponic Strawberry operation Foliar Sprays and Trickles, separately, twice a day,Growers Mineral Solutions for the crop’s only nutrient source.

Concentrations of Nutrient Elementsin Plant Material at

Levels Considered Adequate

Chemical Atomic In Dry MatterElement Symbol Weight ppm or %

ppmMolybdenum Mo 95.95 0.1Copper Cu 63.54 6Zinc Zn 65.38 20Manganese Mn 54.94 50Iron Fe 55.85 100Boron B 10.82 20Chlorine Cl 35.46 100

%Sulfur S 32.07 0.1Phosphorus P 30.98 0.2Magnesium Mg 24.32 0.2Calcium Ca 40.08 0.5Potassium K 39.10 1.0Nitrogen N 14.01 1.5Oxygen O 16.00 45.0Carbon C 12.01 45.0Hydrogen H 1.01 6.0

From Epstein (1965), after Stout (1961)

Table 1


WINTER 2007 THE GROWERS SOLUTION PAGE 3


On The Road AgainWINTER 2007

Growers Mineral Solutions is scheduledto set up and staff booths at thefollowing upcoming farm shows and

conventions this winter. It’s a great time to stopin and review your plant food and animalnutrition needs, hear about new developmentsat Growers or just chat with the folks who makeit all happen—your friends and neighbors.

Jan. 5-7, 2007 Georgia Fruit andVegetable ShowSavannah, GA

Jan. 9-11 Keystone Farm ShowYork, PA

Jan. 9-11 Ontario Landscape CongressToronto, Ontario, Canada

Jan. 16-17 Ohio Fruit and VegetableShow, Columbus, OH

Jan. 16-18 Fort Wayne Farm ShowFort Wayne, IN

Jan. 16-18 New Jersey VegetableMarketingAtlantic City, NJ

Jan. 22-25 Delaware Ag. WeekHarrington, DE

Jan. 23-25 Virginia Farm ShowFishersville, VA

Jan. 25-26 North Central OhioGrazing ConferenceWooster, OH

Jan 30-Feb 1 Mid Atlantic Fruit andVegetable, Hershey, PA

Jan. 31-Feb. 2 Southern Farm ShowRaleigh, NC

Feb. 2 Northern Indiana GrazingConferenceShipshewana, IN

Feb. 6-8 Canadian InternationalFarm EquipToronto, Ontario, Canada

Feb. 8-9 Viticulture 2007Rochester, NY

Feb. 13-14 Alexandria Area Farm Show, Alexandria, MN

Feb. 14-15 Empire State Fruit andVegetable ExpoRochester, NY

Feb. 14-17 National Farm Machinery Show, Louisville, KY

Feb. 22-24 New York Farm ShowSyracuse, NY

Feb. 27-28 Pennsylvania Grazingand Forage ConferenceGrantsville, PA

Feb. 27-Mar 1 Central MinnesotaFarm ShowSt. Cloud, MN

Mar. 7-9 Western Fair Farm ShowLondon, Ont., Canada

Hope To See You!

Antibiotic Resistance: Agriculture and Human MedicineBy Jim Halbeisen

The use of antibiotics in animal feed isbeing blamed, at least in part, for the riseof antibiotic-resistent bacteria, and as

more people are touched by ARB, the issuebecomes more sensitive.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s it wasfound feeding small amounts of antibiotics tochickens, pigs and beef cattle improved theirgrowth and performance, and they also helpedcompensate for less sanitary and crowdedconditions. Soon scientists began suggestingthe nontherapeutic use of antibiotics at levelsjust high enough to control a host animal’sbacterial population, but too low to wipe themout, thus encouraging resistant bacteria.

An excellent discussion by Gary Stixpublished in the April 2006 issue of ScientificAmerican explains genetic mutation as it relatesto antibiotics. The heavy use of antibiotics inboth human medicine and animal agriculturehas been allowing various bacteria to developresistances. The excessive use of antibiotics inhuman medicine is well known and understood,but not so well known is that many of theantibiotics used by animals are also used inhuman medicine, and the volume used onanimals is massive. Some USDA members say70 percent of all US antibiotics are used non

therapeutically on animals.An Environmental Defense study claims

26.5 million pounds of antibiotics are used inthe United States each year as animal feedadditives, but that 13.5 million pounds of thoseantibiotics are excreted. The USDA’sAgricultural Research Service (ARS) in theFebruary 13, 2006, issue of Feedstuffs said,“The trouble is that when animals excreteunmetabolized antibiotics and otherpharmaceuticals in their waste, the compoundsmay linger in the environment. This so-called‘pharmaceutical pollution’ can encouragebacteria to mutate and form strains that areresistant to current antibiotics,” and bacteria,once inside the human body, can easily transfertheir antibiotic resistance to other bacteria.

