We have two open positions at Calcium Products! If you're interested in working for an employee-owned midwestern company with a 25-year record of success, look no further. 

Are you looking to make the leap to a new company? Then this leap day is perfect for you — check out the descriptions of positions and apply today!

Territory representative

Purchasing agent (note: this position is located in Gilmore City, IA)

Earlier this month, Farm Journal posted a good article online.  There are a couple of things we need to help them out on.

“The liming process revolves around calcium, as Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie has explained at several sessions of Farm Journal Corn College.”

Actually it is the carbonate that changes pH. Calcium merely takes hydrogen’s place on the soil colloid.

"Calcium deficiency in plants is rare," Ferrie says. "It’s calcium’s role in the soil, in regulating acidity, or pH, that farmers need to be concerned with."

Yes calcium deficiency is rare; however, pH is the measurement of hydrogen (this is where pH comes from, Potential Hydrogen). Calcium has little to do with pH regulation.

This is one of the best most concise explanations of what calcium does for the soil;

“In the soil, calcium holds the key to healthy structure, Ferrie continues. That’s because a calcium ion has two valence electrons, or positive charges. Such an ion is called a cation (pronounced "cat-ion").

Bridging clay particles. One of the calcium ion’s positive charges attaches to a clay particle, which has a negative charge. The second positive charge "captures" another clay particle. "This is called flocculation—bringing clay particles together, yet keeping them apart," Ferrie says. "It’s like building a bridge."

"Making frequent, small applications of lime keeps pH in the optimum range." "It's very difficult to keep most soils in the sweet spot for crop production when liming on a five- to six-year rotation." he adds. "We need to start looking at limestone in a different way, and be proactive rather than reactive. That means applying smaller amounts,more frequently," Ferrie Says.

We couldn’t agree more!

"If you apply the two together, the calcium will attract the phosphorus and tie it up," Ferrie says. "The carbonate will attract the ammonia nitrogen, causing it to be lost through volatilization." 

Separating the two applications by a year works best. If you can’t do that, apply the DAP and then wait for a rain. "When you get enough hydrolysis that you can no longer find the fertilizer pellets, it’s safe to apply the limestone," Ferrie says.

This is one thing we have heard a lot of. However I have had a tough time finding any work to substantiate this. I think this type of comment comes from the liquid fertilizer days when people tried to mix liquid calcium and liquid phosphate together and had a train wreck. Wet chemistry and dry chemistry are two very different things. Also if you pH is low, the phosphate will tie up with Iron, Aluminum or Manganese.

As you can see by the table above, if your phosphate are going to tie up with a nutrient (and they will), you are better off to have it be calcium. Aluminum, Iron and Manganese will make almost insoluble compounds with phosphate. While calcium will too, you have a greater chance of it being more available down the road. We would like to see more research done on this subject.

With a few exceptions we think Darrell Smith, Ken Ferrie and Farm Journal did a great job spot lighting Calcium.

We are really happy that the farm industry is starting to recognize calcium’s importance to crop production. It’s time we row croppers catch up to what the specialty crop growers have known for years!

Yield Starts Here is a blog for farmers, focusing on increasing yield and profitability by focusing on the soil. It is managed by Craig Dick, a Blogronomist and Sales and Marketing Manager at Calcium Products. Find other articles by Craig and guest writers at http://blog.calciumproducts.com/ .

I spoke today to the Iowa independent Crop Consultants Association about Sulfur. Was a great group of guys who asked a ton of questions.

Here is the link to my presentation http://prezi.com/chqgvtiqpnul/sulfur/

Here are some quick links to our literature on Sulfur:

 Calcium & sulfur fertilization

SuperCal SO4

SO4 vs FGD

Blog Artilces on Sulfur

Thanks for the opportunity to present today!

Yield Starts Here is a blog for farmers, focusing on increasing yield and profitability by focusing on the soil. It is managed by Craig Dick, a Blogronomist and Sales and Marketing Manager at Calcium Products. Find other articles by Craig and guest writers at http://blog.calciumproducts.com/ .

