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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
Where Do Fertilizer Enhancers Fit In?
February 15, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

The Future Faster PodcastAs 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.

One of the newest products developed by Agricen and available through Nutrien Ag Solutions is Accomplish MAX for liquid starter fertilizer enhancement. Accomplish MAX can help crops better tolerate the effects of environmental stress, while also improving nutrient availability in the soil and uptake by the plant—with the ultimate goal of a healthy, high-yielding crop. 

"If a grower is using an in-furrow or 2x2 application of liquid fertilizer, all he's got to do is bolt that Accomplish MAX technology into that application," Brian says. "One of the things we do at Agricen is we try to be tuned into the grower environment. If we're coming out with a solution, we'd like for it to be a solution that a grower is actually going to implement. We also want it to fit something the grower's already doing."

Titan XC is another easy fit into a grower's existing fertility program. This popular product is specifically designed for application on dry fertilizer blends to increase fertilizer efficiency.

"Titan XC is designed to break down dry fertilizer to make the fertilizer more available to the crop faster," he says. "Because what we often see is that dry fertilizer is not that efficient. So the Titan XC helps with the accelerated breakdown and increased availability of nutrients in those dry blends."

Brian also gets into the details on Extract, Prologue, and Maritime. Extract is designed to help free up nutrition that may be bound in the soil profile and not available to the crop. Prologue helps to increase phosphorus availability while also serving as a zinc source. Maritime is a solution of biologically extracted kelp that can help crops better tolerate stress. The technology in Maritime is also found in Accomplish MAX.

"With Extract, we can do a broadcast application across a manured field, or we can do it with a weed and feed. There are also sidedress opportunities," Brian says. "Prologue is generally designed to go in-furrow with a starter blend, whether it's 10-34-0 or an ortho blend, where zinc is needed in that system. Maritime can be applied as a foliar spray, or that same technology can be used in a starter application in the form of Accomplish MAX. It does a very good job of allowing plants to manage stress."

You can listen to the full podcast here.

Listen to the Podcast

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How Accomplish MAX Helps Mitigate the Effects of Salt Stress on Crops
January 24, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

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.01-21 Accomplish Max saline environmentPlant germinated in presence of 120 mM salt, with and without Accomplish MAX. Images were taken 10 days after treatment. Note longer roots, more vigorous plant with Accomplish MAX.

Accomplish MAX mitigates salt stress with a three-pronged effect:

  • Frees up calcium from soil chemistry, which allows sodium to be displaced from the exchange site and flushed from the root zone.
  • Encourages plants to uptake additional potassium, which increases the K+/Na++ ratio to offset the toxic effects of sodium.
  • Breaks soluble salts apart, thereby lowering electrical conductivity.

Recommended for use in liquid starter applications, Accomplish MAX contains biochemistry proven to increase nutrient availability in the soil combined with a highly soluble kelp-based extract to increase crop tolerance to abiotic stresses like salinity from applied fertilizers. Accomplish MAX can be an important addition to any fertility or management program for crops affected by salt stress.

Download the Accomplish MAX salt stress bulletin.

Download the Bulletin

 

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[Watch] Minimizing Crop Stresses for Increased Yields
January 18, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Crop-Stresses-webinar-landing-pageTypical 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 designed for use in at-planting applications (including with in-furrow liquid starters and 2x2 placement of liquid fertilizers), is formulated to improve nutrient availability to a growing crop while also increasing crop tolerance to environmental stressors like cold temperatures, drought conditions and salinity from applied fertilizers. 

Watch the webinar today to learn how to get more nutrients into your crop and mitigate crop stress with Accomplish MAX.

Watch the Webinar

 

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Loveland Products Launches Accomplish MAX for Row Crops
January 3, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Accomplish MAXAccomplish 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

Common stressors like cold temperatures, drought and fertilizer salts can slow early-season plant growth, robbing growers of yield. By incorporating Accomplish MAX into their existing fertility programs, growers can help their crops better endure some of these environmental stresses, ultimately leading to better results at harvest time.

