A little-known company that for years has been providing soil-amendment products to help farmers increase their yield is touting one of its products as a low-cost solution to improve turf quality on golf courses with ailing soils.
Simple Soil Solution by Pure Ag Products of Salt Lake City is a combination of 21 beneficial bacteria, 19 mycorrhizal fungi, sugars, humic acid and other ingredients that when mixed with water can replenish soils at a cost of less than $12 per acre, the company says.The product comes pre-mixed as a freeze-dried powder to maintain its integrity and protect it from the elements. It is available in packs that can treat areas ranging in size from 1 acre to 800 acres, says Kasey Stratton of Pure Ag.
"It's cheap because it is stabilized until it gets wet," Stratton said. "Because it is freeze-dried, you can store it for a long time. As long as it does not get wet and is not exposed to extreme heat, it will be OK."
Naturally occurring microorganisms can break down for a variety of reasons, including heat, lack of moisture, compaction and contamination from chemicals and organic byproducts. When used correctly, the company says, Simple Soil Solution restores those beneficial microorganisms and can produce benefits that include improved nutrient retention, root formation, turf quality, cation-exchange capacity, water-holding ability, heat and disease resistance and more.
Once the mix is added to water (1 cup of mix per 10 gallons of water covers 10 acres of turf), the solution must be brewed for 24 hours. In that time, the mix continually multiplies as each bacterium swims around looking for food, eating, producing waste and multiplying over and over. That brewing and application process requires a few additional items, including a brew tank and pump (which Pure Ag does not sell, but they can connect you to do the company that does) to agitate the mix and keep the food source available to the bacteria. One pump by itself can churn up to 1,600 gallons of the mix.
The cost of the product is about $11.25 per acre. And even with the other equipment needed for brewing and application, the cost per acre remains lows, Stratton says.
"The pump is where the personal interaction takes place," Stratton said.
"You have to keep the food source available to the bacteria. They will swim looking for food, eat, poop and split in two, then swim to find more food. Just one of them will split to to become 256 in less than an hour if you add oxygen."
Simple Soil Solution can be used in heavy doses as part of a recovery plan or as part of a long-term maintenance option.