No, but it seems like Milorganite with more P (5% versus 2%) about the same N (5% vs 6%) and less iron (2% vs 4%).

I've had excellent results with Milorganite and I don't imagine this would be much different (maybe a touch less greenup from a bit less iron? I can't say). As long as it's cheaper than Milorganite and you accept that you are adding (a tiny bit, probably insignificant amounts of) heavy metals to your soil, I'd say try it.

If it works, let us know--because if I can get this stuff in Pennsylvania instead of my rare Milorganite addition I'd rather--at least they don't have to truck it in from MI and I can save a little transportational fossil fuel usage.

Now if they'd just make Philadelphite. :-)

Morpheus, is all you use Milorganite? No other organic products? Because of the cost savings, I might use it exclusively this year. Previously, I've used it only once or twice a year with the rest being soybean and cracked corn. I ask because you lawn is very nice.

When you say very expensive, what kind of prices were you quoted for SBM, CGM, and Alfalfa and for how many punds per bag? If your on a tight budget and you want to go Organic, I do not see a problem using this product ive been using Milorganite for yrs.

Thanks! Last year I used Milorganite exclusively, this year I'm shifting over to a mix of soybean meal and Milorganite (I have four bags in stock).

Next year, probably grains exclusively unless I notice that the Milorganite really helped more than I thought. Then I may use an integrated approach and keep both.

I use Milorganite or SBM depending on price. If I think my lawn needs iron, I favor Milorganite. If my soil is low on K, I favor SBM.

-Deerslayer

I am still trying to find grain feeds locally. I used some CGM this spring, $30 per 40 lbs, ugh.

Was quoted $20 per 50lb bag of cottonseed meal. Again, ugh.

I'll keep calling around, but not having much luck finding reasonable feed prices.

The oceangro is $6 per 50lb bag ;) Milorganite is about $10 per 40 pounder here.

Kelley, have you tried this list of feed stores?

NJ Feed Stores

Milorganite is currently on sale here for $6.99/40lbs but I'm really close to Milwaukee. $6.00/50lbs for Oceangro sounds like a bargain.

-Deerslayer

Thanks - I am working my way through that list, as a matter of fact. Some of those places only carry blended feed, like the equine equivalent of dog food.

I'm going to call the place in Cranbury in the morning, it's about 30 mins away.

I want to put something extra down soon since my CGM application wasn't heavy.

Kelly--what would be wrong with the blended feed? Wouldn't that basically be just a mixture of grains that could be used to fertilize?

Thanks - I am working my way through that list, as a matter of fact. Some of those places only carry blended feed, like the equine equivalent of dog food.

Blended is just fine if it's cheap enough to make you content. The only rule I followed was that the top three ingredients had to be some sort of grain.

Alfalfa meal goes for an unbelievable $23/50 lbs around here. Rather than cough it up (roughly the equivalent of coughing up blood), I went to our local pet warehouse supply and got the cheapest gerbil food I could--it worked out to $11/50 lbs. The top listed was alfalfa and, if I remember correctly, the other two were corn and soybean.

Then I got soybean meal for $8.50/50 lbs at the (not so) local mill.

My only slight concern was that the preservatives in the food would reduce and delay microherd activity. It looks like it diluted enough in rainfall that it wasn't an issue.

After some more calls I found a place about 30 minutes from where I live that has SBM for $9.99 per 50lb.

Agway-Belle Mead Farmers Co-Op in Hillsborough.

Alfalfa is actually a bit more expensive there than SBM, and the CGM is $25. Cheapest I've seen outside the middle of the country where most of the CGM is produced.

The gentleman was very helpful on the phone, give them a call if you are within driving range!

$9.99/50lbs is a great price for SBM. Soybeans are grown throughout my county and I can't buy SBM for that price.

-Deerslayer

I was pretty happy with that - I went to pick up the SBM this morning and that co-op is great! Large selection of grass seed, fertilizers, grains, good quality hand tools.

There were more people working inside their little shop area than I see if I walk two complete laps through my local BORG. (Our favorite orange or blue home improvement store.)

I put down CGM 3 weeks ago, trying to decide when I want to drop on the SBM. It's been a bit cool, so maybe I need to give some more time for the CGM to fully kick in.