“For years we’ve been driving crop yields with Accomplish LM. In Accomplish MAX, we’ve combined that proven biocatalyst technology with powerful kelp technology to both enhance nutrient use efficiency and improve abiotic stress tolerance, providing a significant agronomic advantage,” says Taylor Ivy, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Plant Nutrition, Loveland Products.

Accomplish MAX was extensively validated in corn, cotton, and soybean crops during the 2021 growing season, both at the Loveland Products Research farms in Kentucky and in 60 replicated on-farm trials and 20 replicated trials at third-party cooperators and university sites.

Accomplish MAX is manufactured by Agricen.

Learn more about Accomplish MAX by downloading the Accomplish MAX booklet.

Download the Booklet

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Striving for Record Corn Yields
December 8, 2021 — Posted By Agricen

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.

In addition to Kelly and Heath, the video features growers Don Stall (Michigan) and Kevin Kalb (Indiana). These farmers all have had winning entries in the NCGA Corn Yield Contest in recent years. Agricen's product technologies, including Accomplish, Extract PBA and Titan XC, have been part of their winning programs.

"You have to use products that work if you want to be chasing these kind of yields," says Kevin.

See their stories below.

You can also hear more from each grower by watching the full version of Last Stand, also available on our YouTube channel.

Watch Last Stand

 

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Agricen Presents Last Stand, a New Film about Farming
October 12, 2021 — Posted By Agricen

Last Stand Movie PosterFarmers 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.”

The farmers featured in the film have a passion for farming and produced some of the highest corn yields in the nation in recent years. They also have the humor, grit and resilience to help them succeed at the job.

In Last Stand, you’ll meet:

    • Don Stall – A former Marine, Don still reflects on the lessons he learned in the Marine Corps to help him face the challenges of being a farmer. Don farms in Michigan.
    • Kelly Garrett – Kelly farms with his father and three sons in Iowa, where they work cattle and grow corn, soybeans and winter wheat.
    • Heath Cutrell – Heath is a third-generation corn, soybean and wheat grower farming in Virginia and across the state line in North Carolina.
    • Kevin and Shawn Kalb – Kevin and Shawn farm with their children in Southern Indiana, where they produce corn, soybeans and turkeys, and can often be found smashing state and national corn yield records.
    • Dr. Fred Below & Connor Sible – Dr. Below and PhD student Connor Sible are from the Crop Physiology Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where they research factors influencing corn and soybean productivity.

Last-Stand-grower-collage

Pictured above are top producers Don Stall (top L), Kelly Garrett (top R), Heath Cutrell (bottom L) and Kevin and Shawn Kalb (bottom R).

Another factor that ties the growers together is that they have used Agricen's product technologies in their high-yielding programs.

“Several years ago, we noticed that a number of growers with top corn yields at the state and national levels used our product technologies in their production programs,” says Totora. “With Last Stand, we set out to dig into that, but it quickly became much more. Their stories, as captured in the film, are deeply personal, yet also familiar to farmers everywhere.”

Last Stand, filmed by agriculture documentary veterans Light Work Productions, is the second long-form film about farming developed by Agricen. Agricen’s previous film about agriculture, Prove It to Me, which followed five farmers from Arkansas and Iowa during the 2015 growing season, is also available to view.

Explore the Last Stand trailers or visit laststand.ag to watch the full film. 

Watch Last Stand

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Biocatalyst Technology for Agriculture: Frequently Asked Questions
March 5, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

Biocatalyst FAQ BookletACCOMPLISH 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.

Download the Booklet

 

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Understanding the Biochemistry in Accomplish Technologies
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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Big Improvements in Soil Fertility after Accomplish & Titan
June 30, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

Chris Perkins Otwell Indiana-1Chris Perkins, a Nutrien Ag Solutions location manager in Otwell, Indiana, likes to practice what he preaches when it comes to the products he recommends to growers. If he’s not familiar with something, he tests it on his own family farm and carefully evaluates the data to make sure the product is living up to its claims.

