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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen.

Enhancing UAN Sidedress Efficiency to Optimize Corn Yield Potential

June 4, 2024 — Posted By Agricen

How can farmers maximize every unit of UAN sidedress they apply to help them reach their maximum yield potential?

Watch our on-demand webinar, "Enhancing UAN Sidedress Efficiency to Optimize Corn Yield Potential," to learn:

What conditions favor best responses from sidedress nitrogen applications
How enhancing a sidedress nitrogen application can potentially help offset the impact of planting delays
When growers should apply UAN sidedress for optimal benefits
How EXTRACT PBA can maximize the impact of UAN sidedress applications to optimize corn yield potential

Not all forms of nitrogen in UAN are readily available for crop uptake when applied. EXTRACT (6-0-0-13S), a combination of a fertilizer biocatalyst and ammonium thiosulfate (ATS), can improve the efficiency of UAN sidedress applications by influencing the two most important sources of plant-available nitrogen: the applied UAN and the residual soil nitrogen.

Accelerating the conversion of the urea component (50%) of UAN and positively affecting the mineralization and recycling of organic nitrogen in the soil are two key mechanisms in nitrogen use efficiency that lead to more available nitrogen from both applied and residual (already on/in the soil) nitrogen sources. Increased nitrogen availability combined with a more efficient use of nitrogen equals better growth potential, both immediately after EXTRACT application and for weeks to come in the growth cycle of the crop.

EXTRACT is also compatible with other technologies that enhance liquid sidedress nitrogen applications, such as BLACKMAX 22, an organic acid-based product that can be applied in tandem with liquid nitrogen to improve nutrient availability and support positive soil attributes.

Whether applied alone with UAN sidedress or with other sidedress-enhancing technologies, EXTRACT helps ensure that crops can access nitrogen during peak demand and that farmers can get the most out of their UAN sidedress investment.

Watch the on-demand webinar today to learn how to get the most efficiency out of your UAN sidedress application.

Biocatalyst Technology Helps 2023 Corn Yield Contest Winners Succeed

April 15, 2024 — Posted By Agricen

More than three dozen farmers in the 2023 National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Yield Contest used Agricen's biocatalyst technologies in their winning programs. They include four farmers who took top places at the national level and 34 who took top places in their states. 🏆

The winning growers used one or more of the following products in their corn fertility programs: Accomplish MAX, Ensurgo, Extract PBA, Levitate, Maritime, Prologue, Terramar and Titan XC. All of these products are exclusively available from our partner, Loveland Products, through Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Corn Yield Winners

The 2023 national corn yield winners again included Virginia farmer Heath Cutrell, who earned first place in the "Conventional Non-Irrigated" category (396.12 bu/a yield). You can learn more about Heath in our short video, Striving for Record Corn Yields.

Other national winners who used Agricen's technology were:

Maryland farmer Temple Rhodes, winner of the "Conventional Irrigated" category (375.67 bu/a yield)
Ohio's Corey Farrens, winner of the "Conventional Non-Irrigated - Corn Belt States" category (340.46 bu/a yield)
New Jersey's Scott Truszkowski, who earned second place nationally in the "Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated" category (323.75 bu/a yield)

We are proud to be a part of these growers' winning programs and wish them the best of luck as we begin the 2024 growing season.

Learn more about some of the technologies used in the winning programs by downloading the Sustainable Technology Overview.

[Watch] Opportunities for Enhancing Nutrient Availability with Extract

March 11, 2024 — Posted By Agricen

How can growers get the maximum benefit from existing and applied nutrition to maximize their yield and return on investment?

Watch our on-demand webinar, "Early Season Opportunities to Enhance Nutrient Availability with EXTRACT PBA," to see:

How Extract helps unlock the nutrition crops need from the soil, organic and inorganic nutrient applications and the previous season's crop residue for maximum yield
How to get the most utilization out of applied and residual nutrition with Extract
Results from corn, soybean and wheat trials

Extract enhances nutrient release and mineralization from the soil, liquid fertilizers and crop residues, which promotes nutrient availability and uptake. It can be used with pre-plant liquid fertilizers, pre-emergent herbicides, UAN sidedress applications or fall burndown chemistries to unlock more nutrition for crops.

In an analysis of 105 third-party and side-by-side trials conducted over the past decade, the average yield increase gained by utilizing Extract was +10.3 bu/a in corn (53 trials), +3.7 bu/a in soybeans (47 trials) and +5.5 bu/a in wheat (5 trials) as compared to no Extract treatment.

