Potash: Ensuring supply and promoting sustainable use

Dec 23, 2024 | potash news

Potassium is an essential nutrient for the development of healthy crops, and in turn, soil health. The primary source of potassium for crops is potash, a critical fertilizer that ensures global food security. But despite this importance, potash has been absent from the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Critical Minerals List since 2018. Forward thinkers in the agricultural industry are actively advocating for its inclusion. Additionally, research-driven innovations for potassium use are focused on its efficiency to align with industry goals.

Why potash deserves critical mineral status

The USGS Critical Minerals List identifies materials crucial to national security, economic stability, and supply chain resilience. Potash meets all three of these criteria. However, its exclusion has been based primarily on assumptions of supply chain reliability, in particular America’s stable trading partner Canada, which provided 87 per cent of U.S. potash imports​ in 2023.

The assumption of uninterrupted access to Canada’s potash overlooks significant supply chain vulnerabilities. For example, 2022 brought disruptions such as truck driver strikes and cross-border vaccine mandates, exposing the fragility of relying on a single primary supplier​. With Russia and Belarus together accounting for over 40 per cent of global potash production, the war in Ukraine also illustrated how geopolitical tensions and conflict can impact global markets.

Designating potash as a critical mineral has the potential to spur increased production through the streamlining of the federal permitting process, currently a lengthy and costly process measured in years and millions of dollars. These projects wouldn’t be exempt from permitting, but a single agency would be tasked with ensuring the process progresses smoothly and is not unnecessarily delayed with duplicative regulatory burdens.

The U.S. government has in the past recognized the importance of securing fertilizer production and supply, most recently in 2022 with the Department of Agriculture’s Fertilizer Production Expansion Program (FPEP). Adding potash to the critical minerals list would signal a continued commitment to the importance of both potash and fertilizers as a whole.

Innovations for sustainable and efficient potash use

Efforts to increase potash production and in-field efficiency reflect agriculture’s commitment to sustainability. Potassium research and development focus on improving efficiency and supporting long-term agricultural productivity.

Precision agriculture and 4R Stewardship: The 4R Nutrient Stewardship framework: applying fertilizers at the right source, right rate, right time, and right place has positively impacted on-field potash use. Precision agriculture technologies, such as GPS-guided application and soil sensors, optimize potassium delivery to crops to optimize yields.

The Fertilizer Institute, a U.S.-based industry group representing the entire fertilizer value chain, advocates for policies that incentivize 4R practices and encourage growers to work with certified crop advisors to optimize nutrient management plans.

Soil testing and potassium management: Advancements in potassium research are helping to optimize in-field management. For example, researchers continue to evaluate soil testing methods for potassium with some research showing that maintaining soil samples at field moist levels could lead to more accurate assessments of potassium availability compared to traditional dried samples. Most importantly, growers and agronomists should ensure they are selecting the proper soil test for potassium to inform decisions on application. Ensuring the soil test used matches the soil test that is correlated and calibrated to crop yield for specific states is important. If the test is not calibrated to yield, it means the soil test is not tied to actually yield outcomes.

Potassium availability is also influenced by soil attributes like clay mineralogy. Studies show that clay types, such as smectites and illites, impact potassium fixation and release, affecting availability to plants. While mineralogy may be impacting soil potassium, cation exchange capacity (CEC), total clay percentage, and soil texture can serve as proxies to measuring actual clay mineralogy. Understanding variability in soil texture and CEC within fields or farms can help agronomists develop targeted recommendations for potassium use. Growers and agronomists should be sure to use soil testing to tailor potassium applications to specific soil properties to improve efficiency and crop uptake​.

Fertilizer use is responsible for half of global food production, and potash is one of the critical fertilizers for producing our food​. The demand for potash will continue to grow as earth’s population is projected to reach 10 billion people by 2050, making the implementation of sustainable practices in potash production and use more critical than ever. By including potash on the critical minerals list, promoting sustainable practices, and continuing to prioritize innovative research, the U.S. can recognize the critical role potash plays in feeding the world.