Are Organic Acids Useful In Agriculture?
Over time, a substantial amount of curiosity has been triggered in organic acids and their use in agriculture. Organic acids are produced from ancient deposits of organic substance that have decomposed for many generations. This material is decomposed a good deal more than the humus that is so preferred in the soil.
This dark brown to black product is often found near coal deposits in the earth’s crust and originated as peat, brown coal, soil, or leonardite. At the molecular level it is an extremely large and complex molecule with no specifically identifiable structure. Organic acids can be broken down into three different parts: humic, fulvic, and humin.
Humic acid is the most commonly available form of organic acid and contains humic, fulvic and humin fractions. This is usually the raw product that has been mined, crushed and screened for proper size. The name humic “acid” is actually a misnomer because it has pH of 11 or higher. Most lawn and garden professionals will refer to humic acid as “humate”. It comes in a dry granular form as well as liquid. Dry humic can be added to most dry fertilizer blends at a rate of 20 – 40 pounds per acre.
While combining with dry phosphate fertilizer, humic draws microbes to the prills and increases degradation of the waxy protective outer shell. This boosts the rate at which nutrients become accessible for plant use. Humic also works as a chelating agent to guard the phosphate from being unavailable in the soil. This occurs since humic has a huge quantity of binding sites where nutrients can attach to and stay protected until they are used by a plant.
Liquid humic is commonly added to liquid nitrogen (UAN 32) or to liquid phosphate (10-34-0). UAN 32 is a very popular fertilizer used to top-dress winter wheat in northern Utah and Southern Idaho. The addition of humic to the fertilizer will minimize burning of the leaves and reduce the amount of nitrogen that can volatilize. It is not uncommon to use over 80 available units of nitrogen with the addition of humic on irrigated winter wheat. This is normally done as early as possible in the spring and usually in conjunction with an herbicide application using a ground rig.
Fulvic acid is most certainly acidic, containing a pH under 7 and is quite simple to extract the raw humic. It is rarely anything other than a translucent to amber colored liquid and the fulvic ratio can vary between brands. A number of herbicides and foliar nutrients work in response to the addition of fulvic to the spray tank. Fulvic, generally, is tremendously active in the plant and the soil but is only a minute proportion of the general humic.
Even though they are the most difficult to extract, Humins are also the most stable in the soil and offer more direct plant activity when compared with fulvic. Given that they are so hard to extract, the best method to apply humin to the soil is via the full humic acid in its raw form.
Organic acids benefit the soil by increasing the water holding capacity, adding stable organic matter to the soil, and increasing the nutrient holding capacity. When added directly to the nutrients being applied, organic acids increase efficiency and protect the environment. In extensive research done by the University of Idaho, organic acids were shown to provide an economic return to growers in almost every trial.
Tom Sharp is a Qualified Crop Consultant that is an authority in helping growers produce efficient and environmentally sound crops. Tom recommends browsin to Intermountain Farmers Association for a wide selection of effective agricultural supplies.
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