Starch Is Great Guar Substitute for Erosion Control
We often get calls from people in the erosion control industry looking for organic substitutes to guar tackifiers. They typically contact us for one of two reasons – either they’re always on the search for new and improved products, or they’ve experienced supply problems with guar tackifiers.
While we can’t deny guar is an effective tackifier, there are a number of reasons you may want to consider starch as a guar substitute if you’re in the erosion control industry:
Supply advantages
Starch-based erosion control tackifiers are typically processed from corn or potatoes. Both of these vegetables are grown in huge quantities with relative ease in the United States. While these vegetables do face supply pressure, it’s almost unheard of to have a shortage of potatoes or corn. On the other hand, guar is a legume primarily grown in India and Pakistan. It depends on fairly specific soil, climate and rain conditions for a strong crop – one unstable weather pattern and you’ll see prices skyrocket. Simply put, you’ll find a more stable supply with starch.
Price stability
Guar is not immune to the laws of supply and demand. Over the past few years the price of guar has had more peaks and valleys than a roller coaster at Six Flags. In fact, the price for guar has more than tripled since 2005. According to Bloomberg News, guar prices are currently at a record high due to increased use by the oil and gas industry as an additive for fracking. It’s also used as an additive in food and household products to thicken liquids. On the other hand, prices for starch have largely remained stable and predictive.
Equal Performance
Let’s face it, if starch didn’t perform it wouldn’t matter how it’s priced compared to guar or how much of it is available. The fact of the matter is the chemical makeup of starch and guar is nearly identical, which allows starch to perform extremely well as a tackifier. In fact, we had our StarTak® 600 product tested at the Soil Erosion Research Lab at San Diego State University, where lab technicians raved about its performance under extreme rainfall conditions. You can watch this video to view the testing procedure and see how our starch product performs:
American-sourced
We won’t claim you’ll win more bids simply by using starch. But most erosion control projects offered by the Federal Highway Department or a state department of transportation recommend using local products whenever possible. Indicating you use American-made starch may give you a slight advantage during the highly competitive bidding process.
Our next post will be in two weeks, where we will explore the advantages of American-sourced starch over imports in greater detail. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment or contact me if you have any questions about using starch as a guar substitute.
-Cory Bernu
Director of Research and Development