Everyone in agriculture knows how important water and nutrients are to sustaining animal and plant life. Beneficial living organisms in the soil also thrive on the abundance of water and nutrients. Adding all-natural humates from Brookside Agra to soil can help boost beneficial microbial activity by increasing the permeability of plant cells to increase nutrient uptake by up to 40 percent.
Humates are now recognized as the single most productive input in sustainable agriculture. Brookside Agra is now offering high-quality dry and liquid humates that are safe for the environment and all living organisms. They have been proven highly effective for a wide range of applications in the agricultural, environmental and industrial sectors.
Humates are a naturally occurring material rich in amino acids, sugars, and humic and fulvic acids. Like tiny lockers in the ground, humates have the ability to store plant-available minerals and nutrients to:
- Increase microbial populations in the soil
- Reduce soil erosion and improve aeration
- Assist in pH balancing
- Increase water retention
- Increase germination and emergence
- Increase nutrient efficiency and availability
- Enhance and stabilize fertilizer inputs
- Increase crop resilience
Brookside Agra’s humates contain 12 percent concentration of beneficial humic and fulvic acids. Brookside Agra’s humates are also all-natural and OMRI-certified for organic use.
“Humates hold on to more nutrients in the soil where the soil cannot normally hold, and then allow for better nutrient uptake for the plants with its superior chelating, or bonding properties,” says Tony Arro, Brookside Agra’s director of sales for specialty products. “Our humates work to build cation exchange capacity, organic matter and water-soluble carbon quickly as a food source for the biology in the soil profile.”
Brookside Agra's humates also have superior water holding capacity—10 times its weight in water when mixed in the soil profile. As a result, crops require less irrigation—which lowers costs—and can better utilize natural moisture from rainfall.
“Plants grown in soils where our humates have been added experience less stress during drought conditions,” says Arro. “During wet conditions, the humates allow water to penetrate deeper in the soil profile, so there is less erosion and more absorption for greater water-holding capacity.”
A humates research study conducted on corn fields in Illinois during the 2012 drought revealed that the field treated with humates appeared healthy, green and lush, while the untreated field appeared brown and stressed. An infrared aerial view of the same study fields indicated that the field treated with humates was bright red, a strong indication of positive drought tolerance. The untreated field appeared green on the infrared image, which indicates poor drought tolerance. The field treated with humates produced 150 bushels per acre, while the untreated field produced just 50 to 75 bushels per acre.
For more information and research on humates, contact Tony Arro, Brookside Agra director of sales for specialty products, at (618) 628-8300, ext. 24 or tony.arro@brookside-agra.com.