I was contacted by Jonah Johnson, an agronomist with a retail coop. This past late summer, he was contemplating the cost/value of TSP (triple super phosphate, mono-calcium phosphate, 0-46-0), relative to the ammonium phosphates (12-52-0, 18-46-0) currently on the market. The TSP is an older fertilizer that had fallen out of favor, but was now coming into the market from a newly aggressive Moroccan company. The economics to his coop and coop customers looked very good, but there was unfavorable misinformation on TSP-soil chemical interactions being pushed by opposing manufacturers/retailers.

I answered his fertilizer/soil chemistry questions and helped him design an education program, including talking points and suggested PowerPoint slides, that would inform his superiors and his grower clientele. The misinformation was dealt with clearly, without hyperbole.

I estimate that he first presented the information to about 5 people in the co-op. The co-op agreed with Jonah's plan to educate client farmers about TSP and determine interest prior to their bulk purchase. The TSP education program involved about 50 growers.

I don't know the tonnage of TSP that was purchased by the coop, but do know that around 75% of their client growers switched from the more expensive ammonium phosphates to TSP for their fall phosphate fertilize needs. They saved money, wasted less nitrogen (the ammonium-N in the ammonium phosphates is often lost with fall fertilization), and were assured that TSP would give them equivalent phosphorus nutrition. I think this is a good example of collaboration with an industry colleague so as to achieve beneficial outcomes.