Phosphorus is an essential element in a plant's energy cycle. Plants require phosphorus to capture energy from the sun and convert that captured energy into carbohydrates and starches, which are eventually transformed into thousands of organic compounds found within the plant. Without phosphorus, none of this can happen.
Most farmers routinely apply phosphorus to their soils with the intent of providing a continuing supply to their crops as they grow. However, phosphorus is also highly charged (---), so it is quickly captured and tied up in the soil. Once it is bonded to the soil, it is very difficult to dislodge it, so the plants receive very little of it. There are microbes in the soil, and in the root zone of the plants that are charged with retrieving phosphorus from the soil, but they take time, and in today's high-yield agriculture, they are unable to provide sufficient phosphorus to adequately support the plant.
So how do we solve this problem and provide the phosphorus support needed for our high-yield crop varieties? The answer is remarkably simple; we neutralize it before it is applied to the soil (stabilized). Stabilized phosphate (zero charge) does not bind with the other soil elements but remains free and available for the plants to take up and use throughout the growing season.
At Bio Minerals Technologies, our Bio Release is extremely efficient at stabilizing phosphate molecules. Bio Release is composed of very small molecules, so even when they combine with phosphate, they are still small enough to be absorbed through the root tissues of the plants. Other stabilizing agents may be good at capturing phosphate, but their molecular size is much larger and incapable of passing through the root tissues. Only Bio Release is small enough to pass through unhindered.
The immediate and constant availability of ready phosphate makes a significant difference in the growth and production of the plants. With abundant phosphate supplies, you get early energy that translates into larger root systems, which are then able to harvest more nutrients and support larger plant growth. Ready phosphate increases the leaf surface, and boosts the photosynthetic energy cycle and subsequent compound conversions. The improved energy absorption and utilization results in larger plants and greater yields. We have seen this in numerous examples through the years and stabilized phosphate is a critical element of our high-yield crop programs.
The two fields of sunflowers shown below illustrate the difference stabilized phosphate can make. These are dryland fields in Montana. In the picture on the left, the farmer treated the seed with Bio Minerals Technologies Seed Treatment and then applied 10-34 with Bio Release in-furrow at planting. At harvest, the treated field had a 400% increase in yield over untreated fields. People were coming from up to 50 miles away just to take pictures of his sunflowers.
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The picture on the left is the treated field. The picture on the right shows a standard, untreated field from the same area.
Another very visible example is with some silage corn grown in Cache Valley, Utah. This corn was treated with stabilized phosphate in-furrow at planting. The corn grew 12-15 ft tall and when it was time to cut it, the corn was taller than the harvester.
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Our third example is from one of our farms near Billings, MT in 2017. They treated their corn seed with the Bio Minerals Technologies Seed Treatment and then applied 10-34 and Bio Release in-furrow. At the time this picture was taken, they had not seen any rain in several months. During the co-op field days, the co-op spokesman referred to the field as "the finest corn he has seen grown in the area for many, many years." When they harvested the silage, they doubled their yield from the previous year.
Another example can be seen in some fields of peas and beans in the South. You can read about their experience here. They tripled their yield on the peas just by treating the seed and applying stabilized phosphate!