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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
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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Prove It to Me [Film]: Follow 5 Farmers Through the Growing Season
March 14, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

ProveItToMepngWe are very excited to introduce “Prove It to Me,” a new film that follows five farmers through the 2015 growing season—from planning and planting to growth and harvest.

Each of the farmers featured in the film used Accomplish, Titan or both technologies as part of their program, and all speak about the results they achieved with our biocatalyst technology (Hint: It’s pretty darn good news!). We invite you to watch a “Prove It to Me” online today.

None of the farmer testimonials were scripted or coached. Their thoughts on the products and practices are simply in their own words and, as you’ll see, a great testimony to using Accomplish and Titan as part of any growing program.

We hope you enjoy the film, and we would be happy to hear any feedback you might have.

Watch the Film

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Understanding Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry
January 20, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

Booklet: Understanding Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry

Understanding the microbiology and biochemistry of the soil is an important part of understanding plant health and nutrition.

Download our booklet to learn more about soil microbiology and soil biochemistry, as well as how soil microbes influence soil health, nutrient release and nutrient use efficiency in farming operations.

This booklet covers:

  • Definitions of soil microbiology and biochemistry 
  • Influence on plant growth, health and nutrition
  • Beneficial roles of soil microorganisms
  • Biochemical interactions in the soil-plant system
  • Influence on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

Learn more by downloading "Understanding Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry."

Access the Booklet

 


 

 

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Using Biostimulants to Talk to Plants
October 26, 2015 — Posted By Agricen

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

Young PlantsPlants are constantly responding to their senses. They can touch, smell, taste and otherwise sense water, food and predators—and they can remember. Of course, they don’t do all of this exactly the way a human does, but they do respond to the messages they receive from the world around them to survive, thrive and reproduce—much the way we do.

This is a pretty stimulating idea – that plants are actually sentient beings responding to stimuli in a purposeful manner and communicating with each other and with potential friends and foes. (For more on this, take a look at the “What Plants Talk About” episode from the PBS series, Nature.) It’s also an idea that has captivated researchers and companies in the agricultural space in recent years, most notably around the topic of biostimulants and other agricultural biologicals. 

Biostimulants are any of a variety of naturally-derived products that signal plants through biochemical messages to improve their growth, health and nutritional value. Biostimulant products include humic and fulvic acids, seaweed extracts, protein hydrolysates, amino acids, microbial inoculants and biochemical products like Agricen’s, which are derived from naturally occurring microbial communities.

Typically, such products are organically complex, and we haven’t always immediately understood the way they work to influence plant growth and health. What we do know, however, is that they can have a positive effect on plants in the agricultural setting, a claim that is supported by significant and growing scientific evidence.

Biostimulants affect a variety of physiological and biochemical pathways in plants – influencing changes in plant behaviors such as increasing root growth, enhancing nutrient uptake and improving stress tolerance. Essentially, they provide a way to communicate with plants and “tip them off” on how to positively adjust to the environmental and biotic challenges typical of agricultural systems.

We are just beginning to comprehend the significant potential of these products. It will continue to be both exciting and challenging to explore the possibilities biostimulants offer as we work to increase agricultural production for future generations.

Learn more about biological products for agriculture:

Download Agricen's Growing for the Future Booklet

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Don’t Short Next Year’s Crop
September 22, 2014 — Posted By Agricen

By John Wolf, Director of Commercial Development, Agricen

Across most of the corn production area, 2014 has the potential be a banner year for yield. Given that higher average yields increase supply, economics dictate that prices will be somewhat lower without an accompanying increase in demand. This poses a dilemma for growers as they plan for next year’s crop.

With many growers producing more corn than usual (and probably more than they fertilized for), overall soil nutrient levels are likely to drop as nutrient removal rates surpass what was applied ahead of the crop. Faced with commodity price pressures, growers are unlikely to increase their traditional dry fertilizer rates, even though they will probably need more nutrition to overcome high nutrient removal rates from this year’s excellent yields. This means there is a great risk that growers won’t supply next year’s crops with enough nutrients. 