Dr. Henry I. Miller, M.D, in the May 15,2006 issue of Genetic Engineering News,commented on the serious nature of the ARBproblem, “As many as two million patientsnationwide contract infections in hospitals eachyear, and 90,000 die. The death rate in suchcases is alarmingly high, not because thepatients initially are gravely ill, but becausehospital germs increasingly are resistant tomultiple antibiotics. About 70% of infectionsare resistant to at least one drug, hence, we mustresort to drugs that are inconvenient to

administer or are toxic.“And, many of today’s routine medical

procedures, from surgical operations tochemotherapy, will be far more dangerous if wepermit the bacteria to outwit us. Antibiotic-resistant pathogens also lead to higher health-care costs because they often require moreexpensive drugs and extended hospital stays.

“An example supporting this pessimisticview is our waning ability to treat the commonpathogen Staphylococcus aureus, or S. aureus,which causes pustules and abscesses on the skinand can spread to the bloodstream, lungs, brain,bones, or heart, causing severe organ damageand death. Nearly all S. aureus strains havenow become resistant to penicillin, and manyhave become resistant to methicillin and othersimilar drugs comprising the second line oftreatment for S. aureus infections.

“The CDC is saying, ‘If we are unable tolimit the emergence and spread of resistance,and replace drugs like vancomycin as they losetheir effectiveness, S. aureus and other similarcommon bacterial infections may beuntreatable, as they were 60 years ago...

“Federal officials, however, have paid littleattention to the flip side of the problem: theshortage of new antibiotics. Most antibiotics in




By Jennie Henry

Israel Cromartie, of Clarkton in NorthCarolina’s southeastern coastal plain,decided to start out trying the Growers

philosophy by buying a 1,000 gallons. “Iwanted a thousand!”, he said in hischaracteristic rapid fire dialogue. “If I’m going,no use in messing around!...If I get a thousandgallons, I’m going to use it, and I’ll watch it!I’m going to go do it. I think Bill (his Growerssales rep) was shocked when I said that!” Thatwas in 2003.

In the summer of 2006, planning ahead forthe spring of 2007, Israel ordered attachmentsfor his six row planter. When asked how theGrowers planter attachments had worked forhim, Israel replied, “Where we had them on thefour row planter, I had to go through a whole lotof problems to get to them, moving a lot ofstuff. So I had to do a little readjusting. Notmuch. I just kept monitoring them. I can dothis, I can do that. And it worked. It workedperfect this year!

When asked what was on his corn, Mr.Cromartie said he only used 3 gallons ofGrowers on the seed and no dry fertilizer. “Iabout quit that dry fertilizer! It doesn’t reallymake sense, not to me, it doesn’t. It mightmake sense to somebody else. Number onenitrogen, number two phosphorus, three potash.So why would I want to go spread potash?Why would I want to come back and putnitrogen and phosphorus in the planter when Ican do all three in one shot and I can save atrip? That’s saving time and money.”

And Israel knows the value of time, raisingcorn, cotton and peanuts on over 1,000 acres.As we drove through his neighborhood, I couldtell his fields by the perfect health of the cropsand the weed free fields. He smiled, “Yeah, I’mpleased with the crops. I don’t know if Growersand Bill did it, the nitrogen, or what did it, butthey look good.”

While we drove, stopped to look at crops andtake pictures, I mentioned I was impressed withhis desire to do the best he could. Mr.Cromartie replied, “That’s my goal ineverything. That was our motto when wefinished high school, ‘a job worth doing isworth doing right.’ And I’ve never forgot that.I try to do the best that I can. Whatever it is. ...Itell them, if you do that, it will become aeveryday thing. ...If I see a weed, I have to pullit up. I can’t leave it. I just can’t stand it!

“I’ve got a lot of ‘children’ out here. I’ve gotto look out for my ‘children’. I’ve got to stayon it until I get them in. When I get them in,then I can rest better. I’m out there watching

them. You have to be alert. Catching thingsquick. Catch em quick. And you are muchahead of the game. If you watch everything fallapart, you are in trouble. It takes so long to geteverybody going, get all of the parts, andreorder, by the time you get everything right,the summer will be over!” He bent over an

imaginary weed, “‘Slow down a little bit, mytractor’s in the shop!’ You can’t say that!”

