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To: WestTexasWend
but there's not much demand for manure as fertilizer in the US anymore. It brings in too many weed seeds, and chemical fertilizers are easier to put down and provide more uniform in coverage.

Okay, so what are these chemical fertilizers made of, and how much energy does it take to produce them? Are those energy costs factored into the cost-benefit analysis?

45 posted on 01/26/2007 8:34:12 AM PST by curiosity
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To: curiosity

Chemical (inorganic) fertilizers are made up of components you'd find in organic fertilizer, minus organic matter. (That's why they can burn plants if there's not enough organic matter in the soil.) It's sort of like the difference between vitamins in pill form as opposed to vitamins present in food. (Here's a decent overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer)

Whatever money and energy is spent producing chemical fertilizers is easily recouped by being easier to store, transport, and market. Chemicals also let you control and customize the NPK ratio (among other things) for your specific crop. You can't be certain of the chemical makeup of organics, even from one truckload to the next.

Organics have great benefits, certainly, but just aren't clean, convenient or consistent enough for most modern growers.


47 posted on 01/26/2007 9:09:53 AM PST by WestTexasWend (NO OIL FOR APPEASERS)
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