Chad Rubbelke regularly works to solve agronomic problems in interesting ways. As a director of an on-farm research business with a footprint in North Dakota and Iowa, and a 3,000-acre farmer himself, he approaches long-standing struggles with optimism that the next idea may just work.
And he’s found one for his geography when it comes to phosphorus.
In what he says is a “game-changer” for the past four years Rubbelke has been applying CG P2X (formerly Crystal Green) from Ostara.
“Boiled down: we have high pH soils, inclement weather issues, and we don’t have a good area for phosphorus utilization,” he says.
Previously, his farm, which focuses on canola, durum, hard wheat, soybeans, flax, peas, and sunflowers, applied 100 to 120 lb. dry granular MAP (11-52-0).
“With the 11-52-0, it’s water-soluble and very inefficient, so we never got to see good usability within the plant,” he says. “We pay a high cost for 11-52-0, but we are so inefficient on usability with only using 5% of the value we stick into it.”
CG P2X is formulated to be organic acid soluble—not dependent on the availability of water, and its plant uptake is triggered by naturally released plant exudates. Ostara says it’s made to be phosphorus on-demand and rates can be cut 25% or more because of the improved plant usability.
“The plant will take what it needs, and then actually what the plant does not need is still there for following crops, and it stays out there in the field,” reports Tom Snipes, CEO of Ostara. The St. Louis-based agtech firm specializes in nutrient recovery and fertilizer technology.
For growers, that means less nutrient loss, more season-long availability, and residual value that carries into future crops.
“With our product, you get like 98% efficiency,” Snipes said during a discussion with Farm Journal at the 2026 Commodity Classic.
That efficiency lets Ostara make this offer to farmers: keep the per-acre spend the same, but apply about 30% less product and still improve nutrient availability.
“They can spend the same amount per acre as they’re spending today, like if they’re on a MAP program, but because of the lack of efficiency in MAP, you can go out at a 30% decreased rate with our product, and you’re still going to get more available nutrient,” Snipes says.
“[The product] is more expensive per ton. But usability wise, you are getting 95% efficiency vs. 5% efficiency. So, it blows 11-52-0 out of the water when it comes to usability and what you are paying for to get,” he says.
He reduced his application rates to be 78 to 80 lb. per acre. Last year was the first year he applied CG P2X to his entire farm.
“We’ve seen real benefits when applied year in and year out. The more years we apply [CG P2X] the more we see yield increases. Whatever isn’t needed this year is still intact and available for the next season, so its value just builds. That’s the reason I went full-farm this year,” he says.
Rubbelke says with his clay-based, high pH soils, phosphate usability is low and varies greatly. When the soil pH is 7, phosphate usability is 30 ppm, and when the soil pH climbs up to 8.2, phosphate usability is 2.4 ppm.
“We’ve worked with a lot of alternatives to the previous dry fertilizer we relied on, but what surprised me the most about [CG P2X]
is the handling. It’s the consistency is the same as our previous product—there’s no over and above practice change,” he says.
Snipes notes the product doesn’t require a new system or process for farmer use. “We don’t ask for really any change of behavior, other than dropping your current phosphate source and using our phosphate source at a slightly reduced rate,” he says. “The farmer’s application methods, their timing, everything—it is the same.”
As for blending with other products, Rubbelke says his farm has mixed with micros and macros without issue.
“My goal is to help the farm be environmentally stable, safe, and sustainable while flourishing and outcompeting on the field with yield. [CG P2X] is light years ahead of other P sources. In our waterways, it checks a box as it’s environmentally superior so that when we use this product, it’s staying on the field,” he says.
