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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
Agricen Celebrates 20 Years
September 4, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

agricen-20-years-01This year, Agricen celebrates 20 years of agricultural technology research, discovery and innovation aimed at sustainably improving crop yields. Two decades is no small feat in the agribusiness industry, and it's an even bigger achievement in our sector, focused on agricultural biostimulants and biologicals.

This sector has made huge strides since we were founded in 1998 in Pilot Point, Texas. When we began, there was a general skepticism about biological solutions for agriculture. This was driven in part by a lack of knowledge about how the science had begun to advance—moving beyond "bathtub brews" to advanced, quality controlled products with claims that could be supported by field and university data.


A brief look at the history of Agricen through the years.

From the start, growers and other partners asked us to prove that our product technology consistently works to increase the efficiency of applied fertilizers, improve plant health and provide a return on investment. We invested heavily in understanding how our technology functions and tested it extensively to see how it performs in real world conditions. With well over 1,000 studies to date, we can confidently stand behind the efficacy of our biocatalyst technologies.

The newfound acceptance of the ag biostimulant and biologicals sector can also be seen in the growing number of places you will find our product technology today. From just a few hundred acres in the United States when we began, to nearly 250 thousand acres a decade later, and to over eight million acres on four continents in 2018, our proven, world-class product technology is helping growers compete and thrive—and is even helping U.S. corn growers achieve top yields. 

Agricen-based-on-natureIn the next decade, we look forward to continuing to deliver industry-leading solutions for agriculture and related industries that are 'Based on Nature, Built on Science.'

A special thank you to our dedicated team, our partners (including Loveland Products and Nutrien Ag Solutions), and our customers for all of their support. We firmly believe that the next 20 years are going to be even more exciting and game-changing for the entire agricultural community.

Learn more about who we are and what we do by viewing our "About Us" page or watching our featured videos. 

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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. 

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Agricen & Taranis Awarded Grant for Abiotic Stress Detection & Prevention Project
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 algorithm—with 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 biostimulants—to both ameliorate the conditions causing stress and prevent further crop damage.  

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

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[Video Roundup] How Farmers Improve Ag Productivity & Sustainability
November 29, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Over the past few years, we've posted several agriculture-related videos that showcase the efforts growers are making to implement new products and practices that help them improve ag productivity and sustainability. If you haven't yet seen them, here are a few of the most popular and most recent.

Prove It to Me (4-min version)

"Prove It to Me" follows 5 growers in Iowa and Arkansas during the course of a growing season. See the issues they face, as well as how they approach using new products—including Accomplish and Titan—as they try to maximize their productivity and sustainability. 


Grower Stories: Chris Perkins, Otwell, Indiana

In this video, you can hear Chris Perkins, a grower and Nutrien Ag Solutions location manager in Otwell, Indiana, speak about how he uses Accomplish and Titan to tap into nutrients in his field, bring up fertility levels, and sustain a healthy soil structure under his corn on corn acres. You will also hear from Dr. Fred Below of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who discusses the success Chris has had raising soil fertility levels and crop productivity. 


Building Sustainable Agriculture Programs

Working together with state and local government, USDA, and others, farmers around Black Hawk Lake in Iowa are testing and implementing conservation practices to protect the lake from nitrate runoff. As part of their efforts, Jeff Frank and some other local growers are using Accomplish and other biocatalyst products to help them be even more sustainable in their agricultural practices, while also keeping their acres productive. See what they are doing by watching the video.

You can also access our biocatalyst technology FAQ to learn more about Accomplish, Titan, and other biocatalyst technologies.

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Raising Soil Fertility & Crop Yields on Continuous Corn Acres
September 6, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Chris Perkins Otwell Indiana

For the past several years, Chris Perkins, a grower and Nutrien Ag Solutions location manager in Otwell, Indiana, has been running an experimental, high management, continuous corn plot using several products in the Loveland Products portfolio, including Accomplish LM and Titan, so that he can prove the value of the products he sells to his customers.

Many of the decisions that Chris makes in the management of his plot are driven by ongoing research at the university level, primarily that of Dr. Fred Below of the Crop Physiology Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

We spoke to Chris to learn more about how he uses biocatalyst products to tap into nutrients in his field, bring up fertility levels, and sustain a healthy soil structure under his corn on corn acres. We also spoke to Dr. Below to hear his take on the success Chris has had raising soil fertility levels and crop productivity. Watch the video to hear from Chris and Dr. Below. 



