As manager of the Loveland Research Farm in Owensboro, Kentucky, Tim Sickman is well acquainted with the benefits of applying Titan XC on dry fertilizer. One of the trials that nicely highlights the advantages of Titan XC on dry fertilizer was conducted by his group during the 2015 and 2016 growing seasons in corn and soybean.

"In 2015, we initiated a study in corn on a site that already had a very respectable P and K soil test level," he says. "We took 150 lbs of a 9-23-30 fertilizer blend. In one of the treatments, we impregnated the 9-23-30 with the standard rate of Titan XC of 1 pint per ton of fertilizer. In the other treatment, we simply left that 150 lbs of 9-23-30 untreated."

Tim and his group then monitored the growth and development of the corn throughout the growing season, and harvested at the end of the year.

"When we ran the plot combine, what we saw was an 18 bushel per acre yield increase where Titan XC had been used on the dry fertilizer versus where we had not used the Titan XC," he says.

The team carried the trial forward into 2016, planting soybeans where the corn had been the previous season. However, they did not add any additional dry fertilizer at that time.

"At the end of the season when we harvested the beans...the soybeans actually yielded 5 bushels per acre better where we had used Titan the prior year versus where we had not used Titan on the dry fertilizer," Tim says. 

Tim notes that this trial illustrates a few very important things. First, it shows that Titan XC improves the solubility of the dry fertilizer prill at the time that the initial application is made. It also shows that Titan XC is helping to make applied nutrients available over the long haul.

"Not only did it make those nutrients more available on the soil exchange site and in the soil solution in 2015 when corn was in the field, but it continued to offer good availability of those nutrients to the soybean crop in the subsequent year," he says.

Tim adds that his group also observed an additional benefit.

"At the end of 2016 after soybean harvest, we went out and did an intensive soil sampling of the trial area. What we saw is that the P and K soil test levels were actually higher where we had used Titan XC the prior spring," he says. "So not only did we harvest 18 more bushels of corn and 5 more bushels of soybean where we used the Titan XC, but we actually saw soil test levels climb in that same environment versus where we had used the fertilizer without Titan XC."

Watch this video to hear Tim discuss the trial in his own words. 

You can learn more about Titan XC by downloading the Titan XC Drives booklet.

Since its introduction in Canada several years ago, Titan XC technology for dry fertilizer (sold as Atlas XC) has established a reputation for strengthening yield performance when added to a grower's dry fertilizer practice. Similar to the United States, Nutrien Ag Solutions agronomists there have also measured an increase in soil phosphorus levels when this biocatalyst technology is used to enhance nutrient release from dry fertilizers.

In the Canadian Prairie, Nutrien Ag Solutions' Southeast Saskatchewan Division has performed five years of soil tests to evaluate soil phosphorus levels in four fields belonging to a grower customer. With the help of the Echelon soil sampling app, all cores were taken within 10 feet of the same location each year. Sampling was done in the fall after harvest except in 2020, when samples were taken in May.

Sampling revealed that phosphorus deficiency was a major problem in the fields prior to the grower adopting Titan XC technology on his dry fertilizer. Candice Robinson, Manager of Agronomy Services for the Division, shares that 75.6% of the roughly 26,500 acres sampled in 2018 showed phosphorus deficiency (<25 lb P/acre). Of those deficient acres, 36.7% were critically deficient (<10 lb P/acre).

In spring 2019, the grower used his standard dry fertilizer (50lb/acre of 11-52-0) treated with Titan XC technology on all of the fields. The subsequent fall 2019 soil tests showed a considerable increase in phosphorus levels compared to pre-Titan XC levels, as did the spring 2020 test.

"When soil phosphorus levels are critically low, there is no rapid remedy. Phosphorus is easily tied up in the soil, which makes building phosphorus reserves a slow process," says Candice.

Using a higher rate of phosphorus-based fertilizers isn't necessarily the answer, given the inefficiency of phosphate applications in the first year after application, as well as the risk for seedling injury.

"Growers can only apply a certain amount of MAP fertilizer before salt injury occurs to seedling plants," Candice adds.

But, as these soil tests show, using Titan XC technology to increase phosphorus availability from dry fertilizers can help growers more quickly build soil levels of phosphorus, without the risks and investment associated with simply applying higher rates of phosphate fertilizer. 

Learn more about Titan XC by visiting the Titan XC hub. 

In the fall of 2017, Benjamin Rice, a crop consultant for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Sidney, Illinois, was faced with a challenge. 