By giving crops greater access to the nutrition they need, Extract can help boost crop yields and increase a grower's return on investment.

Extract is exclusively available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Watch the webinar today to learn how to maximize nutrient availability for your crops with Extract.

Interview: Get More from Your Crop Fertility Program with Extract PBA

February 20, 2024 — Posted By Agricen

Wity-radio-down on farm Agricen's Scott Lay recently spoke with WITY Radio’s Dennis Michelsen about why pairing EXTRACT PBA with crop fertility programs makes sense.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Before you know it, it will be time to get the 2024 planting season going, and if you want to get the most out of your fertility program, you really need to find out more about EXTRACT.

Scott - Agricen: Applying nutrients is simply step one. The next question is, “What can you do as a farm operation to enhance the availability of those nutrients that you’ve applied?”

Dennis - WITY Radio: The key is not to reduce what you're putting down. It's just to get more value out of every dollar from your fertilizer program.

Scott - Agricen: That's right. EXTRACT is not a replacement for fertility or nutrients. But it is a technology that is available today to aid in the mineralization of nutrients in the soil profile and in the release of nutrients bound by calcium, magnesium or other components in the soil, so that they can be available for your crop.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Like all of your products, EXTRACT has been tested extensively both in the field and by university researchers.

Scott - Agricen: Ultimately, the end result that any farmer wants is an increase in yield. We've done extensive research with land grant universities across the Midwest—Purdue University, University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, Iowa State and others—to validate what Extract is doing in the soil profile to hopefully give that plant a better chance to yield.

There are two things in particular we can point to when EXTRACT is applied in a broadcast fashion on the soil. The first is we're able to increase the amount of phosphorus available to the plant, more specifically P1, by 10 to 15%. Secondly, both the nitrate and soil ammonium forms of nitrogen are increased by 15 to 20%. That's not a guarantee of greater yield, but we do know that there's a high correlation between having greater amounts of soil nitrogen and phosphorus and increased yields.

Dennis - WITY Radio: EXTRACT offers a way to make sure that every nutrient you're putting down goes to good use.

Scott - Agricen: That's true. The term that's becoming more popular is “nutrient cycling.” In broad terms, it’s simply the ability to take nutrients that are applied or in the soil profile and convert them more readily to a plant-available form. EXTRACT can increase the level of nutrient cycling, which can lead to greater yield results.

Dennis - WITY Radio: It all comes down to the bottom line. What kinds of ROI have you seen with EXTRACT?

Scott - Agricen: EXTRACT has been available on the market since 2017, and this past year we treated a little over 2 million acres across the United States. With EXTRACT, the average yield increase for corn over years of trials is 10.2 bushels per acre. For soybeans, it’s 4.2 bushels per acre. For wheat, it’s a shade over 5 bushels per acre. The number of additional bushels needed to pay for that EXTRACT investment is very minimal. In corn, it's less than 2 bushels. In soybeans, it’s about 0.4 bushels to break even.

Our objective with any farmer, anywhere is to help them lower their production cost per bushel or unit of output. We believe that the economics with EXTRACT stack up very favorably. It’s also very consistent in terms of return on investment and, in the longer-term, positively impacting that soil health, which is any farm’s number-one asset.

EXTRACT PBA is available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the interview below or on Agricen's YouTube channel.

Learn more about EXTRACT PBA, a biocatalyst specifically formulated to maximize nutrient release from the soil and crop residues, by downloading the EXTRACT PBA booklet.

Lifelong Friendship Leads to Advice a Grower Continues to Count On

November 6, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

Jason Jaggers Illinois - Doing More with Less Jason Jaggers is a third-generation corn and soybean farmer in Wyanet, Illinois. When it comes to getting advice from his Nutrien Ag Solutions agronomist, Chad Taylor, he knows he has someone he can count on. Chad is not only his agronomist, but also his childhood friend.

"Chad and I grew up together. Now he's my Nutrien agronomist. If he brings a product to me, he knows it better perform," says Jason. "He's also a grower himself, so he understands that."

Two of the products that Chad has introduced to Jason are Titan XC and Extract PBA. They are biocatalyst technologies that help growers "do more with less" by enhancing nutrient use efficiency.

"As he's brought Titan, Extract and multiple other products to the table, they've all performed very, very well," says Jason.

In the fall, Titan XC on dry fertilizer is a particularly important part of the equation.