"One of the things that Chris does exceptionally well is that he manages the residue so that it releases more nutrients in season, throughout the whole season," says Dr. Below. "Chris took that marginal field and, over the last three years, I've seen him raise yields by 60 bushels. He's done this with a combination of technologies. He's managed the nutrients that are in the residue, he's managed the nutrients that are in the soil, and he's protected the crop."

One of the key benefits Chris has noted from using Accomplish and Titan technologies is an increase in soil nutrient values.

Learn more about the work Chris has done to improve soil fertility on his continuous corn acres.

"In the past three years, we have taken a field that was in the mid-20s on phosphorus and, by running biologicals such as Accomplish and Titan with our fertilizer, we've pushed those levels to over 150 lbs per acre," says Chris. "We have all of these nutrients in the field from my dad, from my grandpa, and probably even from my great grandpa, and that's what we think has come in with the Accomplish technology, which breaks those nutrients down for us so that they can continue on through the new crop."


Find out more about the biocatalyst technologies Chris is using and how they can help your operation by accessing our biocatalyst technology FAQ.

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Agricen Is Now Operating in Australia
August 31, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

We are happy to announce today that Agricen now has operations on two continents: North America, with headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Texas, and Australia, with a new manufacturing facility in Dandenong, Victoria.

Agricen_Australia_Logo.pngAgricen Australia is producing sustainable fertilizer biocatalyst products under the names of Basis® and Foundation™ LM for distribution in the Australian market through Loveland Agri Products and Landmark. The products are manufactured using natural, locally sourced base ingredients in our recently constructed Australian plant.

“This is an important milestone for Agricen’s growth into new international markets as well as for Australian agriculture, which now has access to a new generation of sustainable plant health technologies,” says Michael Totora, President and CEO of Agricen. “With the new operation in Australia, our products are now being distributed across three continents: North America, South America and Australia. We are excited by the momentum and interest in Agricen’s technologies—and their positive contribution to growers’ cropping programs and sustainability efforts.”

Basis and Foundation LM are agricultural biostimulants derived from diverse, naturally occurring microbial communities and designed to work with a grower’s existing crop fertility program to increase nutrient availability and improve overall plant performance.

Basis is specifically formulated for use with granular fertilizers, while Foundation LM is formulated for use with spray applications, including liquid fertilizers, ground-applied herbicides and broadacre sprays.

Since the initiation of production in Australia over the past year, Basis and Foundation LM have been tested across Australia and used to improve the health and productivity of crops that include canola, wheat, pulses and fresh produce/horticultural crops such as strawberries, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage (wombok) and sugar cane.

Visit Agricen Australia to learn more about what we are doing down under. 

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Loveland Products Launches Titan XC for Dry Fertilizers
August 1, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

TitanrXC.pngTitan XC is now available from Loveland Products! Designed to improve dry fertilizer efficiency, Titan XC is a new, next-generation biocatalyst for dry fertilizers that ‘unlocks’ applied nutrients, making them available more quickly so that more of them are taken up by plant roots. It is extra concentrated for easier application and superior impregnation onto fertilizer prill.

“For a grower’s dry fertilizer program, Titan XC is the key to quick release and uptake of a broad range of vital plant nutrients. This can really maximize the return on a grower’s dry fertilizer investment,” says John Oesch, Marketing Manager for the Southern Ohio division of Crop Production Services (CPS).

Titan XC offers growers benefits that include:

  • Increased nutrient availability and uptake
  • Enhanced nutrient use efficiency
  • Better root growth and development
  • Improved plant performance
  • Optimized yield potential

The recommended rate for impregnation on dry fertilizers is 1 to 2 pints of Titan XC per ton of dry fertilizer.

Titan XC is manufactured for Loveland Products by Agricen.

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Learn more about Titan XC by downloading the Titan XC product 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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Root Intelligence Helps Plants Survive and Thrive
April 13, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

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

Getting a good start is key to a germinating seed’s need to “survive and thrive.” Essential to this process is establishing a root system that creates a strong foothold and provides access to available nutrients and water. But how does the emerging seedling root do this? 

Plant rootsIt turns out that the new root is constantly making choices about where and when to grow based on the environment it encounters. Guided by its “root brain,” it makes decisions that maximize its access to water and nutrients as quickly as possible.  

