Upload Image...

Guide to Humates

Humates have become a key ingredient in boosting yield and lifting quality in many areas of agriculture throughout the world, and yet many Australian growers have never heard of these plant growth stimulants. This summary is designed to bring you up to speed on a material that can increase both your profitability and sustainability.

WHAT ARE HUMATES?

Humates are the residues forests and other plant matter, which have been preserved and compressed during geological upheavals. Often found in the form of brown coals called Leonardite or Lignite, these plants-based residues contain two very powerful biological acids, which have been shown to have a profound effect on plant growth and yield (These are literally thousands of research examples that confirm the many benefits of humates and their derivatives). Soluble humic acid (available commercially as potassium humates) and fulvic acids are the two Humate extracts which will become household names in farming circles during the coming decade, simply because they offer so many solutions to the range of problems plaguing contemporary agriculture.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

1) Improved fertiliser efficiency: When humic acids in combined with any fertiliser DAP, MAP, Urea, SOP, SOA, etc, then that fertiliser will become much more stable in the soil. Leaching and lockups are virtually eliminated. In addition, these fertilisers will be absorbed and utilised much more effectively (30 to 50% improved uptake) in the presence of humic acids.

2) Long-Life Nitrogen: Applied nitrogen is notoriously unstable in the soil. Urea, for example, delivers just 28% of its 48% nitrogen lode. When combined with humic acids, however, urea is stored on the humate colloid and becomes a stable, slow release nitrogen source (all 46 units are retained and released pattern is extended by 60 to 80 days.

3) Biological Stimulation: raw humates and their humic acid and fulvic acid extracts are powerful microbial stimulants. Humic acid feeds and stimulates the Fungi component of your soil-life, while fulvic acid is a bacterial stimulant. Good-quality humic acid always includes a significant fulvic acid component, so a soil application of humic acid in the form of potassium humates (liquid or granules) will feed and stimulate both the bacterial and fungal workforce.  Remember that these two Microorganisms determine disesase pressure and crop production, and any investment in their welfare is a sound one.

4) Disease, pest and frost management: When beneficial fungi and bacteria levels are increased by humate stimulation, then the microbial pathogens that cause disease are reduced by a process called ’competitive exclusion’. Pest pressure is magnified by poor mineralisation and low sugar levels in the plant.  Humates dramatically increase mineral availability and uptake, and they are critical in facilitating efficient utilisation of calcium and phosphate – the two elements which govern the production of plant sugar.  High plant sugars, in turn, create a plant with a significantly lower freezing point, and this reduces frost damage.

5) Carbon-building: Recent CSIRO research has confirmed that organic carbon (humus) is the single most important determinant of profitability in farming enterprises.  For every 0.1% that you can build your organic carbon levels, there will be an associated increase in your net profit and associated increase in your land value.  Humates contain up to 69% organic carbon in their own right, but their carbon-building capacity is largely based on their bio-stimulating capacity.  An activated, thriving, microbial population can convert stubble and crop residues to organic carbon (humus) at a much faster rate. The faster you can convert plant matter to humus, the higher your organic carbon gains.

6) Hormonal stimulation: High-production agriculture involves more than nitrogen, minerals and microbes.  Natural hormones play a large role in ensuring good germination, vigorous, healthy growth and prolific flowering.  Humates contain a natural, auxin-like hormone, which assists in these plant functions and they also stimulate beneficial micro-organisms like Azotobacter, which produce three other growth-stimulating hormones.

7) Sodium Management: The management of excess sodium is set to become a key issue in twenty first century agriculture.  Saline irrigation water and high-sodium soils already feature as major problems in many areas. Humates have demonstrated a unique capacity to buffer sodium excesses in both water and soils.  This buffering capacity can reduce or prevent the plant damage normally associated with these excesses.  Humates can also have a profound affect upon soil structure, opening the soil and aiding with the rapid exit of excess sodium.  Humates are also a direct stimulant of the beneficial fungi called mycorrhiza which colonise the roots of host plants.  Mycorrhizas are renowned for their capacity to increase the salt tolerance of their hosts.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Humates are widely regarded as a premier source of organic matter, containing high levels of humic acid.  Humates are recognised as the most effective of all soil conditioners,

BENEFITS

Humate has a very high cation exchange capacity (250) and excellent water holding capacity.

Humate contains up to 60% slow-release humic acids, which are renowned for their capacity for nutrient release, improving soil structure and helping to maximise the benefits of applied fertilisers.

APPLICATION RATES

Broadcast: 1 tonne per hectare

Banding: 200 to 600kg per hectare

GENERAL COMMENTS

  • Humate does not contain high nutrient levels but it can provide nutrient release gains far beyond actual analysis
  • All other fertiliser inputs are more effective when applied with Humate.
  • Humate is a valuable additive in drought conditions due to a water holding capacity of 60%
  • Humates can be a highly effective additive, even when applied at low rates like 60 kg per acre.

ORGANIC HUMATES

TYPICAL ANALYSIS OF HUMATES

TOTAL Nutrients
(Acid Digest/ Combustion)

Nitrogen

N

%

0.47

Phosphorus

P

%

0.002

Potassium

K

%

0.01

Sulphur

S

%

0.27

Carbon

C

%

58.2

TOTAL Salts
(Acid Digest)

Calcium

Ca

%

0.10

Magnesium

Mg

%

0.20

Sodium

Na

%

0.07

 

 

 

 

TOTAL Metals
(Acid Digest)

Copper

Cu

ppm

1

Zinc

Zn

ppm

8

Manganese

Mn

ppm

70

Iron

Fe

ppm

5,983

Boron

B

ppm

16

Molybdenum

Mo

ppm

0.3

Cobalt

Co

ppm

0.1

Silica

Si

ppm

46

Calculations / Ratios

Nitrogen : Sulphur Ratio

units

1.8

Nitrogen : Phosphorus Ratio

units

238.4

Nitrogen : Potassium Ratio

units

45.1

Carbon : Nitrogen Ratio

units

125.0

Crude Protein

%

2.9

Additional
TOTAL Metals
(Acid Digest)

Silver

Ag

ppm

11.1

Arsenic

As

ppm

<0.1

Lead

Pb

ppm

<0.1

Cadmium

Cd

ppm

<0.1

Chromium

Cr

ppm

3

Nickel

Ni

ppm

10.7

Mercury

Hg

ppm

0.4

Aluminium

Al

ppm

454