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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
June 13, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

national-corn-growersWhen the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) announced the national winners of the 2017 NCGA corn yield contest earlier this year, four of these top corn producers had something big in common. It was their use of one or more biocatalyst technologies made by Agricen and available from Loveland Products. Over the next few weeks we will profile each of those top producers and talk about how they utilized Accomplish LM, Extract PBA or Titan XC as part of their winning program. This week, we start by featuring Don Stall of Charlotte, Michigan. With a yield of 407.22 bushels/acre, Don placed first in the nation for irrigated corn.

Don Stall: 1st Place — Irrigated Corn

Location: Charlotte, MI

Yield: 407.22 bu/acre - $743.04/acre ROI

Hybrid: Pioneer

Products Used: Accomplish LM, Titan XC and Extract PBA

Serviced by: Clay Martz, Branch Manager & Consulting Agronomist, Nutrien Ag Solutions - Woodbury, MI

2017 NCGA National Winner Irrigated Corn-Grower Don Stall (left)-CPS Clay Martz (right)

2017 Irrigated Corn Winner Don Stall (left) is pictured above with Clay Martz (right), Nutrien Ag Solutions Branch Manager.

Don Stall is a sixth-generation farmer who runs an operation near Charlotte, Michigan. A Marine Corps veteran, Don returned to farming in 1986 after spending six years in the service. Today, he lives one mile from his family's original homestead, which was founded after his ancestors migrated from Ohio to Michigan in 1836.

Since first entering the NCGA corn yield contest in 2004, Don has had some very impressive results. In addition to finishing in fourth place nationally several times, he has been the Michigan state winner eight times, including in the most recent competition.

Last year was a first for Don, however, when he won first place nationally in the Irrigated Category. With a corn yield of nearly 407.22 bushels per acre, he nudged just past defending category champion Randy Dowdy (406.06 bushels per acre) in the 2017 competition.

Meet Other NCGA 1st Place Winners

On the farm, Don uses a corn to beans to wheat rotation and minimum tillages practices, employing vertical tillage on corn to soybeans and a chisel plow in the fall so that corn can be planted the following spring. He describes his soil as heavy and "not very forgiving," with clay and sand loam types and a cation exchange capacity (CEC) ranging from 5-11 meq/100g.

As part of his 2017 winning progam, Don used Accomplish LM, Extract PBA and Titan XC, relying especially on the Titan XC technology to release nutrients from his potassium and MESZ fertilizers. First introduced to Titan about nine years ago by Clay Martz of Nutrien Ag Solutions of Woodbury, Michigan, Don hoped that Titan would make nutrients in dry fertilizer available at a faster pace to plants—and it proved to do just that.

Now I automatically treat dry fertilizer with Titan XC so that nutrients are made available when plants need them,” says Don.

Don Stall Farm Michigan

The Stall farm, located near Charlotte, Michigan. 

Don applies his treated dry fertilizer using variable rate technology (VRT) and says that most of the farm receives 60-70 lbs of treated fertilizer per acre, although some spots receive up to 300 lbs/acre. However, that volume is declining due to increasing soil fertility.

"Soil tests show that Don's soil nutrient levels have been maintained or even increased, with little or no increase in applied nutrients," notes Clay. "That's one of the things we have noticed since using biocatalyst products, which we implemented to improve nutrient availability from fertilizers, residue and the soil."

In the past, Don applied Accomplish LM on crop residue in the fall to facilitate nutrient release. He now uses Extract PBA in the fall, which is the newer residue management product, and has moved his Accomplish LM application to the spring, where he applies it with starter in a 2x2 band.

"Don’s achievements are from a total system program used for about nine years now," says Clay. "Everyone has the same opportunity and no two growers will follow the same program. Identifying when and how an application will work in your operation is key. Knowing your soils and reducing stress to the crop at all times are also critial."

Clay also remarked that having even corn emergence was an important part of Don's success.

"Even hours or a day will make a difference," states Clay. "Don’s harvested crop plants per acre consisted of 96.77 % of planted seeds. This alone was a substantial increase from 2016. What drove it? That's our secret!"

Don's goal for the 2018 NCGA corn yield contest is an ambitious 500 bushels per acre.

"We have more ideas and concepts to put into action," says Clay. "The plan is set and under way now."

(UPDATE: Don won the Irrigated corn category again in 2018 with a whopping 477.68 bu/a yield! Congrats, Don!)

To find out more about the other winners who used biocatalyst products, you can read our profile of Kevin and Shawn Kalb, who won two non-irrigated corn categories, or Jeannie and Wally Linneweber, who placed second in the AA non-irrigated corn category. 

You can also learn more about Accomplish LM, Extract PBA & Titan XC by accessing our Biocatalyst Technology booklet.

