Agricultural Fertilizers:

Urea 46 > Overview

Urea 46 - Overview

Urea, a white crystalline solid containing 46% nitrogen, is widely used in the agricultural industry both as an animal feed additive and fertilizer. Commercially, fertilizer urea can be purchased as prills or as a granulated material. In the past, it was usually produced by dropping liquid urea from a 'prilling tower' while drying the product. The prills formed a smaller and softer substance than other materials commonly used in fertilizer blends.

Today though, considerable urea is manufactured as granules. Granules are larger and harder and therefore more resistant to moisture degradation. As a result, granulated urea has become a more suitable material for fertilizer blends.

Urea can be bulk spread, either alone or blended with most other fertilizers. It is recommended that the spreading width not exceed 50 feet when combined with other fertilizer materials. Urea often has a lower density that other fertilizers with which it is blended. This lack of relative weight produces a shorter distance of throw when the fertilizer is applied with spinner-type equipment. In extreme cases this will result in uneven crop growth and 'wavy' or 'streaky' fields.