House of Phos

Landscape depressions a.k.a. "prairie potholes" are a new frontier when it comes to nutrient transport, especially #phosphorus. You'll see more on this coming out of our lab over the next few years: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Free access for 50 days. Perhaps for the first time ever, we were able to "dial in" wavelength ratios for sensing #phosphorus deficiency in corn. We could identify medium-deficient hidden-hunger that showed no visible signs of deficiency. gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%…

Another option for steel turnings is to place a water-table control structure on the drainage-side of the P removal structure to maintain water table just below the surface of filter media, still allowing top-down drainage. This one stayed moist and unconsolidated.

#phosphorus filtration by steel shavings/gravel. Media needs to stay moist with no wet-dry cycles or it may solidify (but still drains well). Picture on left are such clods, while material on right was in bottom-up structure with no drying, remaining unconsolidated for 3 years.

Showing the P-Trap demonstration #phosphorus removal structure at Dekalb county field day, hosted by The Andersons. Austin White with ARS and Ben Wicker of the IN Ag Nutrient Alliance. I should of got a pic with the audience...

Open access paper on #phosphorus uptake in Era hybrids going back to 1932. Editor's choice award. This study purposely excludes effect of root architecture by using sand-culture hydroponics, to solely measure P utilization efficiency in Era hybrids mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/6…

We are looking for a post-doc to come to Purdue and work on #phosphorus transport. I pasted the job description on a post in LinkedIn linkedin.com/posts/chad-pen…

A new blog post based on data from a not-new paper. How excess #phosphorus can potentially limit corn grain yield in certain circumstances. Courtesy of the Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance. phosphorusalliance.org/2025/06/11/how…

@voss_ag @ChrisK_Banded H2PO4 and HPO4. pH around 7 so there is a combination of both. All other nutrients were also added in fertigation at sufficient levels.

@ChadPenn12 @ChrisK_Banded Very interesting. What was the nutrient form of the solution P?

This one is for @ChrisK_Banded , some reading material if you have trouble falling asleep.....#phosphorus uptake and timing. mdpi.com/2073-4395/14/1…

Putting out #phosphorus plots on low P soils. Pic on left is the saltshaker application method for extreme precision; even if you have a thimble-full remaining, you walk around the plot six times to distribute it evenly! Joking.....sort of.

Luca Amaro, a visiting student agronomist from Brazil, got a surprise when his parents and brother came to visit at the National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory!

@ChrisK_Banded @richd2016 Thanks for posting . I certainly did not know all of that. Biology aside, I suppose the foundation I'm building my nutrient uptake model from is that growth processes require a minimum uptake mass of nutrient within certain windows, to achieve a given yield

Both parts are indeed present, unless purposefully creating a hydroponic growth environment while minimizing biological influence on growth (@ChadPenn12). The soil biome can modify the available nutrient pool and increase diffusion rates. Research to quantify these changes is somewhat lacking, but it's an area that can potentially bring traditional and biodynamic principles together instead of being seen as antagonists to one another.

