Milwaukee, Wisc.-Milorganite, the popular biosolids fertilizer produced by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, won’t be marketed as a deer repellent anytime soon, according to MMSD officials. Milorganite in its present form has been shown to be a natural means of keeping those pesky animals from dining on flowers and shrubs, but before EPA grants approval it is requiring a series of expensive tests that cost between $1 million and $2 million and would take two years or longer to complete. “We didn’t feel that as a public-funded organization that we could ask taxpayers to pay this large sum for testing for chronic and acute toxicity for everything from humans to aquatic species,” Milorganite spokesman Jeff Spence told Green Markets. “Our total annual operating budget is about $3 million for all marketing, packaging and distribution costs. I will not ask to spend a lot more without a guaranteed return on that investment in a short period of time.” He said the idea is to put it on the back burner for now because it would be irresponsible as a government entity to push that through when there are so many other needs. “Right now it would appear somewhat extravagant, but there’s a possibility that we would pick this up at some later date,” he added. In the meantime, it’s okay with him if those who have been using Milorganite as a deer deterrent for years continue to do so. Magazine and Internet gardening columnists have recommended the sewage sludge fertilizer for deer control for more than a decade, and Spence believes people are going to make their own decisions “but we can’t advertise it, or would we, without the approval of the office of pesticides.”
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