Trivar: Unlocking Phosphorus and Micronutrient Availability

In our quest to find ways growers can continually maximize the value of their fertilizer applications, we are constantly evaluating products on the market that aim to do just that. One of the most recent fertilizer additives currently under our review and slated for our own trials is Trivar?, the first product designed for broadcast phosphorus application to help prevent tie-up. Although still too early to report on our own findings, we thought we’d share some information on what Trivar? is, what it does and how it benefits phosphorus applications.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is one of three macronutrients plants use in large quantities and is a critical component in multiple plant processes and pathways. One of phosphorus’s primary roles is the production of ATP. When ATP is broken down it releases energy which is used by the plant to fuel growth and other necessary functions.

Phosphorus Availability

In the soil, phosphorus is relatively immobile and inefficient. Generally, only about 20% of broadcast phosphate fertilizer applications will be available to the crop due to it becoming insoluble or tied up. That creates a problem for crops because plants are unable to “chew” their food, but rather they “drink” their food. This means when phosphorus and micronutrients are tied up, plants are unable to consume those nutrients. The rate at which tie-up occurs is highly dependent on application type, as well as soil factors including pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and organic matter (OM).

Unlocking Phosphorus and Micronutrients

Trivar? is a unique phosphorus and micronutrient efficiency solution that can be impregnated directly onto dry phosphate fertilizer to help increase phosphorus and micronutrient availability.

What is Levesol?, and how does it work?

The backbone of Trivar? is a patented chelate technology called Levesol? (Ortho-Ortho EDDHA). Levesol? is recognized as being the strongest and most effective chelate on the market. Chelates in general, are molecules that form a bond with positively charged micronutrients like copper, iron, manganese, and zinc. When a chelate like Levesol? takes hold of these micronutrients they are protected from bonding with negative charges. Phosphorus, on the other hand, is a negative charge and is attracted to these positively charged micronutrients resulting in both becoming unavailable for plant uptake. Levesol? works by chelating free micronutrients as well as liberating micronutrients that have already bonded to phosphorus. The result is more phosphorus and micronutrients that are readily available for plant uptake.

Benefits of Trivar?

• Increases the availability of applied phosphate fertilizer by chelating positively charged micronutrients in the soil and fertilizer resulting in reduced phosphorus tie-up.
• Increases the availability of applied micronutrient fertilizers that are positively charged by chelating them and preventing tie-up with negatively charged phosphorus.
• Increases the availability of phosphorus and positively charged micronutrients already in the soil by chelating the micronutrients that are bound with phosphorus.
• Phosphatase enzymes increase phosphorus availability by converting organic phosphorus (unavailable) to inorganic phosphorus (plant-available).
• Contains the micronutrients zinc and boron which get applied evenly to every phosphate prill.

Replicated Research Studies

Nine trials conducted on corn with a third-party researcher in Iowa have shown an average increase of 8.6 bu/ac when Trivar? was added to monoammonium phosphate (MAP) and broadcast applied compared to MAP by itself. Within these trials, fall applications provided an average of 10.5 bu/ac increase while spring applications provided an average of 7.6 bu/ac increase.

For more information, or for questions on how our own testing of Trivar? is going, give your?agronomy salesman?a call.