Any Ag geeks here? Why ammonium nitrate and not ammonium sulfate? [View all]

[LeftInTX]

When I found out there was an ammonium nitrate facility in Central Texas, I was surprised.

Informed home gardeners * in Central Texas purchase ammonium sulfate and not ammonium nitrate. Central Texas, West Texas and South Texas all have a scourge called alkaline soil. Ammonium nitrate tends to raise soil ph, increase soil alkalinity, and can damage plants in alkaline soils. It also creates demand for expensive chelated iron applications.

(Gardeners in East Texas can use the ammonium nitrate without damage to plants because their soils tend to be acidic.)

Alkaline soils are often associated with drier climates, limestone, calcium rich subsoils and caliche.

Alkaline soils can also lend themselves to cotton root rot, which is a scourge of cotton.

However, agriculture is very different than home gardening. Farmers deal with different chemicals than home gardeners. Maybe it is more cost effective for them to deal with the side effects of ammonium nitrate.

I wonder if ammonium nitrate is much cheaper to produce than ammonium sulfate?

Anybody have any thoughts?


* Home gardeners are a different group than agriculture.