By Kevin Hursh
When something sounds too good to be true, people are naturally wary. Personally, I’m highly skeptical of some of the miracle soil quality products being peddled by a number of companies. However, the idea of farmers making their own liquid nitrogen fertilizer on-farm with Green Lightning has increasing credibility.
Green Lightning has been around for a few years now, and you’ve likely heard of it. The Canadian distributor is a family business called Nytro based in Kamsack, Sask. Nytro had booths at both the Crop Production Show in Saskatoon and Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon back in January. At the Saskatoon event, I caught up with company president Chris Nykolaishen.
The theory uses the same principle as how a lightning storm creates nitrogen that falls with the rain. In this case, electricity is the lightning that produces nitrogen within water. The basic Green Lightning factory has been a six-head unit making 100 gallons a day with about $4 worth of electricity.
Since it doesn’t have the salt content of regular fertilizer, measurement of the nitrogen content isn’t straightforward, but Nykolaishen says each gallon has the equivalent of about three pounds of actual nitrogen. The product is typically sprayed on the growing crop, but can also be applied during seeding.
A larger unit within a 10-foot sea can is now available. It can generate 500 gallons of product a day with an electrical cost of $30 to $35 a day.
To generate enough product for a typical farm, the units are meant to be run continuously throughout the year. Nytro is looking into bladders for potential storage – something that can be frozen without bursting.
Nykolaishen recommends that farmers start with the smaller unit so they understand the process and what’s required. While the equipment should be monitored every day, it can be set up to operate with little supervision.
Cost is the big driver. Nitrogen from Green Lightning is far less expensive than commercial nitrogen. Of course, that only matters if the product actually works.
To their credit, lots of research trials are being conducted by credible institutions, and to date the research is showing Green Lightning nitrogen used in combination with traditional nitrogen, or used all by itself, generates a comparable yield response to commercial fertilizer.
The cost of the six-head smaller unit was $66,500 when I visited with Nykolaishen. This unit is designed for placement in a heated shop or some other building. The sea can unit is insulated and self-contained, carrying a price tag of $305,000.
Back in January, about 65 farmers in Canada were using the machines. Nykolaishen was hoping to have the system on 100 farms before seeding.
In the future, if the product continues to meet expectations, it would seem feasible for large Green Lightning installations to be established to sell the liquid nitrogen to interested producers.
Green Lightning is a revolutionary approach to nitrogen fertilizer. It will be interesting to see if it can live up to expectations.