The best choice for growers is to apply the appropriate fertilizer rate to maintain adequate soil nutrition levels as indicated by a soil test.  For growers who simply don’t want to bear the added cost of increased fertilizer rates, increasing the first-year recovery rates of the fertilizers they do apply may be a cost-effective alternative.

First-year recovery rates for applied dry N,P & K are generally accepted to be:

•   N +/-50%
•   P +/- 25%
•   K +/- 50%

By including a cost-effective biochemical product like Titan PBA—which increases the rate at which applied dry nutrients are converted to inorganic forms (N&P) that can be utilized by growing crops—growers can improve their first-year nutrient recovery rates and ensure that next year’s crop has the potential for another banner harvest.

corn_milroy

This corn trial from Minnesota is a good example of the benefits Titan PBA can bring to growers when applied in the fall along with dry fertilizer.

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Advancing the Next Generation of Biologically Sourced Tools
September 8, 2014 — Posted By Agricen

For more than a decade, Agricen has invested in rigorous scientific research focused on developing practical biological and biochemical tools to improve the quality and performance of plant nutrition programs. The result is innovative products like Accomplish and Titan, used by growers worldwide to increase the availability of their applied nutrients, improve their nutrient use efficiency and maximize their yield potential.

Our products have been rigorously evaluated in hundreds of studies, demonstrating efficacy across crops, soil types and fertility practices.

600_studies

We are constantly working to enhance our understanding of how biologically sourced tools can contribute to the economic and environmental sustainability of production agriculture. Our efforts in the field are complimented by an active laboratory research program, led by our sister company Agricen Sciences, devoted to unravelling the complexity of microbial communities and their interactions within the plant-soil system.

Today, we are leading the innovation and delivery of biochemical plant nutrition technologies to give growers the tools they need to increase sustainability and productivity.

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This is Part 5 of our five-part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) about sustainable growing practices. To learn more about Agricen and our contributions to sustainable growing practices, subscribe to our blog.

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Challenges in a Changing Agricultural Biologicals Market
September 3, 2014 — Posted By Agricen

Agricultural biologicals are a fast growing sector in agriculture, but it hasn’t always been this way.

One of the challenges in the advancement and modern day acceptance agricultural biologicals has been the profusion of companies over the years selling “miracle” microbial solutions—often of indeterminate quality or origin.

By making overstated claims that were not backed by rigorous science, these companies contributed to the perception that biologically sourced tools for plant nutrition were little more than “snake oil.”

Soils Systems Are Complex

Another major challenge to the development of these tools has been the very complexity of the soil-plant system, coupled with the limitations of the technology to meaningfully analyze this system.

In fact, developing a full understanding of the complex microbial communities in the soil is a challenge of staggering magnitude.

Even with today’s sophisticated genetic analysis tools, we can identify only about 1 percent of the microorganisms found in any soil sample at the species level. Thus we know very little about how the remaining 99 percent of the microbial community, which is still unidentified, functions in the soil-plant system.

microbes-1

Microbial Communities Impact Plant Nutrition Biochemically

Even more challenging—and perhaps more important—may be trying to understand how these microbial communities biochemically impact plant nutrition.

Each microbial and fungal organism may be the source of unique biochemical compounds that affect a variety of soil, plant and microbial community functions through interactions triggered at the molecular level.

With the evolution of next-generation tools for molecular analysis, we now know that there are numerous signaling compounds and other molecules that are capable of “turning on” various plant genes that affect plant functioning—things like nutrient acquisition, rooting responses and the production of secondary metabolites within the plant itself.

