Historical Development and Conflict of Global Fertilizer Usage
The definition of fertilizer is as follows; a chemical or natural substance that is added to soil or land to increase its fertility. Throughout time, the ways in which that definition was fulfilled had changed. Widespread chemical availability was only invented in 1913, when a scientist Carl Bosch innovated upon the previous discovery of Fritz Haber. Creating a way to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen using particular catalysts and a controlled environment, thus the Haber-Bosch process unlocked mass production.
However such a discovery is only a crescendo at the end of a very, very long orchestra. Fertilizer has had such a grip on the major powers of the world that it dictated wars, assassination attempts and even entire economies. Its usage has had much evolution though, so it may be difficult to recognize the gravity such a thing could have had.
Ever heard of the term “Bat Shit Crazy”? We all have, that’s because up until around the 1890’s, Guano, the dried up fecal matter of bats or sea birds, was the worlds first choice fertilizer. There was little alternative that could provide the nutritional boost to crop fields in what was considered sustainable quantities at the time. Guano acted as a slow release fertilizer that could hold food production to greater demands, and eventually the demand grew so much that leaders of kingdoms and countries would compete for their supply of guano.
The highest production of guano in the 1800’s was from a series of colonies owned by Spain at the time. Territories we know as Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Columbia. Essentially every territory along the Pacific Ocean was involved in guano production. Which primarily involved the harvesting of dried out layer cakes on islands from the coastline. Then bagging and labeling, dating and including its place of origin. Splicing with cheap knock offs and misrepresentation of quality was as large an issue for the guano trade as it is with cartels changing ingredients to increase profits.
Trying to control the trade and assert security over its growing colonies, Spain established a military presence within the area. Enforcing taxation and regulation of exports, the unrest grew over the years. Starting with a street fight between Spanish and Peruvian residents, resulting in a dead Spaniard and injured Peruvians. The response was dictated by local authorities to be an act of independence and thought no further action was necessary. Spain took action to this by establishing a blockade of Peruvian ports and garrison on the Chincha Islands, the primary source of guano for Peru, a whopping 60% of its economic trade at the time.
Aware of this growing military control, nearby colonies began to rebel, ultimately Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador were all at war together against Spain. Fighting for independence and freedom from occupation. The war itself lasted until 1865 to 1879, resulting in thousands of lives lost, cities burned, ships sunk and major economic unrest across the globe from the disruption in guano supply. So much so that the United States government issued a formal protest upon the conflict and essentially deputized independent citizens with the authority to sail out and claim any island with guano for supply to the states, an action with no historical parallel. It was becoming known that the supply was not as stable as it seemed, even despite the conflict, growing populations needed larger farms and the layer cakes quite simply weren't forming fast enough. This growing uncertainty for our nation was attempted to be catalyzed upon by an infamous conspirator, John Wilkes Booth.
Booth had planned on the killings of three major influential government figures to destabilize the Union, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and William Seward. When I mentioned that America had deputized its citizens to claim guano rich islands, William Seward was the man responsible. He was a supporter of the common farmer, recognizing the need for fertilizer and also established the purchase of the Alaskan territory. Booth hoped to destabilize the Union’s food supply through his assassination just as much as he hoped to cripple the executive branch through killing Lincoln and Johnson. Fortunately the attempt on Seward's life narrowly failed, resulting in a fractured skull and a sliced jugular, but he lived on to serve his purpose.
The ravenous eyes of the American agricultural industry were now set on a new more local target, bison bones. Already hunted to near extinction as a way to starve out the warring Indian populations, the great plains were now a boneyard. Millions of tons of bones were collected to be ground up and turned into a cheap source of phosphate fertilizer. Never quite taking the place that the guano trade did, but supplemented quite successfully. American guano imports began to decrease around 1870 and the bone collection boom took place right after from the 1880’s to 1890’s. Yet the heyday was short lived and the bone fields were quickly picked clean.
Entering the 1900’s agriculture is largely what we know of it today, as with the invention of previously mentioned widely available chemical fertilizers, but also with a companion that has been in use before even guano, manure. Manure turned out to be one of the most successful forms of animal companionship, as the droppings they leave behind are rich in organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus depending on their diet. A slow release fertilizer that can be used in company of any other short term chemical boost. Having livestock meant having a fresh supply of fertilizer and that quickly became the norm for American farmers. In 100 years manure still holds a major part of modern day agriculture and I don't doubt it will continue on.
Ironically, recent anthropological studies have discovered convincing evidence to believe that ancient Neolithic farmers as far back as 8,000 years ago used manure to fertilize their crops. It is unclear whether it was intentionally spread or a byproduct of their livestock's proximity. Yet the evidence of stable isotopes such as Nitrogen-15, found on ancient grains and oats is consistent with the usage of manure fertilization.