Glacier FarmMedia – Humalite, a naturally occurring soil booster, is mined in Alberta, but a Prairie-wide distributor of the product says most recent interest has come from Manitoba.
“A lot of our inquiries are in Alberta, but the majority right now are actually coming from Manitoba through one of our dealers who’s kind of spreading the word out there,” said Michael Hendrickson, procurement logistics administer with TopKrop.
The dealer in question is Avonlea Farm Sales, which has locations in Domain, south of Winnipeg, and Deloraine in the province’s southwest corner.
Humalite, mined in east-central Alberta by mining firm WestMET Ag and then sourced to TopKrop, makes some big agronomic promises. The marketing pitch for the soil amendment includes yield jumps up to 19 per cent, seed protein content increases up to 30 per cent and up to 60 per cent better nitrogen use efficiency.
On top of that, WestMET Ag claims the product can add carbon to soil, enhance microbial activity, improve water retention and accelerate crop residue breakdown.
“As growers receive pressure to implement environmental stewardship practices, we firmly believe that humalite can play a key role in allowing them to reduce fertilizer rates while maintaining quality and yield,” said Clayton Williams of WestMET Ag.
Recent research from the University of Alberta backs some of those claims.
The amendment has been combined with conventional fertilizer for years on some farms, where increased nutrient content was noted in soil tests.
“They were seeing some promising results, but they didn’t know how much to apply and why it was increasing their yield and plant growth,” said Malinda Thilakarathna, assistant professor with the University of Alberta’s agricultural, food and nutritional science department.
“We also wanted to understand the mechanisms behind humalite and why it’s improving plant growth.”
Researchers applied humalite to a variety of crops including wheat, canola and field peas under greenhouse conditions, and extended the project to small-plot research in the field.
Humalite is a humic substance produced from the decomposition and oxidation of plants and other vegetative tissues, said Thilakarathna. It is noted for its exceptional amount of humic acid (85 to 90 per cent), a noted plant biostimulant.
“I don’t think there are any other products you can get with that much humic acid concentration,” said Thilakarathna.
The high concentration can be explained by humalite’s formation in shallow freshwater environments, where it can easily oxidize, he said. This also deters concentration of heavy metals.
“Usually, saltwater-deposited compounds have high heavy metals,” Thilakarathn said.
“The shallow nature of humalite improved humification through oxidation, which gave it a high humic acid content compared to other humic products such as Leonardite.”
Alberta researchers found that by applying synthetic nitrogen fertilizer (urea) along with humalite, they could improve soil nitrogen availability for a longer period compared to fertilizer alone. Nitrogen wasn’t the only nutrient with extended availability.
“We found nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) staying for longer periods in the soil and available for plant uptake,” Thilakarathna said.
The study showed that humalite applications combined with urea resulted in 14-19 per cent higher grain yield, 23 to30 per cent higher seed protein content, and 14-60 per cent higher nitrogen use efficiency.
In laboratory experiments, researchers discovered that humic acid from humalite enhanced root and shoot growth of wheat, particularly due to stimulation of key plant hormones.
“In greenhouse studies, we found that humalite increases the yield and protein content of wheat by improving soil nitrogen availability for longer periods and increasing NPK uptake. Similar results were also found with canola and field pea,” said Thilakarathna.
Outside the greenhouse, cropping system specialist Linda Gorim is leading four small-plot trials in four Alberta communities, using crop rotations of wheat, canola and pea, said Thilakarathna.
“The results are promising. In fields, we observed higher yields in wheat and canola while reducing synthetic nitrogen (urea) inputs.”
The team is also studying whether humalite can increase biological nitrogen fixation in legumes and whether it might enhance drought tolerance in crops.
The impact of humalite on different soil types is unanswered, although WestMET Ag says it’s most effective on poorer soils.
“By using humalite, the humic and organic levels in the soils are increased, improving the overall performance of the soil. WestMet has vast research being conducted on different soil type and crop types,” Williams wrote in an email.
Price depends on whether it is purchased in bulk or totes, Hendrickson said. The company’s bulk price is estimated at about $385 a tonne. TopKrop recommends applying 200 pounds per acre.
“We’ve seen increased bushels after typically two to three years,” he said. “No results in the first year, but the granular humalite breaks down over time.”
That timeline may put dampen farmer enthusiasm, he admitted, but given the price of inputs, he figures it’s worth it.
“I believe the price of it, combined with the application, kind of makes it a cheaper soil amendment compared to other ones.”
The product fits on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s list of approved supplement materials as a raw humic product, Williams said. High fertilizer costs and drought have made humalite attractive, he added, and increased interest in regenerative agriculture fits nicely with humalite use.
Current greenhouse and laboratory experiments are supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Mitacs. Field trials are supported by Results Driven Agriculture Research.
— With files from Alexis Stockford