Download the Booklet

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May 15, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

Poultry manures and litters are an excellent source of crop nutrients—ones that can be more easily accessed by the crop when EXTRACT PBA, which contains ACCOMPLISH nutrient release technology, is used. In the corn trials below, this biocatalyst technology maximized nutrient release from poultry manures so that more nutrients were available to the crop, leading to higher corn yields.  

In a trial conducted in Kentucky, EXTRACT was spread with UAN over turkey manure in the fall. Soil samples from the treated and untreated plots were taken in January, and showed an increase in the availability of many nutrients with the EXTRACT application. At harvest there was a 16.9 bu/acre corn yield increase where EXTRACT had been applied. 

corn - owensboro 1

corn - owensboro - soil 2Research by the University of Arkansas also shows that biocatalyst technology can improve corn yields in poultry manure applications. In these replicated corn trials, ACCOMPLISH was applied over fresh and pelletized poultry manure at broadcast in the spring. At harvest, the biocatalyst treatment was associated with a corn yield increase of 30.7 bu/acre where fresh poultry manure had been used and 32.8 bu/acre where pelletized manure had been applied. Both findings were statistically significant (P≤0.1).

poultry manure corn 1

 

poultry manure corn 2

For convenience of application, EXTRACT can be applied with burndown herbicides or with pre-emergent herbicides in a fertility program with poultry manure or litter.

Learn more about using biocatalyst technology to release nutrition from poultry manures and litters, swine manure, and cattle manure by viewing our manure studies.

View Manure Studies

 

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May 1, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

In a demonstration conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions in Galesburg, Illinois, EXTRACT PBA was sprayed in fall on a corn field post-harvest. In the following spring, stalks were pulled and split to examine the differences in residue breakdown between treated and untreated parts of the field.

As seen in the photo, the EXTRACT-treated stalks were in a more advanced stage of decomposition than untreated stalks by early spring. 

Download the Extract Product Booklet

extract-corn-stalk-residue-illinoisEXTRACT was sprayed on Nov. 29, 2017. This photo shows corn stalks from treated and untreated parts of the field that were pulled and split on March 23, 2018. 

"I think this picture speaks volumes about product performance due to the fact that EXTRACT was sprayed when nozzles were almost freezing up, and the stalks were pulled when it was nearly freezing outside," says Michael Bern, the crop consultant who performed the demo. "It's a good illustration of how EXTRACT works when the soil microbes technically haven’t even woken up from hibernation."

EXTRACT can be broadcast or applied though fertigation at 1 to 2 gallons/acre, with 1 gallon of UAN/acre recommended and a minimum spray volume of 10 gallons/acre. 

Learn more by downloading the EXTRACT product booklet.

Download the Booklet

 

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April 24, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

Corn Roots-Accomplish Biochemistry ACCOMPLISH MAX, EXTRACT PBA, and TITAN XC contain concentrated biochemistry that helps growers increase nutrient availability to their crops, enhances root growth and functioning, and improves overall plant performance. But, what exactly is biochemistry?

Biochemistry is the chemistry of life. It is created by, in, and from living organisms, such as soil microbes. A number of different biochemistries are created by soil microbes—each serving an important role in soil microbial functioning, and even in plant functioning.

Examples include:

  • Enzymes to break down organic matter or transform N for energy
  • Proteins to signal changes in microbe response
  • Antibiotics to reduce competition
  • Chelators to mobilize nutrients
  • Other compounds to induce plant rooting, change physiological functions, induce immune responses, or increase salt tolerance

By controlling the flow of information between soil microorganisms, biochemistry acts to regulate their activity in everything from the breakdown of bound nutrition to the metabolism of individual microbes.

You can learn more about biochemistry and its role in plant health by downloading our booklet, Understanding Soil Microbiology & Biochemistry

Download the Booklet

 

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April 10, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

Scott LayWe're happy to announce the hiring of Scott Lay as director of business development at Agricen. In his new role, Scott will focus on developing plant health technology partnerships and collaborations in emerging market segments and regions. 

Scott is a seasoned ag industry veteran. He joins Agricen from Loveland Products, where he most recently served as Midwest area sales manager for four years. Prior to that role, Scott was proprietary products manager for five divisions of Crop Production Services (CPS) in Illinois, where he was instrumental in the successful introduction and promotion of leading Loveland brands, including Accomplish LM, Titan XC, and Extract PBA. He has also served in various roles with Bayer CropScience, working with professional farm management, consultants and state commodity managers.

"Agricen’s longstanding relationship with Loveland Products has given me the opportunity to understand the company's unique plant health technology platform and its benefits for growers," said Scott. “I'm excited to be a part of the team and to help connect new markets with Agricen's proven plant health technologies.” 

