BayState Fertilizer - Cheap Milorganite Alternative

[dhou]

Hi All,

If anyone lives in the MA or souther NH, the Mass Water Resource Authority produces their own 4-3-0 organic fertilizer which they sell at local Ace Hardware stores for approx $9 a 50# bag or even cheaper the direct pickup price is $175 a ton (a pallet of 40 50# bags).

With that in mind if anyone is interested in a splitting a pallet PM me!

[andy10917]

Welcome, Dhou!!

Yeah, we're aware of the Bay State product (we've written about it before). There are a number of members in the area, so it's possible you might get a taker.

[kingofgreen]

Wow,I just took the ride up there Friday afternoon and brought back a ton for $175.00. Great price for 40 bags

[GaryCinChicago]

Morph is probably chomping at the bit, 175 miles away. Lock that stuff up!

[MorpheusPA]

Actually, I was pricing truck rentals and calculating tonnage.

[simpson]

Actually, I was pricing truck rentals and calculating tonnage.

Well drop a pallet off on your way buy and i will split the truck rental.

[kingofgreen]

It took me just under 3 hours to get to there plant(its a huge shipyard) with the traffic and all. About 150 miles. They could have delivered it but he said for a ton or two it would take up to a month for such a small order. They normally sell to golf courses and athletic parks,farmers,etc.

[kingofgreen]

Actually, I was pricing truck rentals and calculating tonnage.

Well drop a pallet off on your way buy and i will split the truck rental.

That is over a 7 hr ride for you Jon, no?

[simpson]

right around 6 hr. I will stick to milorganite.

[fred9]

I'm in Hartford, CT. Is this prodcut sold in Western MA?

[kingofgreen]

I believe you can buy smaller quantities at local MA Ace hardware stores. I went to there plant in Quincy MA,about a 3 hr trip from Waterbury


Here is the link
http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/03sewer/html/baystate.htm

[fred9]

Thanks. I sent an email to MWA.

[PJD]

At $175 a ton I'm going to make a trip up as soon as I get back from India.

[dhou]

Hey kingofgreen,

Is the plant at the location listed on the website? Do you have to call in advance prior to pickup or can you basically just show up?

No takers yet so I'm looking into truck rentals!

[kingofgreen]

Hey kingofgreen,

Is the plant at the location listed on the website? Do you have to call in advance prior to pickup or can you basically just show up?

No takers yet so I'm looking into truck rentals!

Yes that is where they are located. Its a small office named New England Organic(or something close to that) inside a massive shipyard. I called a few times to let him no I was coming.(I got no answers on email,you have to just keep calling) He is hard to get a hold off. I made sure someone was going to be there when I showed up at 5:30p. Of course when I got there the front door was closed. I called Carl on his direct line and he insured me a second shift was working in the shipyard and someone will be there to help me. 15 mins later the guy came with the forklift, I gave him a check and I was back on the rode. I would definitely confirm all logistics before making the ride.

And yes they had TONS on hand ,they make it right there at the shipyard. Again just double check.

Good Luck

[dhou]

Just made the trip and picked up a ton myself! Easy as pie. Definitely recommend calling - Carl will respond to email, but sure takes his time! The loading dock is a little hard to find but not too bad once you make it into the shipping yard. There are some small signs that point you in the right direction if you keep your eyes open.

How long do you folks think these bags will "keep"? And as a newbie transitioning to an organic program, what would you recommend as a program of application? Can you ever put down too much of this stuff? Do I have to worry since we get our water from a well on the property? So many questions!!!

[MorpheusPA]

How long do you folks think these bags will "keep"? And as a newbie transitioning to an organic program, what would you recommend as a program of application? Can you ever put down too much of this stuff? Do I have to worry since we get our water from a well on the property? So many questions!!!

If kept dry, figure about a year on the keep thing. Give or take. Probably much longer, and I never store anything like grains for more than a season. That's not an issue here.

Putting down too much...if you smother the grass, it was too much. If the EPA shows up to remove the human fecal material from your lawn while wearing moon suits, it was too much.

Well water...does anybody have the analysis of heavy metals on this stuff? It's certain-sure to be a Grade A fertilizer (no danger), and they do tend to be more immobile in organics than synthetics, though, so I shouldn't think you'd have a problem. I still would want to see the metals report.

Program: Highly variable. At least three or four times a year, 25 pounds per thousand square feet per drop (May, September, October, use a good Winterizer in November). However, you can pretty much drop any time you want to. My high point involved 1,180 pounds per thousand in a year (over 9,000 pounds total). That's a really, really high point.

[sony1998]

MorpheusPA looks like you were looking for the analysis of heavy metals. I picked up the below link from another post. Credit to original poster. Don't know if this helps or if it needs to be from an independent outfit. Mark

Link:"http://www.mwra.com/publications/fertilizerbrochure.pdf"


http://www.mwra.com/publications/fertilizerbrochure.pdf

[MorpheusPA]

MorpheusPA looks like you were looking for the analysis of heavy metals. I picked up the below link from another post. Credit to original poster. Don't know if this helps or if it needs to be from an independent outfit. Mark

Link:"http://www.mwra.com/publications/fertilizerbrochure.pdf"
http://www.mwra.com/publications/fertilizerbrochure.pdf

Thanks, Sony! No, independent wouldn't be necessary here, I'd trust them--they don't want to make a mistake, and this was probably done independently anyway. It's about what I expect, too. Pretty comparable with Milorganite--it has a lot more lead, a lot less chromium. It's well under the Federal and MA State limit for lead, however, and way far under the MA State limit for chromium.

I'll do my math out loud so dhou can see what I'm doing. About the only thing anybody could possibly object to are the chromium and lead levels; the mercury level is only about ten times that in a serving of tuna (don't eat the stuff, of course...) Chromium is 67 PPM and lead is 209 PPM.

Let's say you use a full 1,000 pounds per year on a thousand square feet (way freaking incredibly freaking unbelievably freaking high, in other words). That's at least 3 to 5 times what I expect lawn whackos to use, 10 times the high normal point, and 16.7 times the listed bag rate.

An average-ish soil weighs 50,000 pounds (25 tons) per thousand square feet to six inches. You're adding 1,000 pounds of material to that, so end up with a soil weight that's...identical, actually. Close enough. Most burns off, rots, and so on. You also raised your soil level a titch to account for the extra weight, so we no longer account for the titch that used to be at the six inch level and isn't any longer.

1,000 pounds, diluting through 50,000 pounds of soil, is 1/50, or 0.02. The lead dilutes the same, so 209 * 0.02 = 4.18 PPM throughout the top six inches (bag rate will be closer to 0.25 PPM).

That, of course, is in the top six inches. A foot would be 2.09 PPM, two feet would be 1.05 PPM, four feet would be 0.51 PPM, and so on.

Chromium in the six inch layer is 1.34 PPM (bag rate being closer to 0.08). Divide by two every time you double the depth (and chromium binds easily to soils and tends to be pretty immobile).

I absolutely, positively would not approach 1,000 pounds per thousand with a well--although I've used Milorganite for years and my lead levels never show anything but "low," or not even on the charts yet.

[dhou]

MorpheusPA - Thanks for explaining your thought process! I certainly don't plan on coming close to 1180 pounds per thousand though it sounds awesome! So as long as I don't smother the lawn and the neighbors haven't called the EPA on me, things should be okay!

I realized that I jumped the gun and put down a round of corn meal about a month ago and 20# per thousand of BSF about a week ago... before sending out for a soil test! Anything I can do about that at this point? I know I should have done it prior to putting anything down but I just got a little too excited with the nice spring we are having here in the northeast!