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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen.

Titan XC Adding Value to Indiana Corn Program

July 24, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

A check-in on a corn trial near New Salem, Indiana, shows that Titan XC is adding value to the grower's standard corn program, resulting in bigger roots, plants and stalks where Titan XC-treated fertilizer was used.

“When we compared the plants we pulled, we consistently saw larger root masses, thicker stalks and larger plants on the treated side of the field compared to the untreated side," said Nutrien Ag Solutions' Sierra Gearhart, who is operating the trial.

In this trial, Titan XC was applied at 1 pint/ton to the grower's standard dry fertilizer, which was spread in the spring. In addition to using Titan XC to improve nutrient availability from the dry fertilizer, the trial also included a Nitrain, a nitrogen stabilizer, on the urea and ESN.

We look forward to seeing the results of this trial at harvest!

[UPDATE: Treating the grower's standard dry fertilizer with Titan XC led to a yield advantage of +17 bu/a (240 bu/acre with Titan XC vs. 223 bu/acre untreated) and a $57/acre net return to the grower.]

Learn more about using Titan XC on your acres by contacting your local Nutrien Ag Solutions location or downloading the Titan XC booklet to see how you can increase nutrient availability and improve plant performance.

Increase in Corn Yield, Nutrient Uptake with Fall-Applied Titan XC

July 15, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

Whether growers spread dry fertilizer in the fall or spring, Titan XC can help ensure that more of their applied nutrients are used by the crop to maximize yield potential.

In this Minnesota field trial, treating the grower's fall-applied dry fertilizer blend (13-60-70-20S) with Titan XC at 1 pint/ton led to an 11.22 bushel/acre corn yield increase compared to no treatment.

Prior to harvest, tissue samples showed greater uptake of key nutrients by the plant when Titan XC was used.

"We saw a 17% increase in phosphorus and potassium and a 7-8.5% increase in sulfur, zinc and boron in the plant with Titan XC," noted Mike Amundson, location manager for the MN/SD Division of Nutrien Ag Solutions, which operated the trial.

Learn more about Titan XC by downloading the Titan XC product booklet.

Jeff van Kalker Joins Agricen as Director of Operations

July 8, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

Jeff van Kalker Agricen Jeff van Kalker, a tested operations and supply chain innovator, has joined Agricen as Director of Operations. In his new role, Jeff is responsible for overseeing safety, quality, capacity planning and logistics at the facilities where Agricen's biological and biochemical products are manufactured.

Prior to joining Agricen, Jeff was director of operations at Ecolab, a global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services, where he developed multiple new products and product lines that significantly increased revenue and profitability.

“Jeff has a track record of developing and managing best practices in manufacturing, supply chain, distribution and plant operations. He will be a tremendous asset to Agricen as we continue to expand our manufacturing capacity and develop new products and technology,” said John Wolf, Agricen’s Senior Director of Innovation.

Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is a certified Lean Six Sigma deployment leader.

We're happy to welcome Jeff to the team!

Explore some of Agricen's commercialized technologies by downloading the Biocatalyst Technology FAQ booklet.

Smrithi Rajagopal Named Solutions Innovation Manager at Agricen

May 23, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

We are happy to welcome Smrithi Rajagopal as Agricen's Solutions Innovation Manager.

Smrithi will focus on determining the feasibility of commercializing new and emerging technologies, working with different stakeholders to identify customer needs and validate business and technical requirements for targeted plant health solutions. She will also manage and lead multidisciplinary project teams to advance the development and market introduction of new plant health products and technologies.

“Smrithi brings the right balance of product marketing, project management and scientific skills to advance our processes for bringing plant health solutions to market,” said John Wolf, Agricen’s Senior Director of Innovation. “She will also play an instrumental role in developing and implementing new education programs for our client customers to help them fully understand the role and functioning of our sustainable biocatalyst technologies.”

Prior to her new appointment, Smrithi was a process engineer and research associate with Agricen Sciences, Agricen’s sister company. Previously, she was a graduate research assistant at the University of Cincinnati. She holds a Master of Science degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the University of Texas, a Master of Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from Anna University in Chennai, India.

