75-DAY MOSQUITO ASSURANCE

by Joel Simmons, President of

Carbon based fertilizers are now taking over the industry and this is not about being “organic.” The reason you are hearing so many fertilizer companies talk about carbon in their products is because they are realizing that adding available carbon amendments makes their fertilizers work better. This is because one of the oldest agronomic concepts is being re-evaluated, the carbon to nitrogen ratio.

As the prices of synthetic fertilizers started to rise a few years ago, a lot of companies switched to carbon based fillers and amendments. Then they discovered something interesting - their fertilizers worked better, and the results lasted longer. This is because a carbon based fertilizer provides the microbial populations in the soil the food energy they need to break down fertilizer molecules more efficiently, and completely, into the nutrient forms that the plant can use. This process is how nature intended soil to work.

We still hear the adage that the plant does not know the difference between nitrogen that comes from a synthetic source vs an “organic” source. This is true! The plant does not know the difference but the soil does! Yet another reason why carbon amendments are taking over the industry. When the soil is given a straight diet of synthetic nitrogen it forces the microbes to work overtime. The microbes need food energy, just like our bodies do, and will use up the stored available carbon in the soil. We are not suggesting that traditional synthetic nitrogen products are bad, quite the opposite. We are suggesting that the carbon to nitrogen ratio must be balanced by introducing available forms of carbon along with the nitrogen. The term “soil burnout” is the definition of when microbes are pushed to break down forms of nitrogen using up too much of the available carbon in the soil leaving little carbon for other microbial functions. This is why it is so important to bring carbon along with the chemical forms of nitrogen to the soil.

The available carbon in the soil holds essential moisture that the plant can use and helps to make nutrients more available. It builds humus by digesting ligneous carbon which when left unchecked becomes thatch in turf environments. Lastly, it keeps beneficial microbial populations active, building “checks and balances” for pathogens reducing disease and insect attack that will cause plant stress.

Since 1988 EarthWorks has been leading the way in the discussion of Biological Soil Management, and manufacturing carbon based fertilizers for the sports turf and lawn care markets. The concept of Biological Soil Management is an easy one, as simple as “balance the soil chemistry and feed the soil.” When using a quality soil test, like the ones from Logan Labs in Ohio, we can balance the soil chemistry especially the ratio between calcium and magnesium. If magnesium levels are high in the soil, it forces calcium levels down, and the soil will become compacted. This restricts the movement of air and water through the soil taking away the environment that allows for the proliferation of beneficial soil micro-organisms. The idea behind Biological Soil Management is about creating the soil environment where micro-organisms can live, and their populations can grow fast enough to keep up with our changing turf and ornamental soil conditions.

The science of soil biology is not an easy one. Unlike the static nature of chemistry, a living soil is dynamic. We have only identified about 5% of all living micro-organisms in the soil, yet we have learned a lot over the past ten years. We know that turf is predominately dominated by bacteria, and we have discovered that soil bacteria need a lot of simple carbon amendments like composts and sugars. Recently, Dr. White from Rutgers University discovered a process called rhizophagy. This is the cycle where plants bring microbes into their roots, harvest the nutrients saturating the microbial body, and then send the microbes back to the soil to find more nutrients. Rhizophagy completely supports the idea of promoting the growth of beneficial micro-organisms through carbon based fertility.

EarthWorks is continually trying to better understand how a soil really works and seeks out new science and new technologies that build on the concepts of Biological Soil Management. We have learned that carbon based fertility must be very complex with multiple forms of carbon sources to feed such a large and diverse population of soil microbes. Multiple forms of carbon ranging from very available forms to more sustainable forms make up all of the EarthWorks products. We shy away from building linear forms of carbon based fertilizers where only a few carbon amendments are used. This way we can ensure the complete feeding of all the wide spectrum of microbes in the soil that are so important to successful plant growth. In 2022, we reformulated all our liquid Foliars+ products introducing the concepts of EcoAdaptive Technology. This brings all the chemical ratios into balance as nature intended, and significantly increases nutrient mobility, allowing the plant to build amino acids and proteins more efficiently and intracellularly, reducing disease pressure.

Carbon based fertility has changed the industry and will be its future. For the past 35 years EarthWorks, and now many more companies, are seeing and marketing the value of carbon. Lawns that go into dormancy later and come out earlier, better water holding capacity allowing for the needed reduction in water usage, and a healthier soil environment with less disease pressures are all benefits of Carbon Based Fertility and Biological Soil Management.

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You take pride in every blade of grass from the first tee through the last green. You raise the plants and flowers that in turn bring beauty and value to homes and businesses. Your work is what keeps you in demand.