Please join us in welcoming Scott as the newest member of our team!

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Learn more about Agricen's plant health technologies by accessing our Biocatalyst Technology FAQ booklet.

 Download the FAQ

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March 27, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

Results from cotton, corn and soybean trials conducted in North Carolina and Virginia show how Titan XC can optimize yield potential by enhancing the availability of applied P&K within an annual cropping cycle.

In cotton, treating dry fertilizer with Titan XC led to a yield increase of 328 lbs of lint/acre compared to untreated fertilizer, for a return on investment of over $203/acre for the grower.

Cotton-Conway-NC-Titan-XC-2017.pngCorn trials conducted at five locations in the mid-North Carolina and Virginia region showed an average yield increase of 10.4 bushels/acre with Titan XC-treated dry fertilizer compared to untreated, with an average ROI of $31.60/acre.

Corn-titan-xc-mid-NC-VA-2017-locations.png

Finally, soybean trials conducted at six locations in North Carolina demonstrated an average yield increase of 3.98 bushels/acre when Titan XC-treated fertilizer was used, with an average ROI of $28.84/acre.

soybeans-titan-xc-2017.png

Learn more about using Titan XC as an agronomic tool in your dry fertilizer program by viewing our Titan XC featured studies

View Featured Studies

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February 13, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

Agricen and Taranis, a precision agriculture company, have received a grant from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation to collaborate on a project to advance and commercialize a new precision agriculture system for abiotic stress detection and prevention in row crops. 

Abiotic stresses are environmental or physical impacts on a plant (e.g., drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, nutrient deficiency), and result in billions of dollars of lost crop value each year. The Agricen/Taranis collaboration will address this agricultural challenge by creating a solution that merges the Taranis platform—which incorporates field imaging technology and a deep learning algorithmwith Agricen’s proven biostimulant technologies.

Once developed, the system will be able to be utilized in any geography to help detect and prevent abiotic stress in row crops, saving growers significant time and resources while increasing plant health and yield opportunities.

Identifying drought stress in corn with taranis platform.jpg

A simulation of the abiotic stress detection platform that will be developed is shown in the image above, with red boxes outlining the signs of drought stress in corn. Based on the stress identified, appropriate recommendations can be made—including the use of agricultural biostimulantsto both ameliorate the conditions causing stress and prevent further crop damage.  

Learn more about Agricen's biostimulant technologies by downloading our Biocatalyst Technology FAQ

Download the FAQ

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January 3, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

In this corn field trial from Wood River, Nebraska, a spring application of Extract PBA led to a corn yield result that was 32 bu/a better than check at harvest. Assuming $5.80 bushel corn, the yield result from this trial translates into an ROI of $173.60 per acre.

The trial was conducted in an irrigated corn on corn plot with very high residue. The plot was minimum tilled in front of the planter. Right after planting, Extract PBA was broadcast applied at 1 gal/acre with 1 gal/acre UAN and 8 gal/acre of water. The trial was harvested at the end of October. 

corn-wood-river-NE-extract.jpg

Extract PBA is labeled for both spring broadcast applications and residue management applications.

Learn more about maximizing nutrient release with Extract PBA by accessing the Extract PBA information booklet.

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December 12, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Results from corn trials in central Indiana show the potential for big corn yield gains and ROI with fall-applied Titan XC

In the fall of 2016, Titan XC-treated and untreated dry fertilizer (MES10 and 0-0-60) was applied to three fields in central Indiana using a variable rate technology (VRT) system. The fields were planted with corn in the spring. In the fall of 2017, the corn crop harvested from Titan XC-treated parts of the fields demonstrated both an increased yield and an impressive ROI compared to the crops harvested from the untreated parts of the fields. 

In both the first and second trials, the yield improvement with Titan XC was 12 bu/a compared to untreated, with an ROI of more than $35 an acre. In the third trial, the yield improvement with Titan XC was even more impressive at a whopping 41 bu/a, with an ROI of more than $135/acre.

 corn_new-brunswick-1-titan-xc.jpg

corn_new-brunswick-2-titan-xc.jpg

corn_new-brunswick-3-titan-xc.jpg

Learn more about Titan XC by watching our "Fertilizer Breakdown with Titan XC" video. 

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November 30, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Growers who spread dry fertilizer on corn fields going to soybeans may want to consider the results of this Titan XC trial from Cozad, Nebraska. In a test plot, treating dry fertilizer with Titan XC provided a 14 bushel/acre yield advantage in soybeans compared to the soybean plots where untreated fertilizer was applied.

TitanXC-soybeans.jpg

By accelerating the breakdown of treated dry fertilizers, Titan XC makes nutrients more available for plant uptake and utilization, which can benefit every crop. Learn more by watching a Titan XC webinar

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