Please join us in welcoming Smrithi!

Explore some of Agricen's commercialized technologies by downloading the Biocatalyst Technology FAQ booklet.

It’s All About the Roots!

April 1, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

By Maud Hinchee, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Agricen Sciences

It’s spring, and newly germinated seedlings are revving their engines!

Once a seedling has secured a foothold with its root, it uses the power of its photosynthetic engines to drive growth. Sunlight is the fuel source, enabling the plant to produce the proteins, lipids and carbohydrates it needs to make new leaves and new roots. To create these internal building blocks, the seedling must mine and extract raw materials from the soil in the form of water, macronutrients and micronutrients.

How does a root prospect? Unlike the “49ers” who picked up their stakes and often travelled great distances to join the California Gold Rush, a plant is literally rooted to its home. Often, its immediate home is not choice real estate with plentiful water and nutrients on tap, so the plant needs to be able to find water and nutrients, sometimes at great distance, and “sluice” them back through its root system to the growing shoot.

Crop plants are lucky, as growers work to ensure that the necessary nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, are available for their germinating seeds through careful fertilization. However, added nutrients are not necessarily distributed evenly in the soil. Nitrogen, typically applied as nitrate or ammonia, tends to move relatively easily and homogenously down through the soil, while phosphorus tends to be bound up quickly with metals and is typically found in patches nearer to the soil surface.

The most productive plants are ones that can efficiently find and utilize nutrients – no matter where they might be distributed in the soil – by “sniffing” them out with their growing root tip, which has nutrient receptors that function similarly to the receptors found in our nose. These receptors can sense whether or not a nutrient is present. If a root perceives a low or high concentration of a nutrient, it responds by changing its nutrient mining strategy.

If the seedling’s growing primary root senses a low quantity of phosphorus, the seedling shifts its nutrient excavation strategy. It slows its primary root growth and produces a higher density of long, lateral roots that can better prospect for bioavailable phosphorus typically found in the topsoil. If a lucky lateral root finds a rich pocket of bioavailable phosphorus, then additional root proliferation and root hair formation may occur to fully mine that motherlode.

In the case of nitrogen, which tends to be distributed more deeply and homogenously in the soil, the primary root continues to drive down into the soil, producing lateral roots that are relatively evenly distributed along its length. If the root senses that nitrogen levels are becoming low, then it devotes energy to lateral root growth to increase its access to larger soil volumes.

The root system doesn't find its nutrients by chance! As the seedling journeys towards its ultimate goal of reproducing, it actively modifies its root system to best drill into a rich vein of water or nutrients.

Growers can help, too, by using biocatalyst technologies that increase root mass and enhance root development, allowing plants to better mine the nutrients they need to grow and yield optimally.

Learn more about biocatalyst technologies by browsing Agricen's collection of resources, which includes product studies, videos and publications.

Agricen Appoints John Wolf as Senior Director of Innovation

March 19, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

With plant health innovation at the core of our business, we are pleased to announce that John Wolf has been appointed as Senior Director of Innovation. In this role, John will define, identify, and lead new innovation initiatives and strategies, with a focus on developing new technologies to improve plant health in agriculture and related industries.

John rejoins Agricen after serving for four years as general manager of CH Biotech R&D Co., a developer of plant health and nutrition technologies that is also a strategic partner of Loveland Products.

“John’s recent experience running a research and development-focused company is a tremendous asset as we develop and commercialize new plant health technologies and grow into new markets and geographies,” said Michael Totora, Agricen's President and CEO.

Previously, John directed commercial development at Agricen. He has also held several management positions at Loveland Products, with responsibilities spanning sales, technical support and marketing within the company's plant nutrition business and sales and marketing of specialty agricultural chemicals in Asia. Earlier in his career, John served as general manager at Applied Spray Technologies and as product manager for the adjuvants and micronutrients business of United Agri Products.

Please join us in welcoming John!

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Learn about Agricen's innovative technologies by accessing our Biocatalyst Technology FAQ booklet.

