Agrium's Green Industry Grad School 2011

As both state and federal regulators set their sights on lawn fertilizers, “enhanced efficiency” is becoming a household phrase.

Since 2003 more than a dozen states have restricted the use of phosphorous fertilizers on residential lawns. Now the same thing could be happening to nitrogen, according to Eric Miltner, Ph.D., agronomist and turf specialist for Agrium Advanced Technologies.

Phosphorous bans first emerged in Minnesota in 2003. Another 12 states have followed suit, including neighboring Wisconsin. Two more states are reportedly looking at instituting similar bans.

Nitrogen saw its first bans put in place in 2010—in Florida and New Jersey. Vermont, Maryland and Virginia followed suit this year. Several more states are contemplating bans in the near future, Miltner says. “The same thing that happened to phosphorous will likely happen to nitrogen—only much, much faster,” Milner said.

The federal government is also taking a heightened interest. Paul McDonough, Agrium’s manager of strategic accounts, says the federal government is now looking to put in place in the Gulf of Mexico standards that are similar to the Chesapeake Bay Program.

All of these issues and more are being discussed at Agrium Advanced Technologies’ fourth annual Green Industry Grad School at Farmlinks Golf Club in Sylacauga, AL, December 5-7. The event is being attended by more than 40 leading lawn care and landscape contractors from across the U.S.

Enhanced-efficiency fertilizers are designed to reduce both costs and environmental impact by gradually releasing nutrients over time. This results in fewer applications per year and a reduction in total nitrogen inputs.

Examples of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers include slow-release products such as Agrium’s Nutralene, in addition to controlled-release products such as Agrium’s Duration.

Click on the link to Agrium’s company profile in the “related content” box to your left for a closer look at these and other products from Agrium.

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