He typically recommended Titan XC to his grower customers as a treatment for applied dry phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to help increase yield and profitability. Making the case for using this fertilizer biocatalyst was easy with growers who were blanket spreading dry fertilizers, but demonstrating the value of Titan XC was more complicated with a customer who used variable rate (VRT) applied fertilizer and did not want to pay more for the Titan XC technology. Benjamin needed to figure out a way to prove that Titan XC could have a nutrient efficiency and yield benefit when used with his customer's VRT fertilizer.

Benjamin and his grower devised a large, split-field trial consisting of 320 acres over five fields. Half of the acres would be treated with the grower's standard program (100% VRT-applied P & K), and the other half treated with Ben's program (90% VRT-applied P & K plus Titan XC). The trial was designed so that both programs were identical in cost to the grower. 

Two of the fields were spread with each fertilizer program in the fall of 2017, and the remaining three fields were spread with each program the following spring, in 2018, with no additional applications planned for the trial period. Corn was planted in the spring of 2018.

Yield Results in Corn

At harvest, Titan XC proved its worth. Compared to the grower's standard VRT program, the VRT program with Titan XC-treated fertilizer resulted in an average corn yield increase of +6.8 bu/acre over the five fields, for a net revenue of $23.80/acre (based on corn at $3.50/bu). 

One Application, Two Years of ROI

No additional fertilizer was spread in the fall of 2018 or spring of 2019 for the 2019 soybean crop planted in the trial fields. Even so, Ben’s customer recorded a +2.6 bu/acre soybean yield increase where the Titan XC program had been applied the previous year, for an added return on investment of $22.10/acre (based on soybeans at $8.50/bu).

Summary

In this split-field trial, one application of Titan XC-treated VRT fertilizer resulted in increased yields and profit for the grower over two seasons. The two-year total ROI with VRT fertilizer spread with Titan XC was ~$45.90/acre in this corn/soybean program, with no cost to the grower for the Titan XC technology. With a planned trial period of four years, Ben and his customer continue to analyze the potential for greater nutrient efficiency and higher yields with Titan XC, and the grower is eager to try this biocatalyst technology on his untreated fields at the trial's end. 

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

• Accelerated mineralization and release of nutrients in the soil

• Improved plant vigor
  
  
• Increased plant performance and yield

The benefits of Extract PBA in a corn program are supported by data from numerous corn trials that show the ability of this technology to provide an opportunity for improved crop health, higher yields and a better return on investment. In an analysis of 40 yield comparisons across the Midwest and South, the average yield increase from adding Extract PBA to a corn program was +10.1 bu/acre. 

Learn more about the benefits of Extract PBA in a corn program by downloading the Extract PBA Makes Corn overview.

The new Maritime^® product booklet is now available online.

Maritime increases nutrient and plant functioning to give growers unmatched seed germination, plant growth, and nutrient uptake. It can be used to enhance crop growth and performance both under positive growing conditions and under stress conditions from environmental factors such as drought, heat, or salinity.

The Maritime educational booklet covers:

• Product benefits
• How Maritime works
• Trial results in specialty crops, including lettuce, peppers, and celery
• Uses and rates

What is Maritime?

Maritime is a highly soluble solution of biologically extracted kelp that can be used by growers to augment a balanced crop nutrition system. Maritime stimulates soil microbiota, improves plant growth, and reduces crop stress for better crop quality and yield.

Maritime holds both OMRI and WSDA organic certification. 

Learn more about Maritime kelp technology for agriculture by downloading the digital booklet.

Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Gregg Schmitz has witnessed transformational changes in agriculture–from the birth of modern crop protection to the growth of today's market for ag biostimulants and biologicals, even leading some of the early, pivotal field trials that brought Accomplish technology to Nutrien's row crop customers.

We recently spoke with Gregg about his take on this biocatalyst technology, and why growers who aren't already using Accomplish LM, Titan XC or Extract will want to consider adopting this biochemistry in their fields in 2020.

With a father who was part owner of an agriculture retail facility in Iowa, Gregg grew up in the ag business, working in both retail and wholesale during high school and joining the sales team when he graduated. In 1985, the business was acquired by United Agri Products—which ultimately evolved into Nutrien Ag Solutions. Currently, Gregg serves as Nutrien Ag Solutions' Marketing Manager for the Western Iowa, Eastern Nebraska, South Dakota Division.

Gregg is a sound agronomist who firmly believes in soil health. His 2007-2008 replicated trial results on Accomplish were the springboard for incorporating this technology into Nutrien’s core fertilizer and plant nutrition business.

“In the summer of 2007, I got a call to evaluate a product called Accomplish LM that was then being used in California and other states, mainly on specialty or high value crops," says Gregg. "We decided to spray some strips in the fall of 2007 at a corn test plot we had north of Wall Lake, Iowa. To be honest, I was initially skeptical."