Corn Yield Advantage with Accomplish LM in Nebraska Trial

March 14, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

Results of an on-farm trial in Nebraska show the ability of Accomplish LM to help corn growers maximize the yield potential of their crops.

In the trial, which took place in Beatrice, Nebraska, adding Accomplish LM to the grower's standard fertilizer practice increased corn yield by an average of 13.16 bushels per acre, for a profit of $36.71 per acre.

The grower's standard practice was dual placement of NH₃ and 10-34-0 in a banded application. In the treated areas, Accomplish LM was added at 1 quart/acre to the 10-34-0 during fertilizer application in the fall of 2017.

Based on the results of this trial, the grower will be using Accomplish LM on all 1,200 acres of corn in 2019.

Accomplish LM is perfect for banded and in-furrow applications, as well as for mixing with broadcast liquid blends. Learn more by downloading the Accomplish LM product booklet.

Biocatalyst Technology for Agriculture: Frequently Asked Questions

March 5, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

ACCOMPLISH MAX, EXTRACT PBA and TITAN XC are biocatalyst technologies available from Loveland Products through Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Powered by naturally derived biochemical technology, these products are designed to increase nutrient availability from applied fertilizers, promote nutrient mineralization in the soil to increase existing nutrient availability, and support root growth through biochemical interactions with the plant and soil. ACCOMPLISH MAX also contains a kelp-derived technology that helps increase a plant's tolerance to abiotic stresses such as cool temperatures, fertilizer salts, dry conditions or heat.

Our booklet, "Biocatalyst Technology: Frequently Asked Questions," explains:

What ACCOMPLISH MAX, EXTRACT PBA and TITAN XC are
How the products work
When to use them
How biocatalyst technology can increase nutrient use efficiency and help growers get more out of their fertilizer investment

Learn more about these products for agriculture by downloading the booklet.

Grower Story: Implementing Sustainable Residue Management Practices

January 23, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

Broken O Ranch in Augusta, Montana, is a farming operation that grows wheat, barley, alfalfa, flax, canola and chickpeas on about 12,000 irrigated acres.

A big concern at the ranch is how to handle crop residue without burning it. Most states around Montana have banned all burning of residue. Dale Clark, the farm manager at Broken O Ranch, feels that it's only a matter of time before the practice is banned in Montana as well. But he also has bigger issues with the practice.

“Burning residue not only takes time and labor, but it also adversely affects the availability of soil moisture because the ground becomes harder after burning," says Dale. "More than that, it negatively impacts nutrient availability. Nutrients are lost when ash is blown by the wind and redeposited or carried off.”

"At Broken O, we’ve been looking for a sustainable solution that we can implement right now,” he says.

Broken O Ranch Montana

A fall view from the farm shop at Broken O Ranch

Striving for a residue management system that dovetails with his no-till approach to farming, Dale tried EXTRACT PBA in the fall of 2017 after a large harvest, applying it on three circles of straw (one durum wheat, one spring wheat and one malt barley). Dale's durum wheat and malt barley yields that year topped 120 bu/acre, while his spring wheat reached 95-100 bu/a. On a dry matter basis, the straw in the durum wheat field alone was approximately 6 tons/acre.

With the goal of breaking down the large amount of residue from his harvest and recycling carbon and nutrients back into the soil profile*, Dale applied EXTRACT PBA at a rate of 1 gal/acre with 2 gallons of UAN 32% through a center pivot with 1-inch of moisture.

In the spring at planting, Dale's no-till drills were able to make it through the durum residue successfully. Root balls from the previous crop broke apart, and the residue was decomposed enough to allow for planting. In the spring wheat field, excessively large windrows had been created by the combine at harvest. The concentration of residue into large windrows unfortunately proved too big a challenge for the rate of EXTRACT PBA that was used, and the field was burned. The field of barley straw was also burned due to excessive residue from the large crop.

Residue management is critical for soil health, soil moisture management, and nutrient management, all of which can lead to more sustainable crop yields. Previously, Dale’s main option for residue management at Broken O Ranch was to burn the residue. He now feels like he has another option—EXTRACT PBA—which allowed him to spare one field from being burned. This not only saved time and labor, but also had soil and plant health benefits.

