Do farmers need to use fertilizer?
In a word, yes. Every season, plants draw from the soil the nutrients they need to grow. When a crop goes to market, so too does the potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen it has absorbed and used throughout the growing season. When farmers fertilize, they put back into the soil the nutrients their next crop will require. Soils do not naturally contain all the nutrients that crops need. And while some of the same nutrients in fertilizer are found in soil, they are not present in a sufficient supply for todays high-yield farming. It can take years even decades for nutrients to build up in the levels necessary to nurture a good crop. A single season can wipe out many years worth of naturally produced nutrients. Fertilizers give Mother Nature a helping hand.