"If you're making a fall application of fertilizer, it needs Titan XC," say Chad. "Titan brings multiple levels of benefit...being able to take a grower's fertilizer dollar and increase it by upwards of 20 percent."

On Chad's recommendation, Jason has used Titan XC on his fall dry fertilizer for the past decade.

"We've used it for probably the last 10 years in the fall," says Jason. "We tried it on a couple of farms the first year and instantly saw good results. Now I use it on 100 percent of my acres."

Titan XC fall fertilizer Getting ready to spread Titan XC-treated dry fertilizer.

Extract PBA is another product that Chad commonly recommends for corn and soybean producers. He has seen some outstanding results.

"I had a couple of growers say 'I can't raise beans on this farm.' We started utilizing Extract on the solution for corn years and on the residue for bean years. Now they're like, 'Wow, I never thought I would take 80+ bushel beans off this farm.' It's just been a tremendous turnaround in farm production," explains Chad.

On Jason's farm, Extract PBA is being used as a residue management tool on his corn stubble prior to planting soybeans.

"We're going to apply it on standing corn stalks that are going to go to soybeans next spring just to try to break down the massive amount of residue that we have," Jason says. "It seems that the residue is tying up more and more nutrients, so we're trying to get it to breakdown to get them into the soil profile for next spring."

One of the newer products that Chad is able to bring to the table for his grower customers is Accomplish MAX, which is designed for use with liquid starter fertilizer programs and combines the nutrient availability technology found in products like Titan XC and Extract PBA with a marine-based technology for stress mitigation.

"Everyone who's used it that I've talked to is seeing results. The stress mitigation factor of the kelp extract paired with the Accomplish technology has been a tremendous fit. Now you are getting a healthier, stronger seedling that's encountering less stress— whether it be from cold weather, starter fertilizer salt or salinity within the soil profile," Chad says. "There couldn't be a better coupling of what a new planted seedling needs trying to get up and out of the ground fast and uniform."

You can watch the video below, here or on our YouTube channel, to hear more from Chad and Jason.

Learn more about Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA and Titan XC by downloading the Frequently Asked Questions booklet.

Enhancing UAN Sidedress with EXTRACT PBA to Maximize Corn Yield

June 19, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

Growers who are applying UAN sidedress this season have multiple technologies and practices they can utilize to minimize nitrogen loss to the environment and increase nitrogen efficiency and uptake by the corn crop. Examples include chemical nitrogen stabilizers, cultural Y-drop systems and Extract PBA nutrient release technology, all of which can be used individually or as part of an integrated approach to maximize the benefits of a UAN sidedress application.

Extract PBA is a biocatalyst technology for enhanced nutrient release and mineralization combined with ammonium thiosulfate, a source of nitrogen and sulfur. By accelerating nutrient mineralization and recycling, Extract PBA can help improve crop growth and vigor, extend nutrient availability to the crop and improve nutrient efficiency when used with UAN sidedress.

How do we know that Extract PBA influences nitrogen availability?

One example comes from research performed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. There, at the West Central Research and Extension Center, Extract PBA was applied at 1 gallon per acre onto fallow soil (absent of a growing crop) with a history of manure applications. Soil testing was then performed on the treated and untreated fallow soil every two weeks for four months to determine nutrient availability and assess soil health.

Extract PBA increased the availability of all pools of nitrogen, including inorganic and potentially mineralizable N pools, compared to the untreated soil.

Better Nitrogen Availability with Extract PBA

This is important in the setting of a UAN sidedress application. In the cropping cycle, optimal sidedress timing is at the V4-V8 growth stage, right before the period of rapid nitrogen uptake in corn. By enhancing the availability of nitrogen in a sidedress application with Extract PBA, the corn crop can get more of what it needs for optimal grain fill and yield.

In real world, on-farm situations, this can translate into higher yields, as seen in the examples below.

Extract PBA + UAN at Sidedress

By influencing both applied and residual nitrogen sources, Extract PBA can increase the efficiency of UAN sidedress applications and help maximize nitrogen uptake.

Watch the short video below to hear Agricen’s Dr. Brian Cornelious explain how using Extract PBA to enhance UAN sidedress applications can maximize corn yields.

Learn more about using Extract PBA in sidedress nitrogen applications by downloading our booklet, Sidedressing Nitrogen for Maximum Yields.

[Interview] Employing Sustainable Technologies to Enhance Yield

May 4, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

Wity-radio-down on farm Agricen's Scott Lay recently spoke with Dennis Michelsen of WITY Radio about sustainable plant health technologies growers can employ this season to enhance yield and ROI.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Agricen has a booklet about the company's sustainable plant health technologies. Tell us more about that.

