Founded in 1925 by H. Clay Kellogg, a surveyor and orange farmer, Kellogg discovered its roots in a dry riverbed in Santa Ana, California. During the 1920s it was a widely held belief that farmlands, like mine fields had a finite capacity. Citrus farmers were told to abandon groves when their yields would drop off. The concept of sustainability did not exist. That is until H. Clay discovered Nitrohumus. Named for the two dominant characteristics that he could measure, the black sediment that he discovered in the dry Santa Ana riverbed performed miracles when he applied it on his orange trees.

Friends, neighbors, and passersby admired his beautiful yard and were astonished by the yield of his orange trees. H. Clay thought he would make alot of money selling Nitrohumus® however the farmer of the 1920s was not convinced that anything could be applied to a "depleted" orange grove to make it thrive.

So H. Clay set out to prove the benefits of his miraculous soil amendment. He acquired 10 acres of an orange grove known to be "depleted" and spread a generous amount of Nitrohumus®. When the orange yields increased, H. Clay traded his thriving 10 acre orange grove for a "depleted" 20 acres. Pretty soon the local farmers caught on and began buying Nitrohumus® instead of trading their land away. Thus began the sustaining practice of restoring soils as you farm.

The company’s founder,
H. Clay Kellogg

As the years passed and the post WWII boom hit southern California, Kellogg settled into its primary location today, Carson, California. Many of the rural farm areas became urban. Kellogg had to seek out new markets for its organic soil amendments and fertilizers. In 1953, H. Clay Kellogg, Jr., son of the founder, purchased Globe Fertilizer and began seeking in earnest the homeowner and retail garden shop as customers.

H. Clay Kellogg, Jr.