Israel concluded, “You’ve got to cultivateyour mind in the right time, and the right timeis the main thing in everything.” It appears thatMr. Cromartie has cultivated the GrowersProgram to be an asset to his farm.

Committed To Growers

Israel Cromartie of Clarkton, North Carolina.



Who Is Guarding The Chicken House?By Jim Johns

Interesting information has been coming ourway recently. It seems the fertilizerindustry via its lobbying organization, The

Fertilizer Institute (TFI), and the various stateand Canadian regulatory people via theirnational organization, the AmericanAssociation of Plant Food Control Officials(AAPFCO), are together looking at heavymetals in fertilizers.

On an ag. co-op site, www.csfco-op.com,Jim Halbeisen found an article stating theNational Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST) has developed new reference materialsdesigned to help the agricultural industry andstate regulators monitor the concentrations ofpotentially hazardous heavy metalcontaminants in fertilizers.

Jim checked the NIST web site and foundthey had issued a “Certificate of Analysis”titled “Standard Reference Material (SRM) #695 in June, 2006.

State regulators tell us the impetus for thisconcern comes from the 1996 investigativework Duff Wilson, then of the Seattle Times,had done in connection with toxic wastematerials being incorporated into farmfertilizers, rather than being taken to expensive

toxic dump sites. Hereported these toxicfertilizers were responsiblefor serious animal andhuman health problemsand sterilized land. (Seeour Growers Web site,www. GrowersNutritional.com, underpress releases forinformation on Duff

Wilson’s book on the subject, Fateful Harvest.)The NIST information comes on the heels of

the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI)earlier this year, asking us, Growers, tocomment on the heavy metal content in organicfertilizing materials. We replied to OMRIvoicing our concerns. See The GrowersSolution, Early Fall 2006.

As readers of The Growers Solution are wellaware, for several years we have been veryconcerned about increasing amounts of heavymetals, particularly cadmium, being found inthe systems of farm animals and in humans.But why are those supposedly responsible forpreventing and correcting these toxicityproblems just now making noises about doingsomething?

On the surface, the awareness on the part ofthe industry and the regulators that there may

P.O. BOX 1750MILAN, OHIO 44846(419) 499-2508

October 19, 2006XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, XX XXXXXRe: Heavy Metal Testing in FertilizersDear XXXX:

Enclosed are copies of the articles I talked to you about Tuesday.The DTN article of October 13, 2006 was on a co-op web site wecheck; www.csfco-op.com, under Ag News. We used Google to findthe NIST article.We like to think we follow industry happenings pretty closely, but thiswas our first clue TFI and AAPFCO had an interest in heavy metals.

For several years our particular interest has been, and still is,various heavy metals, especially cadmium, appearing increasingly infertilizers and feed. Now, after looking over the NIST SRM 695, weare concerned their testing methods are not sophisticated enough andthe limits being set are not strict enough to prevent or correctproblems.

In our experience we have found Neutron Activation Analysis needsto be used to detect cadmium. NAA is expensive and not readilyavailable at most laboratories, but it finds minute amounts of Cd. Thelimits being set by NIST are too high (we suspect the TFI may havehad some influence there) which is unfortunate, because even verysmall amounts of Cd can have very profound effects on animals in thefood chain and ultimately people.For some time the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has been onrecord blaming cigarette smoking as the cause of Cd being found inpeople. However, not long ago they put out a conflicting report statingthat while the rate of smoking is declining, higher Cd levels are beingfound in people. Could it be in the food chain, and TFI and others,don’t want to face facts?We are concerned for our customers, the rest of the farmingcommunity and, of course, the people consuming the food produced.Thanks for your information.

Growers Nutritional SolutionsJames H. JohnsAssistant to the President




“Most guys use commercial fertilizers ontheir crops and have a tie stall setup. They can give each cow exactlywhat they think she needs. Ourscompete with 132 other cows at thesame bunk. It’s a total mixed ration.Mike Grube (from the Growersoffice) makes the ration, maybe twotimes a year. Then we just kind ofeye ball it.

