Using Baseball Field Drying Agent Properly Will Save More Than Just Your Ga

Rain outs cost sports organizations thousands of dollars every year.  With so many drying agents on the market today, which ones do you use and which ones should you avoid?  There are several different types of soil conditioners and dying agents.

Vitrified Clay drying agents also known as expanded shale and clay.  These products are fired or baked in a rotary kiln at over 2000 ºF. 

Montmorillonite Clay drying agents are clay that is crushed, screened and baked at temperatures up to 1800 ºF.

Calcined Clay drying agents are also fired in rotary kilns between 1200 and 1400 ºF.

Many customers have a tendency to over use drying agents.  This over use can cause more issues later down the road.  Over use of these products can result in dusty, rock hard playing surfaces.  If fine particle drying agents are your only option, I would recommend that once the excess water is absorbed, the material should be removed.

You may, and I do, recommend that you use the larger particle soil conditioners as your preferred drying agents.  These products will soak up just as much water as the fine particles.  Plus you are already topdressing with these products so there is no long term damage to your infield mix.

One product currently being sold by Advanced Turf Solutions is Rain Out.  Rain Out is a co-polymer powder that will absorb over 250 times its own weight in water.  It is a non-toxic and non-hazardous product.  The application is quicker and much easier than lugging around 50 pound bags.  Doubles as an excellent soil conditioner that helps minimize the amount of labor needed to get you game in.  But, most importantly, this 10 lbs bucket replaces 1 skid (40 bags) of your regular bagged drying agents.

(ABOVE) This puddle at the base of this little league pitchers mound was completely dried up with less than 8oz of this product.

If you are uncertain on which drying agent best suits you and your fields, contact your local Advanced Turf Solutions sale rep and request a demo of all of these products.  See for yourself… because it is true, “seeing is believing”.

Best Regards,
Josh Cook
Sales Representative
Cincinnati, Ohio