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By Traci Pitman

“Jason and I work together great as a team, and I knew it would give us a lot more flexibility with our son, his sports, things we wanted to be involved in at his school,” she said. “I’m usually the more conservative one while he’s like, ‘Let’s jump right in,’ but it was the opposite at that time. I just thought we could do it.”

Jason and Brian Dobbins grew up together attending the same local church, and they both worked at fire departments and did pest control on their days off.

“He was a captain at the fire department,” Crystal said. “Everybody loved him. Everybody knew him because of his firefighting. He grew up here and was raised here, and he started his business here.”

Then, tragedy struck. Brian got sick with brain cancer.

“He knew his life was going to be cut short—it was so sad,” Crystal said. “He and his wife spoke, and he really wanted to offer the business to Jason if he wanted to buy it, or they were going to close it down.”

Buying Dobbins Termite & Pest Control was a big decision to make, but Crystal knew it would push their family in the right direction.

“We both quit our full-time jobs— good jobs with very good benefits— and just kind of jumped right in,” she said. “I knew how well we worked together, and I thought this was a great opportunity for us to create our own schedule.”

They chose to use the Maltese cross for the company’s logo to honor Brian, who’d passed away in 2012. His unit number, 530, appears at the bottom of the cross.

At first, Crystal and Jason shared an office above their garage in the community of Taylors, S.C., a suburb of Greenville, S.C. in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Since then, they’ve added six full-time employees and just moved into their first standalone office in the commercial district of Greer, South Carolina.

“So far in ten years of business we’ve never had to advertise,” Crystal said. “It’s all been referrals. To us, referrals are the best compliment we could receive. Our business has grown at a good pace, and we’re excited about growing our business in some of the smaller towns in upstate South Carolina.”

Dobbins Termite & Pest Control offers full pest control, moisture control and termite control services to their clients, which Crystal estimates are 75% residential. Crystal works in the office with a full-time employee who manages the techs’ schedules while Crystal sets Jason’s schedule along with quoting, sales, payroll, insurance, training and general office manager duties.

Soon after they bought the business, Crystal got a call from BWI salesman Myles Ayers. Though they’d been buying from another supplier, Crystal said she remembers telling Jason they should give Myles a shot.

“He has had our best interests at heart for the past eight years,” she said. “Their new facility in Greer, S.C. is closer to our office, and they’re always super helpful and have our orders ready for us. They give us what we need to do our job.”

The thing that surprised her the most about owning a business was how her team would become like a family.

“Knowing that this is ours, and all of our employees are depending on us to provide them with salaries so they can provide for their families—it makes you want to work harder,” she said. “I didn’t expect how close we would be with our techs. We try to get together with the families and do things throughout the year. We have a text thread where we joke around, almost like roasting each other. We’re all friends, and everybody gets along well and works together well.”

Maintaining that culture is important when they’re hiring.

“We’re extremely picky, so it takes us a little longer to find the right person,” Crystal said. “We’re sending that person into someone’s home who trusts us, so I think it’s good to be picky. Our customers trust that we’ll take care of their home and we won’t try to sell them anything that isn’t necessary.”

On top of those high standards, it takes a special person to excel at a job in pest control.

“We’re looking for employees who don’t mind getting in a crawlspace, or don’t mind being outside in the elements for their full-time job,” she said. “Working in a crawlspace is probably the biggest challenge.”

Crystal said Jason is known for taking care of his elderly customers, especially widows.

“At the beginning it was just us, and we got to know them,” she said. “He has changed light bulbs, installed ceiling fans. He’s taken the trash out before. Just little things around the house. We giggle about it. He’s kind of like everybody’s husband, with a to-do list. They tell him they’ll be his adopted grandmother.”

When Crystal and Jason aren’t running their business or traveling as a family, they spend time giving back to the community. Crystal volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Association of Greenville, and Jason serves on the board of Crimestoppers of Greenville. They also donate to the Greer High School athletic department and sponsor the football team, where their 14-year-old son Tritt is a linebacker.

“We’re just trying to get by raising a teenager,” Crystal said. “It’s just us three, and it’s easy to spoil your children when you have an only child. We try to spoil him with experiences rather than things, so we do a lot of traveling.”

Owning their own business awards them the flexibility they need to travel, give back to their community, and spend time together as a family—just as the Galloways had hoped.

Several Co-ops have led the charge in ensuring their members have access to large animal veterinary services. Dusty McClanahan, DVM, currently serves as AgCentral Farmers Cooperative's staff veterinarian and sets as a liason between the Co-op and its animal health partner companies so that member clients can purchase prescribed antibiotics for animals on their operation.