“My dad lets me have 17 acres for a community plot where we’re doing corn on corn,” says Chris. “I want to show guys ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing, and this is what we’re seeing because of this product, management practice or hybrid.’”

Over the past few years, Chris has been evaluating Accomplish and Titan on his 17 acres, and he’s seen both his yields and his soil nutrient values rise. Along with the fertility added by the continuous corn, he credits the Accomplish and Titan technologies for contributing to a good portion of those increases.

table_1_perkins-1.png

“These acres have received moderate fertilizer levels, but not enough to support the rise in soil nutrient values we’re seeing, much less the yields being attained,” says Chris. “We’re testing soil from the same spot in the same way and at the same lab, and that’s how we noticed something big going on with potassium and phosphorus. There’s something happening in the soil. And even when I work the ground, it has more tilth to it than I’ve seen in years.”

As part of Chris’s program, he has been applying Titan on dry fertilizer before planting, then running Accomplish with starter in furrow. In the fall, he runs Accomplish with nitrogen and works the ground. Chris recognizes that continuous corn contributes to the fertility in the field by moving minerals to the surface through residue. But his other corn on corn acres aren’t doing as well as those where he uses Titan and Accomplish.

“In fall 2013, we were in the low- to mid-100s [lbs per acre] on potassium and low- to high-20s for phosphorus. From a fertility standpoint, there were really no available nutrients there for the crop,” says Chris. “Then, when you look at the soil samples from January 2015, we’re at the mid-60s for P and over 300 for potassium, and that’s after we took off a 230 bushel corn crop. By February 2016, my potassium was in the 400s and phosphorus continues to rise, right on the heels of the fall harvest of a 260 bushel corn crop in 2015. At the fertility rates being run, that’s just not what I’m expecting to see.”

table_2_perkins.png

Abbreviations: BpH=buffer pH; OM=organic matter. Nutrient values reported as lbs/acre unless otherwise specified; averages are taken from 2.5-acre grid samples.

“Putting it another way, over the course of three years, I’ve put on 500 lbs of DAP—about 230 lbs of phosphate—and harvested three corn crops. Technically, there wasn’t enough fertilizer in there to have the soil test at 96 lbs per acre this February from the 20s back in 2013,” says Chris. “When you calculate what we took away with the grain, it’s about 235 lbs of phosphate. Those three crops only got 230 lbs and we went up almost 70 lbs in the ground.”

To check how much nutrient release he might be getting from stover, Chris compared nutrient values with his other fields in corn on corn production. 

“Where I just work the ground and don’t apply Accomplish in the fall, my potassium levels increased by about 30-50 lbs per acre in corn on corn rotations. But where I run Accomplish with nitrogen, the levels have increased over 100 lbs per acre,” explains Chris. “My soil nutrient levels speak for themselves. I keep doing the math and looking for explanations on why our fertility rates are getting better, and I really think it has something to do with these products.” 

Download our biocatalyst technology FAQ to learn more about Accomplish and other biocatalyst technologies.

Download the Booklet

 

 

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Accomplish Technology Releases Soil Nutrients: Nutrient Analysis Data
June 13, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

One of the benefits of using Accomplish in production agriculture is its ability to increase the availability of nutrients in the soil. A quick soil nutrient analysis performed at the Loveland Products Research Farm in Owensboro, Kentucky shows just how quickly and powerfully a soil application of Accomplish LM can release bound nutrients to make them available for plant uptake.

In this demonstration, soil was collected from the field, mixed in a bucket and separated into two equal samples. The untreated sample was bagged, sealed and labeled. The second sample was bagged and Accomplish LM was added to moisten the soil without oversaturating it. The bag was then sealed and the sample incubated for 24 hours, followed by a 3-day air drying period prior to lab analysis.

soil_test.png

Testing showed that, in just four days, Accomplish increased the availability of every nutrient in the treated soil, except calcium.  

From a fertilizer application and plant health standpoint, expedited nutrient release has major benefits for crop production. Use Accomplish to improve soil chemistry and help crops thrive!

 

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