“Our top cow was 7 years oldand the third cow was 6, and bothare pregnant! The average age ofcows in Minnesota is maybe 3years, and we won’t even mentionconception rates with cows on BST! We’re notkilling our cows with BST. Basically, we havemilk fever under control, but we do have a littleketosis. We’ve been feeding corn with the BTgene, but we’re thinking of going back to aconventional hybrid corn this year to address

the ketosis. If the worms can’t eat it, I don’tthink cows can digest it either. We are looking

at planting a lower lignin corn this year. “I enjoy talking to young area farmers, and

letting them know I just love not beingbeholden to a feed company. In the past, wealways had a $10,000 to $20,000 feed bill. NowI feel I shouldn’t be feeding a cow something

you can’t pronounce. I’m more comfortablewith words like ‘alfalfa’ and ‘corn silage’, with

things like ‘NPK’ put on them.“This winter we had some

problems with the dry cows. Wewere feeding them 3 ounces ofGrowers (GMS) per day, butwhen we kicked it up to 5ounces that straightened themout. When we have a problem,leaving everything else thesame, we’ve found increasingthe Growers usually takes careof it. Some people are opting toIV calcium gluconate to everycow that calves. I’d rather just

feed a little bit more Growers.” When asked about his Italian ryegrass

experiment in 2005, Dennis responded, “It keptthe energy up there. I think the cows liked it.With the ryegrass, it didn’t seem to affect forage

Jerger FarmContinued From Page 1

Who Is Guarding The Chicken House?

be heavy metals in fertilizers seemsencouraging. But looking at both OMRI’s andNIST’s proposed testing and limits, we areafraid it will continue to be “business as usual.”

The testing procedures or methods proposedwill not be sophisticated enough to find theminute amounts of heavy metals, especiallycadmium, that can cause great amounts ofdamage or harm to crops, animals and people.In addition, the limits or levels of heavy metalsto be tolerated in fertilizers are being set far too

high.In an effort to satisfy our curiosity about

why we were seeing this new (to us) heavymetal news, we phoned regulators from threedifferent states. They said it was the result ofDuff Wilson’s “contaminated fertilizerexpose,” the concern has been there for sometime, etc., and probably the NIST regulationswould affect only west coast states.

In a letter confirming our telephoneconversation with one of the state regulators,we are on record stating the NIST’s proposed

testing is not sophisticated enough and theirheavy metal limits are not strict enough. (Seethe letter on page 5.)

In our view, the TFI with one of its obviousagenda, defending fertilizer industry practices,should not be in a position to influenceAAPFCO. This is especially true whileAAPFCO is supposed to be regulating thefertilizer industry, that is, protecting farmersand the public from their abuses.

use today are chemically related to earlier onesdiscovered between 1941 and 1968. During thelast 37 years, only two antibiotics with trulynovel modes of action have been introduced....”

Two recent events illustrate the problem. InSeptember, 2006, USDA documented over 200cases of E.coli infections in humans, whichcaused almost a third to be hospitalized andabout 15% to suffer a rare form of lifethreatening kidney failure. Although it wastraced back to spinach grown in three Californiacounties, the actual source of the harmful E.colibacteria strain will probably never be known.The usual causes of E.coli are animal manure,polluted water supplies, flooding orcontamination from farm workers. The manurefrom ruminant animals is suspect here. Theintestines of ruminants are excellent breeding

grounds, usually being highly acidic, especiallywhen fed high grain diets which is common.Large operation facilities also tend to stressanimals, creating a need for antibiotics. Theseconditions set the stage for the promotion ofantibiotic resistance and the development ofvery strong bacteria strains.

A DTN release of October 11, 2006, stated,“Antibiotic use as a livestock growth promoterincreases the risk of human antibioticresistance. The investigation team of theMarshfield Clinic Research Foundation,Marshfield, WI, focused on the use of a growth-promoting antibiotic, called virginiamycin, inpoultry. According to Edward Belongia, MD,team head, ‘There is a relative lack of data onthe impact of antibiotic use in livestock and itsrelationship to antibiotic resistance in humans,but there is a fair amount of indirect evidencesuggesting that antibiotic use could pose a risk

to human health. Our study is one of the first toshow an association between human carriage ofantibiotic resistance genes and eating poultry orhandling raw poultry.

‘These results indicate that virginiamycinuse in poultry leads to transfer of antibioticresistance genes to human gut bacteria throughthe food supply and they provide additionalevidence that the use of growth promoters inanimals may have long-term consequences forhuman health. We need to have drugs to treatsick animals, but we should not be usingantibiotics to promote growth.’”

The serious nature of this problem can not beoverstated, and although most conscientiousscientists suggest the true causes of ARB areunknown, we say, for the sake of precaution,and the experts agree, antibiotic use should bevery significantly restricted.