Dale will continue to experiment with higher rates of EXTRACT PBA to sustainably break down his large amounts of residue and mineralize nutrients produced by his high-yielding crops^†.

Learn more about EXTRACT PBA by downloading the EXTRACT PBA booklet.

*Typically, one ton of wheat straw contains 9-12 lbs of nitrogen, 3-4 lbs of phosphorus (P₂O₅) and 25-45 lbs of potassium (K₂0). The nitrogen and phosphorus in cereal grain residue is in an organic form that is not available for plants to use as fertilizer. It must be broken down into inorganic plant-available forms: NH₄₊ (ammonium) and HPO₄ (hydrogen phosphate), respectively.

†In previous wheat residue trials where cereal grain yield topped 100 bu/acre, an application of the biocatalyst technology in Extract PBA at 3 qts/acre led to a statistically significant increase in crop yield (at .05) when applied with 1 or 2 gallons of UAN 32 %.

Effective Residue Decomposition – Is More Nitrogen the Answer?

January 14, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

By Stephen Sexton (@AgricenLifer), Agricen

Yellow seedlings are a familiar sight for many corn growers. On continuous corn acres, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio can be more than double the optimal ratio* for crop residue decomposition due to the buildup of organic matter from multiple years of corn-on-corn rotations. Even if a grower has applied nitrogen during the previous fall or around spring planting, soil microbes can out-compete seedling corn plants for nitrogen when excess carbon is present. The microbes use the nitrogen as a food source, immobilizing it as they work to degrade crop residues; the seedling corn plants, meanwhile, turn yellow due to a lack of available nitrogen.

One effective way to solve the problem of yellow corn seedlings in corn-on-corn rotations is to lower soil C:N ratios by baling corn stalks for winter cow feed. Unfortunately, this is really only practical if one has cows—and most row crop farmers do not. In addition, complete removal of corn residue also takes away a significant amount of the N, P and K that comprises corn stover (Table 1).

Table 1. Nutrient Removal Chart for 200 Bushel Corn Residue

A second option for making sure seedling corn has enough nitrogen is obvious enough: apply more nitrogen to meet the needs of both the soil microbe system and the seedling corn. A common approach in the Corn Belt is to broadcast 10-15 gallons of UAN 28% on corn residue after harvest, with the idea that the extra nitrogen will facilitate rapid decomposition of the corn residue.

But more nitrogen isn’t necessarily the best or only solution for row crop growers. Numerous field trials show that ACCOMPLISH technology, which is found in the product EXTRACT PBA, can accelerate the breakdown of crop residues, even on no-till acres. The concentrated biochemistry in the product also effectively releases nutrients tied up in the stover—with resulting yield increases at harvest time.

Research conducted at the University of Illinois illustrates the value of residue management using EXTRACT in a corn on corn system. In that trial (below), both mechanical chopping and the addition of ammonium thiosulfate (AMS), a nitrogen source, tended to increase yield through improved residue management, but only through the addition of EXTRACT did corn yield begin to exceed statistically significant levels.

The practice of using EXTRACT to increase nutrient efficiencies in high-residue fields is supported by data from numerous trials, such as the corn trial from Indiana below, where a residue management application of EXTRACT in corn on corn acres resulted in a +8.78 bu/a yield increase at harvest compared to untreated acres.

Typically, residue applications with EXTRACT are made in October, when the ambient air and soil temperatures are cooling. The concentrated biochemistry in the product will continue to decompose corn residue even in cooler soil temperatures.

For any grower, it can be a challenge to optimize nutrient release from crop residue—and to get those nutrients mineralized in time for the growing season. But “more nitrogen” isn’t always the answer. Making EXTRACT part of your program is a cost-effective way to unlock the nutrients tied up in your stover, and keeps your seedling corn green.

*A C:N ratio of 20-30:1 is optimal.

Learn more about EXTRACT PBA by downloading the Maximizing Nutrient Release from Crop Residue booklet.

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