Justus von Liebig's Law of the Minimum states that crop yields are limited by the nutrient in least supply, right? Nope. While often interpreted as such, this is not correct, and while Liebig is attributed as the "Father of the Fertilizer Industry" and he promoted mineral nutrition via salts, he was not "anti-humus" or against the biological side of agriculture. The attached photo is a popular version of Liebig's Law of the Minimum, although he never presented his information as a barrel. The barrel is attributed to Hans Arnold von Dobeneck, and is also called Dobeneck's Tub in some countries. On most versions of the nutrient barrel, each stave is shown to represent a nutrient. The lowest stave marks max capacity, interpreted as max yield capacity. But is this accurate? Liebig first considered 3 nutrients for his Law: N, P, and K. At one point, Liebig thought all plant N came from the air, so air was added, as was moisture, temperature, soil conditions, humus, carbonic acid, ammonia, and more. Modern versions have added lots of additional staves, but understand that Liebig did not put all emphasis on nutrients. In his Principle of Agricultural Chemistry, Liebig numerically listed 50 "propositions" he held to be true regarding nutrition and chemistry of soils and plants. He summarizes them this way: "The nutrition, growth, and development of a plant depends on the assimilation of certain bodies, which act by virtue of their mass or substance. This action is within certain limits directly proportional to the mass or quantity of these substances, and inversely proportional to the obstacles or to the resistance which impede their action." This has been summarized into today's version of Liebig's Law of the Minimum. In later works, particularly his "Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology" (which is available as a free book online), Liebig heavily researches/discusses humus, manures, molds, yeasts, coals, nitrification, and many "biodynamic" topics. Liebig was far from the King of Fertilizer Salts. His work in that regard was that of a chemist, and he was attempting to solve food production concerns, as the quantities of available manure could not keep up with the needs of small farms and increasing populations. He repeatedly wrote of the fallow effect, where land can become unsuitable for one crop while being suitable for another, and by letting the land rest, it can again become suitable, especially with animal excrements (manures). In absence of manures, he speculated, then proved, that inorganic salts could satisfy the nutritional needs of plants. Is the Law of the Minimum useful? Absolutely. "A chain is only as strong as the weakest link" is a perfect rephrase of Liebig's concept. "Law" may be a stronger-than-appropriate word, but the concept of identifying and strengthening areas of weakness is an excellent method for improvement. Where one must be cautious is how you identify the shortest staves. A quick search online reveals that Liebig never attempted to put order of importance into the factors of production. These will vary widely, and even change through a single growing season based on temps, rainfall, crop, crop stage, etc. Liebig's Law should not be confused with ROI or Mitscherlich's Law of Diminishing Returns. Liebig was unable to quantify crop responses based on identified limitations, which is partly why B.E. Livingston wrote that the Law of the Minimum was "still quite incomplete logically." Liebig could not specify a quantity to overcome a deficiency, nor predict crop response. He was able to predict a LACK of response, though, which was impressive for his time. Don't apply what plants already have plenty of. Caveat here: Your soil test or tissue test may not reveal whether your plant has plenty of something or not. In summary, Liebig is popularly idealized as the villain of sustainable agriculture due to his inorganic mineral nutrition theory. Interestingly, he was also one of the pioneering chemists of organic chemistry. Liebig understood both sides of the humus vs inorganic debates that we've had for 100+ years. Like most things, they've been misconstrued and used for ideological purposes and/or product sales rather than as educational sources. The next time you see Liebig/Dobeneck's barrel on a sales flyer or in a presentation, I have this brief daytrip through ag history comes to mind, and helps put things into perspective. Thanks for making it to the end. @bandedagllc @RyanPriest11974

Potholes tend to become #phosphorus hotspots and represent the most economical intercession point for trapping P, especially for replacing a tile riser with a modified blind inlet. Hear Mark Williams @AgriH2O and I explain: youtu.be/i0L0NzdH6bY

@ChrisK_Banded @BobGunzy @swatmaps @OSU_NPK Yes indeed. McGrath and I have been making plans with regard to incorporating my nutrient uptake model with that work.

@BobGunzy @swatmaps This seems to be a topic that @OSU_NPK and @ChadPenn12 could blow minds with.

Great research from McGrath, et al, on sub-field yield response to P. 96% of plots were below P critical level but only 51% responded to P. This suggests sub-field characterization may be useful for improved response. @swatmaps acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…

Sometimes we use filters to remove #phosphorus from wastewater during treatment. Sometimes they clog. Amin's new paper describes how/why and prevention. doi.org/10.1016/j.jenv… Congrats to Amin, this one was a lot of work.

The first stacked #phosphorus removal structure-nitrogen bioreactor. elibrary.asabe.org/abstract.asp?a… Surprised it worked that well with such low inflow P concentrations. A mystery on how alumina removed N in this scenario. Need to construct them to handle peak flow rates.

Kurt Reinhart just published this (open for 50 days). My first involvement on a #mycorrhizae project. These plants in calcareous soils obtained more of the poorly soluble #phosphorus by root mining/exudates than through mycorrhizae. authors.elsevier.com/a/1jvM88g13bSv-

Snapshot of V14 #corn grown in our indoor grow-room compared to greenhouse and field. Greenhouse corn is tall and spindly compared to grow-room and field due to less-than-ideal light conditions (etiolation). Grow-room is thick on the stem and leaves.