AG-USA and the Agricultural Benefits of Sea-Based Minerals

Roots with mycorrhizae. Reprinted with permission © 2004, Fine Gardening Issue #196, April 2004, Credit: Melissa Buntin.

“Balanced soil creates nutrient-dense plants, and when animals eat these plants, they become stronger and healthier. As they say, you are what you eat, so our overall goal is to help transform the health of individuals and families throughout the nation and beyond.”

Paul Schneider Jr. of AG-USA

Under the last paragraphHealthy soil is essential to ensuring that a plant has the nutrients necessary to thrive. Plants absorb nutrients from soil, often with the help of symbiotic fungal networks that grow amongst the plants’ roots, known as mycorrhizal fungi. AG-USA’s product, MycorrPlus, harnesses the power of concentrated sea minerals to both enrich the nutrient content of the soil, and promote the health of these mycorrhizal fungi. When these measures are taken, plants become stronger, increase in nutrient density, and become more resistant to pests and disease.

AG-USA’s products MycorrPlus-A and MycorrPlus-O offer not only a complete buffet of minerals from the ocean, but also initiate an enormous amount of carbon sequestration by the plant into the soil, which is the fastest and best way to create healthy topsoil.

“MycorrPlus forms an aerobic membrane that holds nutrients to help bring balance to the soil,” said Paul Schneider Jr., the man behind AG-USA and MycorrPlus. “This aerobic membrane keeps on expanding, becoming something like a sack that holds carbon and other nutrients, making them available to the plant.”

MycorrPlus gives soil microorganisms the tools to flourish. They help to break down chemicals, remediate salts and remove harmful pathogens in the soil. Anaerobic soil is converted to aerobic soil. The processes of harnessing microorganisms and fixing sugars provided by the plants bond soil particles together, creating space for air and water in the soil. These air spaces in the soil are essential for creating a proper balance of air, water and soil. Without these air spaces, the soil will either dry out, or  become oversaturated with water.

Pasture Health

Reports on the impacts of MycorrPlus from its users show the potential it has to organically revolutionize agriculture. MycorrPlus has the power to transform pasture and hay ground and infuse humus into clay. In 2018, a 30-acre Pennsylvania farm saw an increase in the hay yield by 30-40% without any other inputs in its first year of application. In the second year, fields had better drought tolerance, better surface coverage by grass, and compaction was reduced. On top of this the pastured pigs hardly rooted up any of the pasture, showing that their nutritional needs were met through their forage.

Commenting on the improved conditions, Schneider quotes a customer:

The Canadian Thistle which had taken over our pastures was now being eaten by our cattle! We found that our cows and sheep were plucking and eating the Thistle flower heads and foliage. When the cows and sheep were moved to the one paddock where MycorrPlus was not used, they would not touch the Canadian Thistle! This clearly proves that the MycorrPlus was activating nutrients in our soil and made the Canadian Thistle an attractive treat for our animals.

Soil Transformation 

As mycorrhizal fungus, bacteria, and other microorganisms transform the soil, they create small pea-sized air gaps in the soil in a process known as flocculation, as opposed to compacting into a solid mass. When MycorrPlus is applied, it promotes this binding together, which in turn creates air pockets between each bead. Therefore, MycorrPlus has the potential to transform dense soil types into aerated lower-density topsoil.

This account, from North Carolina, reflects the transformational power of the product:

I don’t know what kind of soil you have down there in Georgia but here we have red clay. Red clay doesn’t crumble when you disk it. This soil out here just smooths right out, and you can only use it one time. A year after I applied MycorrPlus, my neighbor saw what I did and asked me, ‘did it do you any good?’ I grabbed a handful and walked up to him and said, ‘Hold your hand out.’ He held his hand out and I just mashed my hands together and dumped it into his hand. He said, ‘I don’t believe that, do it again.’ The soil just crumbled!

 Moisture retention and Flood Prevention

As the soil becomes highly structured due to carbon sequestration, there is less and less standing water in the field. Soil becomes a “moisture bank”. Since soil handles available moisture so much more efficiently when treated by MycorrPlus, irrigation can be reduced by over thirty percent.

The healthy, structured soil leads to much less water standing in the field after heavy rains, improving the absorption of water into the soil with each passing year, as attested to by this farmer in New York about their experience with MycorrPlus:

“We planted a pumpkin patch, 40 feet by 80 feet, in late June of 2018. It got an application of MycorrPlus with a half cup mixed with water and used it to set seed at planting. Even with incredible amounts of rain, the garden was the most productive ever! Normally, with as much rain as we got, the garden would have drowned. We planted sweet potatoes in late June of 2018. We made a raised bed 4 feet by 50 feet. We used half a cup of MycorrPlus mixed with water. The vines grew and spread to 20 feet in length. At harvest, we found the soil very loose and crumbly. The tubers were large and well formed. We had a bumper crop!”

The expertise behind AG-USA and the development of MycorrPlus comes from a multi-generational search for soil health solutions. In 1969, animal nutritionist Paul Schneider started Tech Ag with a program of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients fed to cattle to maximize their health. After many years in the business, Paul realized that the only way to take things to the next level was through improving the soil, which in turn would improve the nutrients in crops. Now, two of Paul’s sons, along with other family members, have joined him in his quest for soil excellence. Schneider’s son, Paul Jr., under the company name AG-USA, developed the product that seems to have achieved Paul Sr.’s lifelong goal: MycorrPlus. 

Rasmus Sayre is a returned volunteer from Peace Corps Madagascar. He studied Political Science and Economics at Eckerd College. In his junior year, he was shortlisted for the school’s writing excellence award, given to the handful of students showing the highest level of writing and research aptitude. Rasmus is a passionate outdoorsman and came to environmentalism through an appreciation for his time spent outside. He feels that at the intersection of socioeconomic progress and environmental protection lies our planet’s greatest challenge. Therefore, Rasmus is excited about the climate solution that Remineralization and Enhanced Rock Weathering provides and is eager to help spread the word.