Broken O Ranch in Augusta, Montana, is a farming operation that grows wheat, barley, alfalfa, flax, canola and chickpeas on about 12,000 irrigated acres.

A big concern at the ranch is how to handle crop residue without burning it. Most states around Montana have banned all burning of residue. Dale Clark, the farm manager at Broken O Ranch, feels that it's only a matter of time before the practice is banned in Montana as well. But he also has bigger issues with the practice.

“Burning residue not only takes time and labor, but it also adversely affects the availability of soil moisture because the ground becomes harder after burning," says Dale. "More than that, it negatively impacts nutrient availability. Nutrients are lost when ash is blown by the wind and redeposited or carried off.”

"At Broken O, we’ve been looking for a sustainable solution that we can implement right now,” he says.

In a demonstration conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions in Galesburg, Illinois, Extract PBA was sprayed in fall 2017 on a corn field post-harvest. In spring of 2018, stalks were pulled and split to examine the differences in residue breakdown between treated and untreated parts of the field.

As seen in the photo, the Extract-treated stalks were in a more advanced stage of decomposition than untreated stalks by early spring. 

Extract PBA was sprayed on Nov. 29, 2017. This photo shows corn stalks from treated and untreated parts of the field that were pulled and split on March 23, 2018. 

In Northern Ohio, Nutrien Ag Solutions conducted trials to evaluate the benefits of making a fall residue or spring pre-emerge application of Extract PBA (1 gallon per acre). In these trials, Extract was applied on corn stalks in fields where soybeans would be planted as the next crop. The data shows great potential for a growers' return on investment, with healthier plants and higher pod counts when Extract PBA was used. 

In the trial results shown below, the plants from the treated areas have a more robust structure to support higher yields. Pod clusters are also tighter, with more per node compared to plants from untreated strips in the test plots.

By Randy Stockhorst, Loveland Products, Ohio

For soybean plants, R3 is a critical growth stage during which the plant's nutrient needs rise to support pod growth and development. By applying Extract PBA with a soybean pre-emerge herbicide, growers can ensure their plants will have the nutrition they need at this critical growth period, which will position them for an excellent yield outcome.

In our area of northwest Ohio, potassium deficiency is the most prevalent deficiency that we've seen in R3 soybean tissue samples over the past several years. The amount of potassium stored in corn stalks is a little more than a 1-to-1 ratio on yield. That means that in a 200 bushel corn crop, for example, there are approximately 205 lbs of potassium locked in the stalks.

By applying Extract PBA on corn residue now, growers can accelerate nutrient release and mineralization so that more nutrients–including potassium–are available to their soybean crop at the reproductive stages.

“Extracting Nutrients from Residue in Spring for Higher Fall Yields” is now available to watch on demand. 

Watch the webinar to learn: 

• Why you need to manage residue in different cropping systems - including no-till and conventional tillage
  
  
• What factors affect residue decomposition, nutrient immobilization and nutrient release - from C:N ratios and temperature to moisture and microbes
  
  
• How a spring residue application of Extract PBA benefits growers by releasing nutrients for the coming crop

You’re invited to join us for “Extracting Nutrients from Residue in Spring for Higher Fall Yields,” a webinar being held on Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 8 am and 11 am CT.

An application of Extract PBA can help growers keep a tight focus on nutrient efficiency by powerfully releasing nutrients from residue for use by the coming crop. 

In this side by side trial conducted in Fairbury, Illinois, one half of the harvested corn field was sprayed with Extract PBA in late September and the other was left untreated. There was very little moisture in the first 6 weeks after application, and photos were taken approximately 8 weeks after application. 

As the photo shows, decay on the treated stalks was well advanced compared to the untreated check after only 8 weeks.

With spring on the way, growers are already thinking about their plans for a successful growing season. For those with crop residues on their fields, a spring (pre-emerge) application of Extract Powered by Accomplish™ (Extract PBA) is a great way to maximize nutrient release from those residues to get more ROI out of their growing program. 

Extract Powered by Accomplish™ (Extract PBA, 6-0-0-13S) is an innovative biocatalyst specifically formulated to maximize nutrient release from crop residues. Combining the concentrated biochemistry of Accomplish^® LM with ammonium thiosulfate (ATS), Extract PBA helps growers accelerate residue breakdown and access the full nutrient value of the residues in their fields.

Benefits of Extract PBA:

• Accelerates residue breakdown
• Maximizes nutrient release from crop residue
• Supports easier plantability in the spring
• Promotes more even crop emergence
• Optimizes yield potential for next season's crop