Richard

An all-natural, organic herbicide:

What is Crude Oil?

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momoese

Stirring the organic pot again eh?

Richard

Since the word "organic" alone has no legally binding meaning on products, it is used by manufacturers to target specific customer bases. Here is a product that is purposely not labeled organic, but see what you think:

Monterey All Natural Yard & Patio Insect Spray

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momoese

How do you figure, in CA it has a legal definition set forth by the powers that be. The issue I see is that it varies depending on location and what they deem organic or safe if you will. Certified organic to me just says someone is paying a lot of extra fees and dealing with tons of red tape. The produce I buy from trusted farmers is mostly not certified organic but I know/ have "faith" in how they tend to the crops and the earth. The circle is small enough that I would think they would be honest about it.

Why are you even bringing this up again, we've talked about this so many times already.

The Hollyberry Lady

Richard

No actually the word "organic" alone has no legally binding meaning in California or any other state in the U.S. The only risk a manufacturer has in mis-use of the term is a civil lawsuit for misrepresentation.

However, these terms do have a binding meaning:

• USDA Organic Program - meets the requirements of the USDA Organic program, meaning that (a) the product is deemed to have no significant effect on the local environment and (b) the product has been accepted and listed in the USDA Organic fertilizer and pesticide formularies.
• Certified Organic Produce - was grown in accordance with the USDA Organic program.
• OMRI Approved - the product has been accepted and listed by OMRI, an independent certification company. Generally, their requirements are less stringent than the USDA Organic program.

I thought the Monterey "All Natural" product was interesting because the manufacturer could call it organic, or easily register it with the USDA but chooses not to.

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Richard

Lets look at Dolomite Lime - an important and often necessary agricultural soil supplement in places that the soil pH is overly acidic. Dolomite Lime is on the USDA Organic approved formulary list and is often labeled as organic by manufacturers. For example: Pro-Pell-It!® Organic Dolomite Lime.

Unless the product is labeled "Raw Dolomitic Lime" then what you are getting has been processed to increase the purity to agricultural standards -- something that most people don't object to. Another reason for purifying the raw material is that fertilizer labeling laws and the USDA Organic program require the percentage of ingredients to be listed, so rather than make a different label for every bag the raw material is cleaned.

The cleaning process involves a little bit of high school chemistry. The raw material is dissolved in a light acid, and the unwanted material is forced to precipitate out. Then the dissolved CaMg(CO3)2 is dehydrated into a granular form. It's all good clean fun!

So why is this (and many other) chemical permitted in the USDA Organic Program? Because it meets the letter of the law: when applied according to directions on the label it does not significantly effect local soil environments.

If you are interested in where fertilizer companies obtain the materials they package, check out this trade journal:

Chemical Week

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Richard

When determining whether a fertilizer product meets the requirements of the USDA Organic Program or of Certified Organic Farming, the decision is often based on the the category of Nitrogen present in the fertilizer. There are four categories:

• Ammoniacal
• Nitrate
• Urea
• Organo-Protein

All four of these have identical representation in the plant: the "certified organic" decision is not based on what the nitrogen sources put in the plant. Further, all four forms when applied in dosages listed on the label are beneficial to both the target plant and other life forms in the soil. In fact, the 1st three are utilized so well that they create an imbalance in the local ecosystem and thus violate the letter of the National Organic Program law: they significantly impact the local environment. Consequently, the only permissible form of Nitrogen in a "certified organic" fertilizer is Organo-Protein.

Organo-Protein nitrogens are found in plant and animal material in varying concentrations. If you are going to use one of these, read the label to avoid any "features" you might not have anticipated. Here are some examples:

• Alfalfa Meal - This is typically from non-GMO alfalfa which you can verify with the manufacturer. The issue here is that the concentration of Nitrogen is so low that the actual cost per net pound of Nitrogen is enormous.
• Blood Meal - This is baked blood from slaughterhouses. It is generally free of pathogens, but can contain active pharmaceutical compounds which some plants may uptake. If this is a concern to you, then verify that the source is from pharmaceutical-free livestock.
• Cottonseed Meal - The USDA reports that 100% of commercial cotton grown in the US is GMO glyphosphate-resistant ("roundup ready"). If this is a concern to you then it is something to avoid. Personally I don't have a problem with it.
• Fish Emulsion - Here you want to insure the product is from a major manufacturer that has performed some secondary processing to remove mercury and other heavy metals from the emulsion, along with the machine oils from the fish factory processing equipment. There are a couple of manufacturers producing Fish Emulsion with added Seaweed Extract: this is an excellent fertilizer for leafy growth.

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Richard

Here's a comparison of Organic and Inorganic fertilizers in an easy to understand diagram:

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momoese

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