Ammonium Nitrate – Worth the Risk?

In the past few years, many people have been experiencing economic difficulties. The housing and credit markets have been experiencing a time of decline, and this has led many consumers to tighten their belts and reduce the amount of money they spend on both essential and non-essential goods. Most people would consider the food they eat to be a very essential part of their daily life, and although you can’t control the price of food in the grocery store, you certainly can reduce your food budget by planting a garden and growing some foods yourself. Getting the most from your garden often means taking advantage of ammonium nitrate, but you should also be aware of the risk associated with this product.

In case you’ve never heard of ammonium nitrate before, you should know that it is a chemical compound that combines both ammonia and nitric acid. The white crystalline solid that is produced by this chemical reaction has many uses in current society, including application in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer, and its utility as a low-cost oxidizing agent in explosives. If you think it sounds funny to be applying a common explosives ingredient to your home garden, you should know that as a fertilizer, this substance supplies high levels of essential nitrogen to the soil. The existence of nitrates in the soil allows plants to create complex nitrogen compounds and enhances growth.

Since the 1950’s commercial and small family farmers have been applying ammonium nitrate as a soil fertilizer to their fields. This substance sinks into the soil where it helps to fertilize the roots. However, one of the consequences of this topical use is that the nitrate rich soil often then leaches this potentially hazardous chemical into the water supply. Creeks, rivers, and streams have served as the drainage areas for the agricultural industry, and in most cases, impacted the native plant and animal life in a very negative fashion.

If you don’t like the idea of applying ammonium nitrate to your own home garden, you should know that there are other, more natural ways to enhance your soil and ensure a bountiful harvest. Those that are interested in organic farming, which is the cultivation of crops without chemical influence, should know that utilizing organic compounds or animal waste products is an equally convenient and affordable process for fertilization. There are also certain biodynamic processes that can be used to enhance the quality of the soil over time.