Scott - Agricen: Sustainable practices or technologies can be employed in real-life intensive managed production systems, and not at the expense of yield. They can enhance yield and productivity.

Our technologies, they either benefit the plant, benefit the soil, or both. If we can pair those technologies with traditional production practices, that’s a win-win.

Dennis - WITY Radio: One of the products you talk about is Accomplish MAX. Sometimes when we get a later planting, the crop doesn’t have a chance to get a good, deep root structure to get through those dry periods in the summer. Accomplish MAX could help avoid some of those stresses.

Scott - Agricen: Last year, Accomplish MAX was treated on nearly 2 million acres. It’s an in-furrow product used with starter fertilizers, with an average 7 to 8 bushel yield response in corn. If you can minimize early season stresses and enhance the amount of nutrients available to the plant, that plant has a better chance of yield.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Extract PBA is about making sure you get all the benefit out of the nutrients you’re already putting down in your soil.

Scott - Agricen: There are hundreds of dollars’ worth of nutrients that every farmer in the US has already paid for, which are already in the soil profile or in the prior year’s residue. Extract PBA is a broadcast application designed to accelerate Mother Nature’s work in mineralizing those nutrients into a plant-available form.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Another product you have is Terramar, which my listeners might not be as familiar with.

Scott - Agricen: Last year we had an informal introduction of Terramar with tremendous results. It’s a foliar or post application timing for corn or soybean crops. While we can’t control temperature, precipitation or other environmental conditions, we know those environmental conditions have a tremendous impact on a crop's ability to yield. Terramar minimizes heat and drought stress to preserve the yield potential that exists in that corn or soybean plant.

Dennis - WITY Radio: And Terramar can be combined with other products that you're already going to be making the pass in the field with.

Scott - Agricen: If we can embed our technology in applications that are already taking place so that farmers don’t have to alter what they are already doing, we’ve got a better likelihood of experiencing success.

Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA and Terramar are available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the interview below or on Agricen's YouTube channel.

Download the Sustainable Plant Health Technology Overview to learn more about Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA and Terramar.

Congratulating the 2022 Corn & Soybean Yield Contest Winners

May 1, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

In the NCGA's 2022 National Corn Yield Contest, nearly three dozen winners used Agricen's biocatalyst technologies in their winning programs. They include four farmers who took top places at the national level and 31 who took top places in their states. 🏆

The winning growers used one or more of the following products in their corn fertility programs: Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA, Levitate, Maritime, Terramar and Titan XC. All of these products are available from our partner, Loveland Products, through Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Corn Yield Winners

National corn yield winners include Virginia farmer Heath Cutrell, who, with a yield of 394.05 bu/acre, earned first place in the "Conventional Non-Irrigated" category. His yield was also the highest overall corn yield in this year's contest. Heath was previously featured in Agricen's Last Stand film.

Other national winners who used Agricen's technology include Chad Henderson of Alabama, who placed second nationally in the "Conventional Irrigated" category with a yield of 333.04 bu/acre, and Temple Rhodes of Maryland, who took third place in the nation in the "Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated" category with a yield of 344.94 bu/acre.

Soybean Yield Winners

Agricen's biocatalyst technologies were also a part of several winning soybean programs. The top place winner of the Pennsylvania Soybean Yield Contest and two first place winners of the Michigan Soybean Association Yield Contest all used at least one of Agricen's technologies in their soybean fertility programs:

A. Dale Herr, Jr., 1st Place, Overall & South Central Region, Pennsylvania - 97.49 bu/acre
Don Stall, 1st Place, Overall & Late-Maturity, Michigan - 98.88 bu/acre
Jim Schaendorf, 1st Place, Mid-Maturity Non-Irrigated, Michigan - 89.40 bu/acre

We are proud to be part of all of these growers' winning programs and wish them the best of luck this season.

Learn more about the technologies used in the winning programs by downloading the Sustainable Technology Overview.

Minimizing Early Season Challenges with Extract PBA & Accomplish MAX

March 15, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

Wity-radio-down on farm With planters running soon, Agricen's Scott Lay spoke with WITY Radio about utilizing Extract PBA and Accomplish MAX in the spring to minimize early season challenges related to nutrient availability and weather-related stress.

