SRX Thrive occupies a unique spot in the sulfur market. It’s a specific mix comprising 11% urea nitrogen and 75% sulfur with a range of operational and agronomic characteristics that set it apart from elemental sulfur and sulfur bentonite.
Why Thrive’s composition matters to retailers and farmers
Thrive is a new option for retailers’ crop nutrition applications that demonstrate attention to customers’ specific growing environments like high-pH soils that sometimes hinder sulfur uptake. Thrive is made of smaller particles so it breaks down quicker upon sustained contact with soil and water.
“Thrive provides most sulfate needs, and it will eliminate the number of times across the field. That’s money in the farmer’s pocket,” according to SRX Sulfur Sales Manager Forrest Ridgway. “Thrive has three times the sulfur than you have with sulfate, so there’s less bin space required for the retailer. There’s less material in and out, so the retailer can act more quickly in getting product to customers’ fields.”
When applied, SRX Thrive stays put and is available in the soil when the crop needs it, immediately or well after it’s applied. That way, plants can access sulfur to produce their own nitrogen when they need it, a critical plant piece of the crop nutrition puzzle.
“With elemental sulfur, it might take three years after it’s applied for crops to benefit. Growers get the benefits of Thrive the year it’s applied,” added Two Rivers Terminal sales and procurement manager Mark Midtlyng. “That can distinguish you in your ag retail marketplace.”
The logistical benefits of Thrive
SRX Thrive enables retailers to grow customer loyalty by getting a key crop nutrient to the field when crops need it, even when logistical hurdles disrupt supply chains for crop nutrition products in general.
“It only requires about 1/3 of normal sulfur sources. So you’re taking up 1/3 of the space in the truck and it takes 1/3 of the time to load and unload,” Ridgway said. “Cutting trucking and labor needs by that much is a huge advantage.”
Because of the location of its primary manufacturing facility in Moses Lake, Washington, and close relationships in the trucking industry, Ridgway sees the coming year as one of opportunity for retailers and farmers using Thrive.
“We’re all from this area and understand what’s going on in this market. If an ag retailer calls us and needs a load delivered to a farm versus their own location, we can make that happen to keep their operations moving,” he said. “I don’t know any other suppliers who can jump on it like that with no big issue. Logistics is a big part of what makes Thrive such a strong option for so many.”