The Canadian Food Inspection Agency used to run random-sample testing programs, but a combination of budget-cutting bureaucrats and lobbying by the fertilizer industry brought that to an end.
It’s little wonder that the fertilizer industry wanted the program stopped. When I delved into the results in the early 1980s, I found their track record was atrocious.
The CFIA tested to determine whether what they claimed was in fact what they sold – enough nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous in the blend.
But the CFIA was lenient. It allowed individual ingredients to be out of whack so long as the blended value was within its parameters.
So, you could skimp on potassium, for example, by adding a bit more nitrogen. Or skimp on nitrogen by pumping up phosphorous.
Not good for the farmer, but great for the fertilizer blenders and/or retailers.
With this track record in mind, and with sky-high fertilizer prices, I suggest farmers ask for a sample of what their retailer is offering. And if you’re buying bulk, I suggest you learn how to draw a representative sample and take it for analysis.
It will be important to draw the sample correctly because the supplier may challenge your claim. You would not want to lose a multi-thousand-dollar claim to a court challenge.
Google on-line for a local company that can run a fertilizer analysis. In my area near Kitchener, that would be SGS in Guelph, Stratford Agri Analysis or A&L Canada Laboratories Inc. of London.
And if you are a member of a farm organization, such as Grain Farmers of Ontario, the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers or the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, lobby them to put some of your support dollars into running a random-sample analysis program for fertilizers.
Don’t you want to be sure you’re getting what you pay for?