Antibiotic ResistanceContinued From Page 3

Continued From Page 5

“We’re not killing our cows with BST. We’ve beenfeeding corn with the BT gene, but if the wormscan’t eat it, I don’t think cows can digest it either.Now I feel I shouldn’t be feeding a cow somethingyou can’t pronounce. I’m more comfortable withwords like ‘alfalfa’ and ‘corn silage’, with things like‘NPK’ put on them.”


and grade-out at a profit, I became acquaintedwith a Mr. Roy Thomas of Houlton, Maine. Hehad been an agronomist for nearly sixty yearsand had tested soils in Maine long enough tonotice a decreasing level of calcium, especiallyafter World War II. That is when the boys camehome and started dumping on the dry fertilizerin an attempt to increase yields — which theydid for a few years.

Mr. Thomas had a book entitled More FoodFrom Soil Science written by Dr. VictorTiedjens, Vice President and Director ofResearch of Growers Chemical Corp. of Milan,Ohio. I read and reread the book until I had itfirmly imprinted in my mind. The measuresthis man advocated were by far the most radicalI had ever heard. From all I had learned untilthat time, lime would cause potatoes to scaband must not be used except on rotation cropsand then only minimally, perhaps 500 poundsper acre every third year. Tiedjens talked ofcuring scab and most other soil problems withlimestone. Something had to give! Theestablishment and Dr. Tiedjens could not bothbe right!

The book was now 14 years old, and Ilearned Dr. Tiedjens had died in 1975 at the ageof 80, but his company was alive and well,dealing with farmers in 23 states. Icorresponded with Mr. Wilbur Franklin,Growers Chemical’s current Director ofResearch and Tiedjens’ associate for 24 years.Wilbur told me he and Dr. Tiedjens had run andrerun tests originated by English, Dutch,German and Russian soil chemists, and whatthey saw, in “on the farm” situations, was thatcalcium literally controlled the fortunes of thefarmer they had delt with. Nothing else had somuch effect, so often, as did the calcium levelof the soil. They found that when the soilcolloid is saturated to 85% with calcium, thestructure of the soil is changed. The soilbecomes mealy rather than hard when dry, orjelly-like when wet, it plows easier, it soaks upexcess water faster, it is softer allowing rootpenetration, it allows all important air topermeate, promoting the oxidation of soilminerals thus reducing fertilizer needs. It alsocleanses the soil.

In fact, it is the closest thing to a panacea afarmer could ask for. The only hitch is thatlittle response is likely until the 85% basesaturation of the soil colloid is reached.Calcium flocculates soil particles or drawsthem together into a crumb structure, whereas,sodium, potassium, magnesium, ammonia are

dispersing agents. They and other alkalineminerals cause colloids to swell and prevent airand water penetration, thus creating interferinginfluences that inhibit crop growth.

WOW! Now what? I had some decisions tomake. But what about scab in potatoes? Andwhat about lime? What kind and how much?The scab question was answered first. Wilburtold me that 90% of the scab problem waspotassium “burn” caused by over fertilizingespecially in dry years when rains can not flushthe salts out of the root zone fast enough toprevent lesions from developing on the newlyformed tubers. These lesions grow as thepotatoes grow and show up as scab. How aboutthat?

How much limestone would I need and whatkind? Wilbur said I should use a finely ground,high calcium limestone, not dolomitic which isa high magnesium limestone and adds to theproblems. OK! How much, Wibur, how much?Wibur said without soil samples, he could notanswer. I sent in the samples and waitedimpatiently until the results arrived. Howmuch, Wilbur, how much? “Twelve to sixteentons per acre.” Surely you speak in jest, Wilbur.That is a truck load per acre! “I know, I know.I have heard that song before,” he said, “butyou have extracted 80 to 90% of your availablecalcium and you must replace it plus the reservethat was once available and then use a ton every2 or 3 years to maintain it. Any farmer who has

used double strength fertilizer for 20 to 25 yearshas extracted much of his available calcium. Itis that simple. In addition, you must cut backon that fertilizer.” How much, Wilbur, howmuch?

“Oh, I would say 700 pounds of 14-14-14would be enough to grow a crop, in thepresence of adequate calcium.” What? That isless than a third of what I had used last year. “Iknow, I know, but its availability will be muchhigher when suitable quantities of calcium arepresent.”