Dennis - WITY Radio: It has been an incredibly mild winter, but Mother Nature likes to change things up and throw a lot of stress our way, and that’s what the products from Agricen are so good at. It’s really a simple concept: Draw out more nutrients and help with the stress.

Scott - Agricen: That’s the essence of it. If you can’t minimize challenges with regard to weather-related stresses or the challenges that soil profiles present in terms of allowing plants to access nutrients, you’re not going to maximize your return.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Talk a little bit about your Extract product.

Scott - Agricen: We designed Extract for the farmer who does not utilize liquid in-furrow starter applications but wants to get that starter-like effect. It is applied in pre-plant broadcast applications with herbicide or liquid fertilizer.

The intent is really simple. We’re looking to increase the mineralization of nutrients that are already in the soil profile and release nutrients (phosphorus and potassium in particular) that are bound to that soil colloid.

There are a lot of dollars’ worth of nutrients already in the soil profile. If we can accelerate the release of nutrients that the farmer has already paid for and put more in the plant, we’ve got a better chance for yield.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Soil tests that you have done show more available nitrogen not only in the 0- to 8-inch part of the soil profile, but way down deep at that 8- to 24-inch level. Those soil tests don’t lie...that means the product is working.

Scott - Agricen: We have University of Nebraska data to substantiate that we’re increasing both ammonium and nitrate levels in the soil. We’re increasing the amount of available nitrates at 0-8 inches by about 10% and at 8-24 inches by 15-20%. For a corn crop, that’s where the business takes place in the months of June, July and August when the plant is stretching for nutrients, so that’s a good transaction for that corn plant.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Tell us a little about the Accomplish MAX product.

Scott - Agricen: Accomplish MAX is applied with liquid in-furrow starter fertilizers. It’s not fertility, but it’s used as a companion product to liquid starters. There are two principles behind Accomplish MAX. One is to release more nutrients in the furrow, in close proximity to that planted seed. The second dimension is stress reduction. What that translates to is quicker emergence, particularly in times of cooler soil conditions which we often see during planting time.

Dennis - WITY Radio: These products are tested not only in the greenhouse environment but also in the real world in field trials.

Scott - Agricen: Whether you’re in Illinois, the middle of Nebraska or southern Georgia, Accomplish MAX provides a high level of consistency regardless of crop. On average, we see about a 7 to 9-bushel response in corn and, while starter fertilizers are not as common in soybean, we still see a 4 to 5-bushel yield response. That's not just in replicated university trials, but also in real, on-farm, side-by-side trials that our customers provide for us.

Dennis - WITY Radio: And that provides customers with the return on investment they are looking for.

Accomplish MAX and Extract are available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the interview below or on Agricen's YouTube channel.

Learn more about Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA, and other innovative products by downloading the Sustainable Plant Health Technology Overview.

[Watch] Early Season Opportunities to Enhance Plant Nutrition & Health

January 30, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

How can growers optimize early-season crop health and get more from their investment in their fertilizers, crops, and soil?

Watch our on-demand webinar, "Early Season Opportunities to Enhance Plant Nutrition & Health," to hear:

How Accomplish MAX and Extract PBA improve nutrient availability in the soil
Where these biocatalyst products fit into spring crop plans
Details from recent corn and soybean trials

Accomplish MAX combines proprietary biocatalyst technology with kelp technology to give growers "More Nutrients, Less Stress." It can be applied with liquid starter fertilizers in-furrow or 2x2 to enhance nutrient availability from starter fertilizer blends while protecting the developing crop from abiotic stresses like cold temperatures, drought and salt (including fertilizer salts).

Extract PBA contains biocatalyst technology for enhanced nutrient release and mineralization paired with ammonium thiosulfate (ATS), a source of nitrogen and sulfur. Designed for broadcast use (including application with soybean or corn pre-emergent chemistries, burndown chemistries and sidedress UAN, or applications to manures, litters or crop residue in the field), it helps "Unlock More Nutrition" by aiding with conversion or recycling of residual nutrients in the soil or in surface crop residues. It also improves nutrient availability and uptake of nutrients from liquid fertilizers.

With an in-furrow application of Accomplish MAX or a broadcast application of Extract PBA, growers can put their nutrients to work this spring. As part of a balanced crop nutrition program, they can increase nutrient use efficiency and help growers reach their yield goals—making them an important part of the equation for high yield and return on investment.

Accomplish MAX and Extract PBA are exclusively available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Watch the webinar today to learn how Accomplish MAX and Extract PBA can enhance spring fertility programs and help you maximize crop yield and ROI.