On Jan 24th and 25th Calcium Products held a soil and fertility conference for its dealers and professional agronomist. Here is what some of the attendees had to say about the program.

We had a great turn out and would like to thank everyone who came out. Escpecially the speakers and those that contributed to the video footage!

You can see more vidoe of the conference here.

View the presentations here.

In the next few weeks we will have all of the presentations on our YouTube page. We'll let you know as soon as it's posted!

Hi, my name is Courtney and I'm a city girl that's infiltrating the world of agriculture. Last week I worked the Calcium Products booth at the Iowa Power Farming Show and had a few observations to share.

But first, lest you think I'm kidding about the 'city girl' label, you should know that I've never NOT lived in an urban or suburban area. Even though I went to college here in Iowa and graduated with a few majors they were all in the journalism and design fields. The things I currently grow, or have grown, all fit in a backyard garden plot or a lovely counter or porch pot. Much to the consternation of my farm-raised husband, I call everything from a riding mower to a combine a "tractor." I was hired by Calcium Products to help with marketing and to promote our homeowner line of products. But because we're a small company and we all fill in where needed I've been learning more about ag.

So, without delay, here's a few things I learned at my first farm show:

1.  While most crops flourish the 6.5-6.8 pH range, as home lawns do, alfalfa tends to like a tad higher alkalinity.

2.  Farmers are loyal to the brands they love. I didn't even know there were so many options for logo-branded merchandise! I don't think I saw a single person sans logo or name of an ag-related company. I even saw one strapping lad in John Deere hat, shirt and belt buckle — I get it, you bleed green & gold!

3.  Even if your soil is naturally neutral or alkaline, the regular application of P&K will acidify it. Often a regular low-dose application of our SuperCal 98G lime will help keep things balanced.

4.  Men really are just little boys with toys, they're just bigger. Walking through the large equipment room of the show made me feel about ant-sized. Holy canoli, those are giant tractors! (teasing, teasing!)

5.  Many fields are sulfur-deficient. With cleaner air, our soil isn't pulling sulfur from the environment like it used to so we need to add it (via our SuperCal SO4 is a good way!).

6.  While everyone is loving this extremely warm/dry winter, we're all worrying about the drought. Did you know regular application of gypsum helps your soil be most efficient with the water it has?

7.  Farmers can't get enough pocket-sized notebooks. 

8.  The ag community is extremely welcoming and friendly. So many folks attend shows just to chat and make new friends.

9.  The number one most shocking thing I learned - so many farmers aren't soil testing. They have no idea what nutrients their soil (and therefore their crops) are lacking. They have no idea what their pH range is. This truly blew my mind. I heard so many reasons/excuses/theories I was aghast. One person was applying amendments based on their neighbor's soil tests (from now on I'm going to borrow my neighbor's grocery shopping list. I'm sure it'll be the same thing I need, right?). One guy said he applies ag lime every year even though he hasn't tested in years and had no idea what his pH is. I asked why waste the money since he might not even need it and he said he likes the tax deduction. (Weird, I'd prefer to save money and improve yield!) Several people said they only apply what they apply every year; no changes ever. (If you ate the exact same meal every day, every year, would you get all the nutrients your body needed?) And the story I heard repeatedly that still amazes me - farmers applying based on a soil test from YEARS ago. (If my husband and I applied that same practice to our rental property business, we could just buy 20 faucets this year because that's what we needed in 2006?)

What other things will shock me as I learn more about agriculture?

 We're working on getting videos of the speakers from our soil conference online. (Watch for them here.) Until then, here's a little info: 

This week Calcium Products has a booth at the Nebraska AgriBusiness Expo in Omaha (stop by & see Glen!) and at the Iowa Power Farming Show in Des Moines (stop by & say hi to Craig, Jim, Courtney & Patrick!)

We're getting lots of good questions and enjoying connecting with old friends, great customers and folks with inquiries. What would you tell folks who inquired about using Calcium Products?

Next week Patrick & Glen will be in Des Moines again for the 2012 Agribusiness Conference. Which tradeshows are your favorite to attend?