"In the summer of 2008, we started to see some visual differences at the V5-V6 stage of growth," he says. "In the area where we applied Accomplish, the corn leaf color was greener. Below ground, we saw more root mass with the Accomplish treatment. We had roots that extended at least three feet into the soil along with a more fibrous root system. We took these trials to yield and had good ROI on all of the applications we made."

Gregg and his team had also sprayed a few strips on soybeans in the fall of 2007, using the Accomplish that was left over after spraying the corn test strips. He saw benefits with that crop, too, including seeing the soybeans retain their leaves longer prior to harvest.

"Going into the fall of 2008, we set up trials with key customers at each of our divisions to replicate our results on a larger, real-world scale," he says.

Based on observations from his initial Accomplish LM trial work (harvested in 2008) and from subsequent trials testing the technology with customers at different locations over a two-year period, Gregg's skepticism changed into a belief that Accomplish technology could enhance his grower customers' operations. Some of his observations from that period included:

• More mellow, less compacted soils and less residue where Accomplish was applied, allowing for smoother tilling operation

• A customer with tight clay and high pH soils reporting a much more even appearance to his corn field with Accomplish than he had ever seen in past crops–the difference in emergence was right to the line where the trial was applied
  

• A big visual difference in terms of more even color, plant development and tassel emergence–along with a 10+ bu/a yield response–in a large-scale trial testing Accomplish technology with UAN in a corn-on-corn field that had liquid hog manure applied the previous fall

• Carryover effects on crop growth and yield into a second growing season–without additional Accomplish application

Today, Gregg uses a systems or solutions approach to help his customers maximize their ROI on every field, an approach that typically includes 1 gallon per acre of Extract (which contains Accomplish technology) each year. Since 2010, he has also used Titan XC on the majority of dry P&K applications. We asked him why he believes biochemistry is so important to soil health and sustainable crop production.

"There is a quote from Dick Goff, who was an agronomist from Midwest Laboratories in the 1980s. He always said, 'We cannot expect a plant’s productivity to be greater than the foundation and health of the soil.' This quote always stuck with me, as it is about balancing everything we do," says Gregg.

“In my mind, biochemistry is the catalyst to delivering the balance we need to help our customers preserve their ability to maximize productivity and ROI on every acre they farm," he says. "With the Accomplish products, we see many of those benefits, like the development of the roots and the mellowness of the soil, both in the current crop year and even beyond."

With plenty of growers who haven’t yet tried or adopted biological or biostimulant technologies, Gregg encourages them to explore the benefits of biochemistry for improving soil health and crop performance.

“There are over a decade's worth of trials showing how Accomplish biochemistry can benefit our growers," Gregg says. "Doing some hands-on research, even if it's outside of the normal row crop production, can be a good way to build confidence. One way I looked at the technology early on was by using it in my own garden and on my lawn."

"Make sure you dig plants and get your hands dirty," he adds. "It all starts in the roots and the soil.”

Find out why the biocatalyst technology Accomplish LM, Titan and Extract makes a good addition to agronomic programs by accessing the biocatalyst technology booklet.

Our recent webinar, "Overcoming Crop Stress and Improving Crop Quality with Kelp Science Innovations," is now available to watch online.

During the on-demand webinar, you'll learn about:

• The role of kelp technologies in agricultural production
• New, biological methods of kelp extraction and how they have advanced kelp science
• A new kelp technology, Maritime^®, and how it can help improve crop quality and increase abiotic stress tolerance
  

You'll also see recent trial work in a variety of specialty crops, which shows how Maritime performs in field conditions.

Watch this on-demand webinar today to learn about new kelp science innovations and the kelp technology in Maritime.

Every year, growers across the country compete in the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Yield Contest and attempt to push their corn yields as far as they can go. We want to congratulate all of the 2019 winners, with special recognition to the 6 national and 17 state winners who used Accomplish LM, Extract PBA or Titan XC technology on their winning acres!

Among the 2019 winners who used our technology are Health Cutrell, Kevin and Shawn Kalb, Don Stall, Kelly, Cael and Colin Garrett, the Hults family, and Tommy and Valerie Cartrite–many of whom we've profiled on our blog for their previous wins.

Pictured: Kelly Garrett (left), Kevin and Shawn Kalb (top center), Don Stall (bottom center), Heath Cutrell (right).

Congratulations to the winners on your achievements, and we wish all growers success in the coming season!

Learn more about the biocatalyst technology that's helping top corn growers achieve big yields by downloading our FAQ.

Although animal manures can be a rich source of nutrients for crops, the nutrients found in them–whether from swine, beef cattle, dairy cows or poultry–are not always in a form that is readily available for crop uptake.

