Koch rolls out new nitrogen inhibitor

NORMAL, Ill. — A new nitrification inhibitor for anhydrous ammonia and UAN has hit the Corn Belt market.

Koch Agronomic Services’ Centuro is the first nitrification inhibitor to receive the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act registration in more than 40 years.

Centuro will hold the nitrogen in the ammonium state three times longer than untreated ammonia.

The ammonium form of nitrogen is less susceptible to loss through denitrification and leaching.

It extends the window of protection against impact of environmental factors like temperature and moisture on the rate of nitrification, according to Koch.

Fall-applied anhydrous will be more stable for a longer period of time, allowing maximum availability for spring. Applying in the spring will minimize potential losses to leaching and denitrification from rain before crop establishment.

Centuro is a liquid product developed by Koch’s research and development team and its active ingredient is pronitridine.

Ryan Potter, Centuro product manager, and Greg Schwab, Koch Ag director of agronomy, recently provided details of the new product to ag media representatives.

“Nitrification inhibitors help to inhibit the bacterium that does the conversion from ammonium to nitrate. Centuro does just that. It inhibits that bacteria, not forever, it doesn’t completely stop the process, it just slows the process so during that period of highest loss we have more ammonium and less nitrate in the soil to be lost,” Schwab said.

Field Trials

Findings in a three-year study (2016-2018) at 12 site locations in Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska were:

“Centuro enables farmers to apply fall anhydrous which is important from a logistics perspective without having the negative impact of loss. It helps farmers spread that workload; it helps them economically because generally anhydrous is cheaper in the fall,” Schwab said.

According to two years of research at Iowa State University, Centuro reduced nitrate leaching by an average of 44 percent in fall-applied anhydrous ammonia and an average of 23 percent in spring-applied anhydrous ammonia compared to untreated anhydrous ammonia.

“It was very favorable from a water quality perspective. We get both a yield increase and a reduction in nitrate leaching. You’re keeping the nitrogen where it needs to be and the result of that is a yield benefit,” Schwab said.

Non-Corrosive

“Centuro is non-corrosive to the metals used in anhydrous and UAN equipment. This minimizes the time and costs associated with equipment, maintenance, replacement and downtime. It does not require stainless steel tanks. Centuro does not swell O-rings used in common anhydrous ammonia equipment, which means it can remain in tanks over time without effecting their operation,” Potter said.

Storage Flexibility

With its subzero freeze point, high flash point and long shelf life, Centuro allows flexibility to store the product for extended periods of time.

Centuro does not freeze as long as the temperature remains above minus 9 degrees. If it does freeze after minus 9 it will come back into product once it thaws out. There is no damage.

Centuro can be stored for two years without degrading in bulk or mini-bulk storage.

The product is non-combustible, eliminating the need for explosive-proof equipment, and is not regulated by the Department of Transportation.

Blending Options

The product gives retailers the ability to add it to nurse tanks before, during or after the addition of ammonia. This leads to additional time-savings, and potentially eliminates the additional inhibitor stations.

Centuro can be added through the use of a side-kick system.

With the proper pump system, adding the stabilizer at five gallons per ton takes less than one minute. The rate is five gallons per ton for anhydrous ammonia and 2.5 gallons per ton in UAN.