The root brain is found in the transition zone of the root tip – the area between the region of cell division and cell elongation. A good look at this control point in the root can be seen in this microscopic time-lapse view of a growing root. Here, the root receives and integrates multiple sensory signals in response to environmental cues. It can then respond to those cues by adjusting the rate and direction of its growth to ensure it has the best access to water and nutrients. By “deciding” which cells divide or elongate, the root can change where and how fast it moves through the soil.

This root brain does not act alone. Much as chemical signaling in our nervous system carries signals to and from our brains, similar processes happen in the plant. The plant hormone auxin, for instance, interacts with plant cells in a similar way that neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) interact with our own nerve cells to carry messages. Auxin is crucial to the root’s perception of and response to environmental signals, and helps to control things such as the timing and rate of cell elongation, as well as potential sites for lateral root production.

The plant can even call in allies to obtain more auxin and bolster its root growth potential. In a microscopic barter, roots exude carbohydrates that act as food offerings to soil microbes. The microbes, in turn, produce auxins to be consumed by the plant as a supplement that supports to the plant in its goal to produce larger, more branched root systems.

The root systems of young seedlings not only rely on their decision-making capacity to survive and thrive, but they also have another strong ally – the farmer. Farmers help by applying fertilizers, growth stimulators or other products that assist a plant in growing strong roots or accessing nutrients and water. For example, the signaling molecules in some agricultural biostimulants provide messages that assist the root brain in making critical decisions that affect when, where and how a root system develops.

The capacity for roots to assess and respond to the environment is a major part of how a plant wins the survival campaign for water, nutrients, light and space. Root growth and development decisions made now and in the future can make or break a plant’s success—and the farmer is a key partner in helping the plant survive and thrive.

Dig deeper into the soil by downloading our Soil Microbiology & Biochemistry Booklet.

Download Agricen's Soil Microbiology & Biochemistry Booklet

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Agricultural Biostimulants: Biochemical Products vs. Humic Acid
March 24, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

by Steve Sexton, Agricen

31-plant-soil-soybean-variety-selection-is-important-heres-whyGrowers today are confronted with a large number of fertilizer additive options, including agricultural biostimulants. Too often, some of these products are lumped into the same category, despite different modes of action and varying impacts on crop yields and return on investment (ROI).

Humic Acid Products

Humic acid products are biostimulant products derived from leonardite (low grade coal) that is reacted with potassium hydroxide (KOH) to create a black liquid containing organic acids—primarily fulvic and humic. These organic acids are either long- chained molecules (humic acid) or short-chained molecules (fulvic acid) that contain sites carrying a negative charge. When a grower adds humic acid to a production program, it acts like a bucket—it will hold positively charged nutrients by attracting them to the negatively charged sites on its molecules. However, humic acid cannot fill the bucket with the nutrients the plant needs. This is where biochemical or biostimulant products play a critical role.

Biochemical Products

Biochemical products for agriculture contain biochemical compounds—things like organic acids, chelators, and enzymes—as their primary functioning component. Released by natural microbial processes in the soil or by the addition of biochemical products such as Accomplish or Titan XC to existing fertilizer programs, biochemicals play a critical role in plant nutrition. Primarily, they act upon chemical compounds in the soil (e.g., calcium or iron phosphate) to separate cations (e.g., calcium, magnesium) from anions (e.g., nitrates, phosphates), thereby releasing nutrients into the soil solution. In essence, the biochemistry is like a water valve or tap— by releasing nutrients so that they can find locations on exchange sites or be utilized by plants, it fills the empty bucket created by an application of humic acid.

corn bucket Humic acid products create a reservoir for nutrients; Agricen's biochemical catalyst technologies release nutrients from chemical compounds in the soil, filling the reservoir and increasing the flow of available nutrients.

The biochemical components in Accomplish and Titan XC are derived through a proprietary fermentation process and then concentrated to provide a highly consistent, efficacious fertilizer catalyst that improves plant performance and increases crop yields, positively impacting the ROI of a grower’s total fertilizer program.

Summary

In summary, both humic acid and biochemical products are biostimulants that can play a role in a larger plant nutrition program. However, each acts very differently in the soil, with humic acid holding nutrients in place, while biochemical products break apart chemical compounds in the soil, making nutrients more available for the plant. Growers who want to maximize their fertility program may want to first apply Accomplish or Titan XC with their standard program before considering the addition of any straight humic or organic acid products.

Learn more about Accomplish and Titan XC by downloading our Biocatalyst Technology booklet.

Download the Booklet

 

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