Calcium Products
At Midwestern Bio-Ag, we believe having adequate plant-available calcium in the soil is the key to growing successful, high-yielding crops. In support of this philosophy, we carry four different calcium products.
The importance of calcium:
Calcium is an essential nutrient that plays an important role in plant growth. It improves the absorption of other nutrients by roots and facilitates their translocation within the plant. It also activates a number of plant growth-regulating enzyme systems; helps convert nitrate-nitrogen into forms needed for protein formation, is needed for cell wall formation and normal cell division, and contributes to improved disease resistance. Calcium is essential for microorganisms as they turn crop residues into organic matter, release nutrients, and improve soil aggregation and water holding capacity. Calcium helps nitrogen fixing to capture atmospheric nitrogen and convert into a form that plants can use.
With all the benefits of calcium, why do so many overlook its value in a fertility program? At Midwestern Bio-Ag we recommend applying soluble calcium every year. We add calcium to every one of our fertilizer blends along with topdressing calcium.
Bio-Cal™
Bio-Cal™ is a Midwestern Bio-Ag exclusive product containing 30% calcium. It is registered as a liming material.
Bio-Cal™ is a combination of calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, calcium silicate and calcium carbonate. Midwestern Bio-Ag's special manufacturing process modifies and improves the handling characteristics of the original raw materials in order to make an easy to handle and easy to spread final product.
Bio-Cal™ provides a source of highly soluble calcium readily available to plants, as well as slow release calcium. We recommended that Bio-Cal™ be applied every year to maintain soil pH at optimum levels and to maintain available soil calcium levels.
In-house studies have found that forage tests taken from fields where Bio-Cal™ was applied showed an average of 27% higher nutrient density compare to forage tests taken from fields without Bio-Cal™. If you want to grow nutrient dense crops, Bio-Cal™ is an essential part of the formula.
Application tip:
Bio-Cal™ is meant to be bulk spread. It cannot be mixed with or stored near any nitrogen-containing materials.
OrganiCal
OrganiCal is another Midwestern Bio-Ag exclusive calcium product, created to be a source of soluble calcium for organic farmers. Registered as a special use fertilizer, it contains 24% calcium, 4% sulfur, and humates. OrganiCal is OMRI listed.
The calcium in OrganiCal is ground to 300 mesh and finer to create the reactiveness that mimics the solubility of burnt lime. The sulfate in OrganiCal is water-soluble and readily available to plants. OrganiCal also contains humates, which help stimulate soil nutrient availability.
The special blending process used to make OrganiCal improves the handling characteristics of the original raw materials.
Gypsum
Gypsum is typically 21% calcium and 17% sulfur.
Gypsum comes from a variety of sources with very different levels of quality. The two main sources of commercially available gypsum are mined gypsum and recycled drywall.
Mined gypsum
Mined gypsum is the only source allowed for organic agriculture. It does not contain contaminants like recycled drywall can, but it can contain larger pieces that can take a long time to break down. It will also contain a moisture level of about 10-15% depending on the time of year and how long it has been stored.
Recycled Drywall
Recycled Drywall consists of gypsum with a thin paper backing. About 30 billion square feet of gypsum wallboard are manufactured each year in North America, and a considerable quantity is discarded during the construction of homes, offices, and other structures. Drywall gypsum contain quartz, calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2] or portlandite, and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or calcite. Recycled wallboard gypsum can have contaminants in it and be of poor quality, depending on how it is handled.
At Midwestern Bio-Ag, all of the gypsum we sell comes from mined sources.
HumaCal™
Midwestern Bio-Ag's HumaCal™ is a homogenous blend of humates, calcium and sulfur. The analysis is 18% calcium and 5% sulfur, with a pH of 5.5 to 6.
HumaCal™ is formulated so it can be used in organic (OMRI allowed) and non-organic agriculture alike.
HumaCal™ is a unique synergistic pelletized humic product with calcium and sulfur that provides nutrients, chelating agents, buffering properties, and biological stimulation.
HumaCal™ is unique in that it can supply a low pH calcium product that will not raise the pH of your soil. Farmers are often reluctant to apply calcium to high pH soils out of the fear that it will raise the pH further. However, just because the soil has a high pH, it doesn't mean your crop is getting enough available calcium. HumaCal™ is an effective way to apply plant-available calcium while not raising your soil pH.
