Minnesota turkey litter fertilizer ready for market

Benson, Minn.-Cargill Ag Horizons is making a re-entry into the fertilizer business marketing a new product made from the leftovers of thousands of tons of turkey litter used to operate a 55-megawatt power plant near here. Under the brand name Nafgrow, the turkey litter fertilizer is expected to provide a lower-cost alternative for a variety of crops in a 30 to 45-mile area surrounding the Fibrominn plant where the litter is used as fuel. Cargill officials say the marketing deal was in place before the company spun off its fertilizer business with IMC Global to form The Mosaic Co. Cargill retained the rights under a third-party agreement after Mosaic decided turkey litter didn’t fit into its core business. Cargill Marketing Manager Jim Krebsbach, who debuted the product at a recent field day for farm input dealers, told Green Markets that Nafgrow will be available this fall for the next growing season. He said it will be sold from two warehouses ?Çô one at the plant of the processor North American Fertilizer, and the other in Olivia, about 60 miles away. And it’s not like your usual commercial fertilizer, he reported, having an NPK of 0-10-8 plus zinc and sulfur and containing 11 to 13 percent moisture. The lack of nitrogen won’t bother users, he added, because a lot of crops don’t need a lot of N, and Nafgrow will provide an opportunity to fine-tune applications. The fertilizer won’t work with traditional air flow application technology, however, and will require the spinner type multi-purpose spreader used with ash, manure, and litter. “The texture is a lot like coarse sand; somewhat corrosive but with a nice consistency,” Krebsbach explained. “It’s a lot like ag lime, and anyone who has handled lime won’t have any problem.” He calculated the cost difference, even with the extra handling figured in, is $4 to $7 less per acre than conventional fertilizer. “Nafgrow will be very competitive with conventional fertilizers,” he predicted. “We are hoping to see a lot of product hit the ground this fall.” Krebsbach noted that University of Minnesota research at sites in Morris, Appleton, and Lamberton showed that crops fertilized with Nafgrow produced the same yield as conventional fertilizer.