Phosphorus is a good example. With its negative charge, phosphorus easily binds to positively charged micronutrients, such as those found in animal rations or dairy cow footbath solutions. Once bound, it remains in a form that is unavailable to the plant until transformed through natural processes (e.g., weather, soil microbes) or agronomic management. As a result, growers who have been applying animal manures may see high levels of unavailable phosphorus on their soil tests (indicated by a high Bray P2 value), but a deficit of plant-available phosphorus (low/lagging Bray P1).

Extract PBA, which helps to convert P2 to P1, is one of the agronomic tools available to help growers be more efficient with their nutrient applications by making phosphorus and other nutrients found in manures, crops residues and the soil more readily available for crop uptake.

The concentrated biochemistry in Extract PBA not only helps to break down organic matter, but it can also separate positively charged (+) cations (e.g., calcium, magnesium, aluminum, iron, zinc, copper) from negatively charged (-) anions (e.g., phosphate, nitrate, sulfate, chlorides). As a result, the nutritive value of manure treated with this biocatalyst increases, as seen in the swine manure study below.

By giving crops greater access to plant-available forms of phosphorus and other important nutrients found in manures, Extract PBA can help growers improve their nutrient use efficiency and help crops better reach their yield potential, as seen in these and other trials. Extract PBA can also help protect against nutrient loss to the environment by promoting greater nutrient uptake by the crop. This flexible tool can be broadcast with manures or used as a manure pit treatment prior to pumping. In strips where manure has already been applied, it can be sprayed with pre-emergent or burndown chemistries.

Learn more about using Extract PBA with manures or litters by viewing a featured study.

Many growers apply the “4R” framework for nutrient management—using the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place—to more closely match crop nutrient needs to fertilization practices while supporting sustainable agriculture goals.

Guided by this framework, growers have been able to improve their fertilizer use efficiency and reduce nutrient loss to the environment. However, despite best practices, an estimated 40% to 50% of applied nitrogen is either immobilized by soil microorganisms or lost from the soil through denitrification or leaching, rendering it unavailable to the crop. Although some soil microorganisms contribute to nitrogen loss or immobilization in the soil, others can have a positive influence on nitrogen use efficiency by enhancing the availability or stability of nitrogen in the soil or by enhancing root growth and physiological functions.

How Microbes Affect Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Bacteria and other microorganisms—through their metabolic processes—exude or secrete a wide range of biochemical compounds (called primary and secondary metabolites) into the soil. These biochemicals are not simply the waste or byproducts of metabolic functions. They are the tools through which microorganisms communicate and function in the soil. Some of the ways they can influence nitrogen use efficiency are by:

Complexing nitrogen into organic forms. Biochemical compounds exuded by bacteria and other microorganisms can influence nitrogen transformations. They can also promote the combination of nitrogen into more complex organic compounds, such as amino sugars, amino acids, and proteins, which can induce a metabolic response in other microorganisms and plants.

Keeping nitrogen in plant-available forms. Biochemical compounds in the soil can help keep or convert nitrogen into a plant-available form. One of the well-understood mechanisms of conversion is mineralization, which is the conversion of organic nitrogen to plant-available ammonium. Although not all of the exact mechanisms of conversion or transformation through which this occurs have been uncovered, it is thought that the biochemicals in the soil might also influence the conversion of nitrate back into an ammonium form, or even the transformation of ammonia back into ammonium or amino compounds.

Enhancing root growth and root physiological functions. Roots can respond to signals from biochemical compounds in many ways, including by increasing growth and branching, increasing the uptake of nutrients such as nitrogen, or limiting the uptake of compounds such as salt ions. Roots can also respond to biochemical signaling in the soil biochemistry by making changes to their own exudates. This can have an effect on rhizosphere bacterial functions that, in turn, may help make nutrients more available to the plant. 

Helping Growers Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency

To gain greater nitrogen use efficiency, growers who are already using the 4R framework and similar practices can utilize additional tools and technologies to aid with soil health, plant health and nutrient efficiency. Available technologies not only include enhanced efficiency fertilizers, nitrogen stabilizers and nitrogen inhibitors, but also biochemical tools like fertilizer biocatalysts, which make use of biochemical mechanisms to directly stimulate bacterial, nutrient and plant functioning. 

The fertilizer biocatalyst Accomplish can effectively convert applied nitrogen into plant-available forms to increase nutrient availability and facilitate nitrogen uptake by the plant, as seen in this pivotal study. Similarly, Extract PBA is a biocatalyst that can be used to release nutrients that are tied up in the soil, hasten residue breakdown and facilitate the cycling of nutrients—including nitrogen—back into the soil. By helping to ensure that more of the nitrogen a grower applies gets into the crop, these biochemical technologies can increase nitrogen use efficiency. 

Learn more about the influence of soil biochemistry on plant health and nutrition by downloading the 'Understanding Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry' booklet.