As growers start crop planning for the upcoming season, where do fertilizer enhancers fit in? 

In a recent episode of Nutrien Ag Solutions' "The Future. Faster." podcast, Agricen's Dr. Brian Cornelious discusses where different fertility enhancement products—specifically Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA, Maritime, Prologue, and Titan XC—fit into growers' programs to help them more strategically manage their inputs.

"A lot of the Agricen products are very focused on nutrient efficiency and nutrient availability. And then, of course, we've got other products that focus on stress mitigation," says Brian.

Although crops take up many salts in the form of nutrients, they can be adversely affected if more salt is added to the soil system than can be taken up by the plant or flushed out of the root zone. This is especially a concern in irrigated cropping systems, where dissolved salts from irrigation water can lead to soil salinity problems that compound over time. Salts in applied fertilizers can also contribute to soil salinity.

Soils that are high in salts can limit water uptake, impede nutrient uptake, and negatively impact seed germination and crop development. Plants that do survive will exhibit less vigor, have slower physiological development and show signs of stress, preventing full yield potential from being realized. Taking steps to manage soil salinity is therefore critical to having balanced soil for optimal plant growth and productivity.

Accomplish MAX, which is available through Nutrien Ag Solutions, is a next-generation biocatalyst designed to help plants better tolerate salt and other abiotic stresses.

Typical spring conditions create a challenging environment for a young crop. Too much or too little water, cold temperatures, and fertilizer salts may slow early season plant growth and can rob you of yield potential. 

Accomplish MAX, a new product available through Nutrien Ag Solutions, is designed to help you take on these challenges while also driving yield.

Watch our on-demand webinar, "Minimizing Crop Stresses for Increased Yields," to learn:

• How Accomplish MAX can help your crops succeed with "More Nutrients, Less Stress"
  
  
• Why this combination of proven biochemistry and cutting-edge kelp technology provides significant agronomic benefits
  
  
• How Accomplish MAX has performed in recent corn and cotton trials

Accomplish MAX, a next-generation biocatalyst that provides nutrient efficiency and crop stress tolerance benefits, is now available from Loveland Products through Nutrien Ag Solutions retail locations. It is designed for use with in-furrow starters, 2x2 placement of liquid fertilizers, and liquid sidedress applications.

Accomplish MAX is a proprietary combination of proven Accomplish biocatalyst technology, which growers have used for over a decade to improve nutrient mineralization and uptake on millions of acres across the United States, and cutting-edge kelp technology designed to enhance crop tolerance to abiotic stressors such as cold temperatures, drought and fertilizer salts. 

Key benefits of Accomplish MAX:

• Increases nutrient availability and uptake by mineralizing nutrients in the soil
• Improves plant tolerance to abiotic stresses such as cold temperatures and salinity from commercial fertilizers
• Enhances overall plant performance to help growers reach their yield potential

How high can corn yield go? In our short video, "Striving for Record Corn Yields," you'll see how some corn growers try to test the limits and push for record-setting yields.

"I wish I could tell you that high yield is a recipe, like following the cookbook. By gosh, it isn't that way. High yield...it is an art form," says Dr. Fred Below of the University of Illinois in the video. 

The growers featured in the video faced multiple obstacles during filming in 2020 — from hurricanes and tropical storms in the East to a derecho that flattened crops and caused billions of dollars worth of damage across the Midwest. 

"We had a tremendous crop out there. The storm just took part of it," says Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett, whose farm was in the path of the 2020 derecho that made records as the most destructive and costliest thunderstorm disaster in U.S. history.

"We had a hurricane come in here the other day. Raise a good corn crop and then it's sad to come in here and watch it laying on the ground the way it is, broke off," says Heath Cutrell, who farms in Virginia and North Carolina.

Farmers have a story to tell, and we wanted to capture it. During the 2020 growing season, Agricen hired a film crew to document the experiences of growers from four different farm operations in the United States. The result is Last Stand, a movie that follows some of America's top farmers as they try to grow the highest yields possible in a season full of challenges. The film can be watched by visiting LastStand.ag.

“While you can never predict what the growing season will be like, the 2020 season certainly did manage to throw many surprises into the mix. Excessive rain and hurricanes, the historic derecho in Iowa and across the upper Midwest – and that’s just the weather,” says Michael Totora, president and CEO of Agricen. “We think this is an important film that not only gives viewers a unique glimpse into the lives of the featured farmers, but also into the lives of farmers across the U.S. in 2020.”

Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA and Titan XC are  biocatalyst technologies available from Loveland Products through Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Powered by a 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, 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.

Soybean Startup is a tank mix of Accomplish^® MAX and Radiate^® applied in-furrow at planting. The goal is to get soybean plants off to a better, faster start and enhance productivity. In trial after trial, this program keeps giving a standout performance in the field.

The soybean plants in the pictures below were planted on May 28^th, 2015 in Greensburg, Kansas, by a grower who had trialed the Soybean Startup program on half of his acres. The beans on the left were treated 2x2 with 10 gallons of 16-0-16-5 alone, while the beans on the right were treated 2x2 with 10 gallons of 16-0-16-5 and plus the Soybean Startup in furrow. Pictures were taken mid-June.

I’ve never used a starter program for my soybean plants. Nutrient deficiencies are not as common as they are in corn, and the salt in traditional fertilizers can harm the seedlings. Why would I consider a soybean starter program now?

It’s true that traditional starter fertilizers are not typically used for soybean crops, for both of the reasons that you’ve pointed out. However, like growers of other crops, soybean growers can benefit from tools that help improve plant health and yields. Accomplish^® MAX and Radiate^® are plant health products that can be used together as a “starter program” for soybean. They contain no salt and provide a cost effective way for growers to improve plant vigor, reduce plant stress and increase productivity. With an early application of these plant health technologies, growers can improve the health of soybean plants from emergence through yield, all while maximizing the efficiency of their total plant nutrition program.