Indeed, I had some thinking to do.Everything the establishment told me said,“Don’t do it. You can’t afford the risk, and youwill ruin your farm. Who ever heard of putting15 to 16 tons of lime to the acre, especially onpotatoes? Don’t be crazy!”

I asked Wilbur again. Are you 90% sure thatthis is what the soil needs? “No, I am not. I’m100% sure.” he replied.

Well, I must decide by fall since it takes 6 to12 months for the soil to react with thelimestone and I’ll lose a year if I wait untilspring. So I decided to buy 100 tons of highcalcium limestone and experiment a bit. Iapplied 8 tons per acre on one field and doubledit on one section. Ouch! Sixteen tons per acreand on one of my best fields. Better write thatone off. I shuddered!!


Soils, Their Use, Abuseand RestorationContinued From Page 1

Sam Niblett, Easton, Maine


PRSRT. STD.U.S. POSTAGE PAID

MILAN, OHPERMIT NO. 9


The Growers SolutionEditor: Jennie Henry

Circulation, U.S.A. and Canada: 10,000The Growers Solution is published 4 to 6 times a year byGrowers Mineral Solutions, a division of GrowersChemical Corporation. All Rights Reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part without writtenpermission of the publisher is prohibited.

More About GrowersWe hope you will find this newsletter helpful andinteresting and we welcome your input. Please sendletters-to-the-editor, comments, suggestions, etc. to:Growers, P.O. Box 1750, Milan, OH 44846, call 1-800-437-4769, fax 419-499-2178,email to: [email protected] or see ourwebsite: www.growersnutritional.com

1-800-437-4769 • fax 419-499-2178 • [email protected] • www.growersnutritional.com

WINTER2007

Early Order Discount

It is not too late to take advantage of theGrowers seasonal Cash In Advance of Delivery(CIAD) discounts which are 6% for January,4% for February and 2% for March. Call yourGrowers representative for an explanation ofthe early order discounts, quantity pricing anddelivery of Growers Mineral Solutions.

There are three ways the GMS CIADdiscount can pay customers:

1. The GMS CIAD discount pays more thanmost savings institutions’ interest, so it pays tobuy early if the cash is available.

2. The GMS CIAD discount pays more thanmost lending institutions’ interest costs, so itpays to borrow and buy early.

3. The GMS CIAD discount results in ordersbeing placed earlier. This allows deliveries tobe more evenly spaced out, which requires lessdelivery equipment and helps keeps GMSprices down.

There Is Still Time!

Inside:• Jerger Farm Has High DHIA Cows

• Soils, Their Use, Abuse and Restoration

• Elemental Balance Is Necessary

• Antibiotic Resistance: Agriculture

and Human Medicine

• Committed To Growers

Milan, OH 44846 • (419) 499-2508Our Research is Your Profit

even when it set seed. We got four cuttings,even with all of the rain. Of course we werechopping in November. We stopped when itstarted snowing! Italian rye is an annual, butabout half of it came back this spring. We areplanning to take the first cutting off, then workit under and plant soybeans, the Good Lordwilling and the weather permitting.

“Because of the success with the ryegrass,this year, we are going to plant alfalfa withmeadow fescue and use the Italian ryegrass asthe first year nurse crop. Meadow fescue is

higher in energy. If cut right, it will yieldoutstanding production. In Europe, they plantall kinds of mixtures. They use alfalfa withdifferent grasses and clovers. Just like people,cows like a mix of things. And, the cropscomplement each other. For example, thegrasses benefit from the nitrogen the alfalfaproduces.

“I think we have an integrated approach tofarming. It borders on organic. I can’t go theorganic way, I like Growers too much! I can’tsee where it has hurt this farm. If I was anorganic field inspector, I would let farmers useGrowers. That little bit of urea is nothing. Our

farm kind of slips in between the organic andconventional people.

“We take time when we farm. Everyone elserushes around. We are making a living on 600acres while most are farming many more acres,and having higher expenses with some of thesechemicals. The universities are working to sellchemicals and fertilizers; companies are givingthem grants. I can’t trust them anymore. Howdo you pay for all of that stuff? We start twoweeks after everybody and harvest at the sametime. Our neighbor told me, ‘Your ground hassuch hellish push.’ I think maybe that’s becauseit is not poisoned.”

Jerger FarmContinued From Page 6

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The Growers Solutionstrawberry operation clearly shows that GMS can successfully supply the elements necessary for profitable plant production. Florida Hydroponic Strawberry operation