CARSELAND, Alta. – A $52 million expansion to manufacture a polymer coated nitrogen at Agrium’s Carseland fertilizer plant is set to produce 150,000 tonnes per year, making it the largest facility of its kind in the world.
In development for 20 years, the ESN smart nitrogen is a slow release fertilizer for broad acre applications, said Tim Diment, Carseland operations manager, at the plant opening July 12.
Company chief executive officer Mike Wilson said research is ongoing to coat other products, including some pesticides.
The nitrogen has a semi-permeable polymer coating that allows water to enter the urea granule and dissolve the nitrogen. It was already used on specialty applications and turf grass, but until recently was not economical for cereal and oilseed crops.
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By working with researchers in Canada and the United States, the company found that the product can be more economical to use than some traditional nutrients.
Ross McKenzie, agronomist with Alberta Agriculture at Lethbridge, worked with the fertilizer for three years starting in 2003. He said aspects of the fertilizer worked fairly well.
“One of the unexpected things was we could actually seed place relatively high amounts of the coated urea with the seed in the fall when we seeded winter wheat, with no injury at all,” he said.
McKenzie’s work involved direct seeding plots into stubble. With straight urea, only about 30 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre could be placed with the seed before there was damage to germination. With the slow release product, the toxic effect is reduced.
“If you were to just band the fertilizer, whether it is urea or coated urea, the coated urea will work a little better, but not always. The yield difference might be anywhere from two to six bushels,” he said.
Over the three year trial, results showed no production difference in one year, another year saw a slight advantage and one year there was an extra six bu. to the acre. Results depend on environmental conditions and time of application.
“When you put it on in the fall it does work quite effectively, especially when it gives you that safety option in terms of germination emergence in the fall,” McKenzie said.
Researchers in the United States tried an early spring broadcast on winter wheat. Conditions are different because the springs are warmer and there appeared to be less loss of nitrous oxide.
“In a broadcast application in the early spring it is less effective (in southern Alberta) than just using straight urea because it releases too slowly to meet the needs of the winter wheat,” McKenzie said.
There are also some new trials with early spring broadcasts on timothy, but to date his research found the coated product released too slowly to be effective.
Further trials on other crops and a broader range of different nitrogen fertilizers with different application timing started this year, but no results are available yet.
It is difficult to assess the economic benefits of better crop growth or no damage to seeds.
“In terms of economics it would really be up to the farmer to sort that out because every year is different with fertilizer costs and yield advantage,” McKenzie said.