Research Increasingly Supports Biological Tools

Researchers today are working to deepen their understanding of how these complex microbial communities and their metabolites affect plant nutrition, and they are applying this knowledge to improve crop production. Their efforts are reflected in a growing body of literature that supports the use of biological tools in agriculture, as well as increasing recognition of the need for more sustainable production practices by growers, policymakers and international organizations.

It’s time for another look at how we can use the tools of biology to enhance an inherently biological system. This doesn’t require an anti-chemical approach. Rather, we can make our agricultural practices both more productive and more sustainable by incorporating the next generation of biologically sourced tools into existing growing practices—in a sense, an “integrated nutrient management” approach similar to the integrative frameworks used in crop protection practices.

It will take time for this science to evolve and mature. Years—perhaps even decades—of work lie ahead in deciphering the biologically induced changes within the soil-plant system. However, we don’t have to wait until all of the mysteries are solved to start putting the knowledge we do have to work for us—and solving some of the great challenges of the day.

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This is Part 4 in our five-part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) about sustainable growing practices. To learn more about Agricen and our contributions to sustainable growing practices, subscribe to our blog.

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Biologically Sourced Tools in Plant Nutrition Need a New Appraisal
August 28, 2014 — Posted By Agricen

For thousands of years, the world regarded the act of growing a plant in the soil as a biological process. But—as in all systems—the need for scalability to meet growing demands called for new, more efficient technologies to improve food production.

 corn_blog

The agricultural advancements of the post–World War II era were nothing short of transformational in the scheme of human affairs.

Around the world, food production skyrocketed, owing to improved seed varieties, modernized irrigation, better control of plant diseases and pests, efficiencies created by broad availability and use of chemical fertilizers, and evangelists like Dr. Norman Borlaug, who promoted these practices to help the world feed itself.

As the agricultural practices of the Green Revolution swept the world, the contribution of biological elements to crop production received significantly less attention.

The Next Green Revolution

In more recent years, we have realized that the gains achieved through the tools of the Green Revolution are not limitless.

We have also realized that the intensity of agricultural production has some significant, long-term impacts on soil, air and water resources. This has prompted a renewed interest in the biological elements of crop production, including the use of soil management practices such as conservation tillage and organic matter augmentation, meant to improve the conditions of the soil and the organisms that it harbors. They have also led to the development of new biological and biochemical plant nutrition technologies, ones that are firmly rooted in science, and that can be incorporated into current growing practices to enhance agricultural sustainability and increase yields.

However, until recently, agronomists and other researchers have largely dismissed the possibility that biologically sourced tools could contribute significantly to feeding a growing population.

In our next blog post, we’ll ask “Why?” We’ll also explore the challenges of developing biologically sourced tools.

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This is Part 3 of our five-part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) about sustainable growing practices. To learn more about Agricen and our contributions to sustainable growing practices, subscribe to our blog.

 

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Sustainable Growing Practices Make Economic and Environmental Sense
August 20, 2014 — Posted By Agricen

Simply intensifying current agricultural practices— whether by farming more land, using more irrigation or using more fertilizer—won’t be enough to sufficiently augment crop yields to meet future food needs.

wheat_blog_header

Instead, the next wave of agricultural productivity will have to incorporate new technologies. It will have to do so in a sustainable way by using production practices that meet human needs while reducing environmental impacts. This means using practices that make both environmental and economic sense for growers.

Agricultural sustainability does not need to come at the cost of economic sustainability.

While consumer and industry pressures for sustainable food production will increase, broad behavioral change—including rapid adoption of new practices—will be driven by grower economics.

In a sense, the starting point is economic sustainability—where growers will find ways to reduce input costs, sustain or increase output value and simultaneously improve the environmental sustainability of what they do.

Agricultural and economic sustainability are possible, and even go hand in hand.

In our next blog post, we’ll look at biologically sourced tools for agricultural production and how they might be essential for the next Green Revolution.

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This is Part 2 of our five-part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) about sustainable growing practices. To learn more about Agricen and our contributions to sustainable growing practices, subscribe to our blog.

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