Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

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joshua2415
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Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by joshua2415 » March 2nd, 2017, 11:33 am

My local Wal-marts have started selling Milorganite this year. I noticed the bags have different N-P-K numbers than previous bags at Home Deopt. I haven't been to Home Depot yet this year to see what theirs read. Wal-Mart's read 5-4-0, and Home Depot's read 5-2-0. Has anyone else noticed this?

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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » March 2nd, 2017, 1:41 pm

Have those cheeseheads been eating more chocolate and drinking more pop?

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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by Green » March 3rd, 2017, 7:21 pm

Your post isn't the first one on this subject, but it got me curious. I just looked online, and both the Milorganite website and Home Depot list it as 5-4-0.

I then decided to take a drive to my local store, since I had to pick up some gypsum anyway. I noticed that all except one bag of Milorganite on the shelf are the new 5-4-0 with batch no. 1/25/2017. The remaining bag is the older 5-2-0 with batch no. 8/12/2016.

The higher P value isn't the only difference.

The newer 5-4-0 have the following analysis:
Total N: 5.0%
1% water soluble N
4% water insoluble N*
Available Phosphate: 4.0%
Calcium: 1.2%
Iron: 2.5%
*4.0% slowly available N derived from biosolids

The older bag has the following analysis:
Total N: 5.0%
2.0% water soluble N
3.0% water insoluble N*
Available Phosphate: 2.0%
Calcium: 1.2%
Iron: 4.0%
*3.0% slowly available N derived from biosolids

In summary:
P has increased (doubled) from 2% to 4%.
Water soluble N to total N ratio has decreased (halved) from 2/5 (40%) in the older formula to 1/5 (20%) in the newer formula. Iron has decreased (not quite halved) from 4% to 2.5%.

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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by bernstem » March 4th, 2017, 5:12 pm

Lower fast release is better. At 20% it may see more use on my lawn. At 40% it was pretty much restricted to fall use or low rates.

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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by Green » March 4th, 2017, 9:16 pm

bernstem wrote:
March 4th, 2017, 5:12 pm
Lower fast release is better. At 20% it may see more use on my lawn. At 40% it was pretty much restricted to fall use or low rates.
Agreed. A step in the right direction for the water soluble Nitrogen content.

Looks like some years ago, the water soluble to total N ratio was 10%.

http://aroundtheyard.com/forums2/viewto ... 868&start=


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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by PSU4ME » March 9th, 2017, 7:58 pm

It's now closer to baystate fertilizer which is 4/3/0

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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by LeftField11 » March 30th, 2017, 9:35 am

I've seen a couple threads on this, and the question that always pops into my mind is: Has the product changed, or has the analysis method changed? Perhaps the analysis method has changed and give different (hopefully more accurate) details of the same product they've always produced.

Maybe someone has called Milorganite to get this answer, but I haven't seen it posted.

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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by MikeMikeMike » March 30th, 2017, 1:39 pm

LeftField11 wrote:
March 30th, 2017, 9:35 am
I've seen a couple threads on this, and the question that always pops into my mind is: Has the product changed, or has the analysis method changed? Perhaps the analysis method has changed and give different (hopefully more accurate) details of the same product they've always produced.

Maybe someone has called Milorganite to get this answer, but I haven't seen it posted.
In an older topic, Andy and one or two other people had some great interactions with folks at Milorganite who tried to explain things. This topic is 11 pages long, the more relevant stuff starts about here viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5868&start=60

General explanation from the above topic thread:
andy10917 wrote:
September 20th, 2011, 8:31 pm
Milwaukee is evolving from an industrial town and the end-product (literally?) is changing...

...There is no process change or manipulation of the final product - only the "inputs" are changing, over the course of time (and NOT the short-term timeline - we're talking years and years). The product you are buying tomorrow has the same sources that it always did. It's just changing as Milwaukee changes...

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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by LeftField11 » March 30th, 2017, 1:59 pm

MikeMikeMike wrote:
March 30th, 2017, 1:39 pm
This has been talked about in a few different topics on here. I only have this one link but I remember the same thing being discussed in other topics as well. It's 11 pages but the relevant stuff starts about here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5868&start=60

Check that thread out, there's a ton of info on this. Andy and one or two other people had some great interactions with folks at Milorganite who tried to explain things.

General explanation from the above topic thread:
andy10917 wrote:
September 20th, 2011, 8:31 pm
Milwaukee is evolving from an industrial town and the end-product (literally?) is changing...

...There is no process change or manipulation of the final product - only the "inputs" are changing, over the course of time (and NOT the short-term timeline - we're talking years and years). The product you are buying tomorrow has the same sources that it always did. It's just changing as Milwaukee changes...
Thanks for pointing this out, I obviously didn't follow the topic closely enough. Interesting stuff.

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Re: Milorganite numbers are different at Wal-Mart

Post by bpgreen » March 30th, 2017, 2:45 pm

LeftField11 wrote:
March 30th, 2017, 9:35 am
I've seen a couple threads on this, and the question that always pops into my mind is: Has the product changed, or has the analysis method changed? Perhaps the analysis method has changed and give different (hopefully more accurate) details of the same product they've always produced.

Maybe someone has called Milorganite to get this answer, but I haven't seen it posted.
I'm pretty sure that I saw in another thread that the content has changed and it's due to different industries in the area.

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