I'm glad I came across this post. I was an engineer at Church & Dwight (Arm & Hammer) for several years. The history of the carbonate is that beef farmers put it out as a salt lick. The dairy farmers noticed that their milk cows that used the lick were producing more milk. The math told them that adding $10 worth of carbonate to the feed would produce an extra $22 worth of milk. Not bad. Church and Dwight couldn't figure out why the feed stores were constantly complaining they were out of stock no matter how much product was delivered.

The problem is that as the supply meets the demand, the demand increases. The company obviously gives delivery priority to the central farming regions of the U.S.

DO NOT USE POWDERED A&H LAUNDRY DETERGENT ON FOOD PLOTS. SURFACTANTS AND ENZIMES WILL WASH INTO THE WATER SOURCES AND AFFECT THE NATURAL BALANCE OF ANY NEARBY NATURAL WATER SOURCE.