Why Does Fish Fertiliser Work So Well?

After they start using ExcelCrop liquid fish, people almost always tell us their properties are the envy of their neighbours. So we give them this to help explain why ExcelCrop fish fertiliser works so well. At ExcelCrop we make our fish from a process called hydrolysis. Hydrolysis transforms solid whole fish waste material into a liquid solution or suspension.

The organic components of the fish waste such as its protein, oil (fat) and bone are reduced to extremely small particles forming fish hydrolysate, a product rich in protein and all the key minerals and trace elements. The process divides mineral-rich proteins (long molecular chains of protein) into smaller components such as peptides and ultimately amino acids.

The purpose of breaking down the protein is to make the nutritional elements (amino acids) available for easy absorption. The same process is utilized in the digestive system of humans to break down food into its smallest elements so the body (you) can digest it.

So what you get is a rich liquid fish fertiliser ready for pasture and plants to feed on Fish hydrolysate is very different from so-called fish emulsions made from fish solubles. Those products are not hydrolysed and don’t contain the nutrient-rich profile of ExcelCrop. They are produced as a byproduct of the fishmeal manufacturing process producing “stickwater”. During these processes water and dissolved nutrients are squeezed out of the fish to make the press cake for final drying in ovens. The stick water is often then sold as fish emulsion. Squeezing fish waste only removes some of the nutrients – the best part is left over for the fish meal. So with stickwater or fish emulsion, you don’t get the same goodness and nutrients as you do from the hydrolysate.

Fish hydrolysate utilizes all the goodness in fish and therefore contains the whole spectrum of fish nutrients including all eleven recognised major minerals and trace elements required for sustained healthy plant growth.