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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • APRIL 2019


Field trial hopes to reduce phosphorus levels Collaborative research seeks environmentally friendly solutions to fertilizer runoff


by GRANT WARKENTIN CHILLIWACK – Some of the most


productive farmland in Canada has a phosphorus problem. Phosphorus and nitrogen are


crucial fertilizers for agriculture, but there’s too much phosphorus in Fraser Valley soil after decades of intensive manure and fertilizer applications. Farmers across Canada must keep adding phosphorus and other fertilizers if they want abundant crops year after year. But the cumulative effects of those nutrients could eventually lead to bigger problems such as runoff that harms amphibians, leaching that contaminates groundwater, and even algae blooms in coastal waters. “Of utmost importance is to protect the wild salmon fishery that Indigenous North Americans rely on, which is threatened by eutrophication,” reads a scientific proposal for an upcoming collaborative research project. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada will lead the research. Field trials are planned for several


dairy farms in the eastern Fraser Valley that will be getting underway in May. Rather than add more phosphorus to farmland that’s already saturated, the trials will look at the possibility of using new soil additives to draw existing phosphorus out of the soil to nourish crops, and hopefully allow


(Fraser Valley). These one-year experiments will be used to assess the effects of biostimulants,” says the research proposal. “One biostimulant, Penergetic k, will be tested along with low [phosphorus] fertilizer blends. Four fertilizer blend treatments will be tested in this study.”


This will be the first time Penergetic k has been tested in BC. The biostimulant has proven useful in other regions with cool, damp climates and similar farming conditions. Success in the Fraser Valley could benefit farmers across Canada. “The results will have a significant,


positive impact for Canada at local, regional and national levels,” says the proposal.


Scientists and farmers in BC have


Duncan Reid from Terralink Horticulture is optimistic that a biostimulant will provide an effective solution to phosphorus overload in cornfields. SUBMITTED PHOTO


farmers to apply significantly less. “Terralink is concerned and will be


involved in this research long-term,” said Duncan Reid, dairy sales manager with Terralink Horticulture Inc., a major Western Canadian supplier of fertilizer and seeds. Terralink and Penergetic Canada will be working with Agriculture


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Canada on the field trials. The research will study the effects of “biostimulants” (provided by Penergetic) and different blends of fertilizer on controlled farm field environments. “Ten one-year experiments using silage corn will be conducted through 2019 and 2020 on selected dairy farms at Agassiz, Rosedale and Chilliwack


been aware of the phosphorus problem from agricultural runoff for decades, but so far have not managed to find any effective solutions. Orlando Schmidt, a former regional manager with BC Ministry of Agriculture, pointed out in a presentation several years ago that farms add an average of 50 kg per hectare of phosphorous per year to the environment, which he called “a pretty substantial amount.” According to his presentation, BC


dairy and poultry farms add more than 4,400 tonnes of unneeded phosphorus to the soil each year which may be causing long-term harm to the environment.


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