Mycorrhiza: The Fertilization Must-Have
You already paid for your fertilizer – mycorrhiza helps it pay you back
By Dana Schofield
Fertilizer costs are hitting growers hard. USDA data shows that after prices spiked in 2022, fertilizer spend remained high in 2023, averaging $217 per acre for the most profitable corn farms and $289 per acre for the least profitable. Even though prices have stabilized, they are still higher than pre-2022, putting major pressure on profit margins.
To add to that pressure, up to 80% of dry-applied phosphorus gets locked up in the soil, turning into “legacy P” that roots can’t access. That means a big portion of the money you put into P never reaches the crop.
A common response is to add more fertilizer next season. But this approach makes the problem worse – damaging soil health and increasing runoff. The smarter question is: How do I get more ROI out of the fertilizer I already applied?
Let’s take a look at how P gets stuck underground in the first place.
The Problem: Locked-Up P means Trapped ROI
P gets chemically bound in soil when pH is unbalanced. In overly acidic soils, phosphorus binds to aluminum. In alkaline soils, it binds with calcium. Either way, up to 80% of applied phosphorus fertilizer becomes unavailable to plants.
So even when you increase application rates, only a fraction of applied P makes it into the crop. This kicks off a vicious cycle of more fertilizer, poor uptake, declining soil fertility and rising costs.
Meanwhile, chemically bound P buries your real investment literally underground.
The Solution: Mycorrhizal Fungi – Soil’s Original Microbial Highway
The problem is in the soil – and so is the solution: mycorrhizal fungi. In fact, mycorrhizal fungi have been a cornerstone of plant nutrition for over 400M years. They attach to roots like intelligent appendages, expanding root systems by up to 100x to explore soil that roots can’t reach on their own, and generating an underground network that moves around nutrients and facilitates crop access and uptake.
More importantly, mycorrhizae also alter soil chemistry, helping solubilize bound P and delivering it directly to plants. That means that soil rich with mycorrhizae supports better nutrient access for crops, maximized fertilizer efficiency, and enhanced yield potential.
Mycorrhizal fungi transform locked phosphorus into available fertilizer, allowing farmers to optimize the inputs already in their fields.
The ROI: A Small Input for a Big Return
Mycorrhizal inoculants are no longer a “nice to have” biological on the shelf. They’re a manageable input with proven results. Growers applying mycorrhizal inoculants as a seed treatment or in-furrow consistently see crops with higher nutrient uptake, stronger resilience, higher yields, and improved soil fertility season after season.
When it comes to fertilizer optimization, mycorrhiza can deliver consistent yields with up to 50% less fertilizer application. That means that one application of mycorrhiza can unlock the value of a significant portion of your P spend.
How to use mycorrhizal inoculants:
Mycorrhizal inoculants are easy to apply. They are formulated for a variety of cultivation practices, including:
- Seed treatment
- In-furrow
- Liquid
Because mycorrhizae associate with 90% of all plant species, inoculants work for all major crop groups. As a stable, shelf-ready formulation requiring no special equipment or cultivation change, they are a user-friendly input that doesn’t require you to change how you farm.
The Bottom Line
You’ve invested heavily in getting fertilizer into the soil at the right time and rate. Mycorrhiza activates that investment so you get what you paid for. Instead of applying more fertilizer season after season, let mycorrhizal inoculants unlock what’s already there.
Mycorrhizae are nature’s original mechanism for freeing trapped P and delivering it to your crops.
Get in touch with Dana to learn how Rootella can help you get more from every fertilizer dollar.