I wish Oceangro was available where I live, I'd buy it immediately. It appears to be good stuff IMHO.

kelley,

i have used oceangro last year. it works well. my only concern is that it has too much P (5-5-0), while my soil has too much of it already. i paid $200 for 40 bags delivered.

my local agway sells SBM and Alfalfa for $9/50 lb, and you get one free if you buy 8 bags. the shop is on rt 571 in east windsor.

let me know if you need more info.

njrookie

The phosphorous was my only gripe about Oceangro as well (on paper, at least.)

You're happier with the grains?

Thanks for the info, I'll definitely check out the place in East Windsor. Do you have a name? The location search on agway.com doesn't seem to show it.

Was 40 bags a year's supply for you? That's about what I would need as well. I've been pondering if I can store that much and have it in good shape in October if I purchase in March.

2000 lbs for 100 lb of N from oceangro lasted almost a year for me since i use a high N urea fertilizer as a last application. i had over an acre of grass. i did it for only one year though since i figured the price of SBM is not much more expensive per pound of N. Oceangro has some stuff, like tiny iron bars, that i really do not like to see. i leave my oceangro over winter outside in the yard with a tarp on top. it is fine. you probably do not want to keep it over summer though (it smells a bit even in winter, which will only get worse for summer).

the feed store is just a few hundreds yard from the home depot off rt 130 and 571. they just changed owner. but the material they carry is more or less the same. they also have alfalfa for $9.

njrookie

njrookie,

Thanks for sourcing out the SBM in East Windsor. I picked up 5 50lb bags there today for $9.30 each! This will be my first time with grains. It sure smells better than the chicken poop stuff!

yeah the price was up quite a bit for SBM over the last year. It was $8.50 last year. I am going to get a few bags for my fall fert application as well.

njrookie

I don't care how they label it or market it. The fact is it's Poop, human poop.

Disgusting!!!

All the potentially bad organisms are killed by the processing. There's probably untreated squirrel and bird poop in your yard. Gross?

Lots of things are 'disgusting' by today's Purel hand-sanitizer, plastic-wrapped standards, but give me poop before chemicals any day!

I hope my tone isn't off, no ire or preachiness intended here. I wouldn't munch on Ocean Gro as a snack, but I'd use it if I wasn't happy with SBM. I've used Cockadoodle Doo (composted chicken poop) in the past and it worked well.

There's probably untreated squirrel and bird poop in your yard. Gross?

Your right, but I'm not buying/collecting it by the ton and voluntarily spreading it throughout my yard.

The US Government (which is very trustworthy and full of brilliant individuals) has found a way to "process" your waste and turn around and sell it to you as Organic Fertilizer. Think about it for a minute.

Quote "U.S. residents generate 22,000 tons of sludge every day, and by federal law, that sludge can no longer be dumped in the ocean. The Environmental Protection Agency now reclassifies that waste as "biosolids," and farmers spread it on their pastures."

Quote: "It's made from everything you flush down the toilet, and everything industries put down the drain. The EPA does set limits on nine heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, and lead. But the agency does not regulate or even monitor the levels of potentially deadly dioxins in sludge."

"There are no regulations for PCBs and no monitoring for pesticides."

Quote: "Selling sewage sludge to farmers for use on cropland has been a favored government program for disposing of the unwanted byproducts from municipal wastewater treatment plants."

No matter how you slice it, it's still human poop.

look at the facts and how our government us looking out for US.
http://www.ejnet.org/sludge/

Here is a link that might be useful: Sewage Sludge

Well the majority of the population is eating food grown in sewer sludge. I'm more worried about that than what it would do to my grass, and I haven't stopped eating.

If you lived in the heartland of Iowa...and lived down wind from a hog farm...

You would know that the organic fertilizer most often used in our corn and soybean fields is ... hog manure.

With hog factory farms statewide feeding 17 million oinkers each day there's an endless source of hog poop. You just add a little H20 and inject or spray it in the soil. They don't compost it, they don't treat it...they just spread it.

That's why in Iowa the first thing the presidential candidates say when getting off the campaign plane is ..."What's that smell?"

I would not worry about Milorganite containing PCBs since their system is monitored and only residentialand brewers waste and not other industrial waste is allowed in the sewer. It is tested frequently for any excess heavy metals, dioxins or other chemical contaminats. Try looking at the chemical make up of synthetic fertilizers and see which has the more potential for harm.