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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 PBA can be used in any residue situation, including:

• Corn going to soybeans
• Wheat going to soybeans
• Wheat to wheat acres
• No-till/minimum till corn on corn acres
• Other crops planted in heavy residue from the previous harvest 

Download our new booklet to learn more about using Extract PBA for nutrient release this spring and better ROI this season.

This booklet covers:

• Answers to frequently asked questions about Extract PBA
• Product description
• Uses and rates
• When to make an application

Learn more about Extract PBA by downloading the Extract PBA product booklet. 

After every harvest, valuable nutrients remain in the crop residue on the ground. How can growers access the nutrients in this season's residue to feed next season's crop?

Extract Powered by Accomplish™ helps growers more easily manage residue while releasing valuable nutrients for next season's crop. Use Extract PBA with fall or spring burndown to continue to take advantage of the nutrients that were applied during the previous growing season. Learn more by watching this short video.

Watch the Video:

EXTRACT Powered by Accomplish™ (EXTRACT PBA), a new product manufactured by Agricen for nutrient release from crop residues, is now available from Loveland Products.

Labeled for residue management and pre-emerge applications, EXTRACT (6-0-0) allows soybean, corn and other row crop growers to access the full nutrient potential of their crop residues by:

• Accelerating crop residue decomposition
• Maximizing nutrient release from residue breakdown
• Promoting easier plantability in the spring and more even crop emergence
• Optimizing yield potential for next season's crop

EXTRACT combines the powerful biochemistry of ACCOMPLISH^® LM with ammonium thiosulfate (ATS). When applied on crop residues, the ACCOMPLISH biochemistry accelerates residue decomposition and speeds nutrient release, while ATS promotes an optimal carbon to nitrogen ratio to enhance soil microbial activity, further expediting nutrient return to the soil profile.

By using EXTRACT to release valuable nutrients from crop residues and add them back into the soil profile, growers can re-utilize some of their previous fertilizer investments—those that were taken up by the plant and remain in the residue after harvest—for next season's crop.

Learn more by downloading the EXTRACT product booklet.

Here we discuss why your crop residue is valuable and how your farm can benefit from a post-harvest application of EXTRACT. 

Q: I mostly consider my residue to be a nuisance. Do I need to rethink that view?

A: Given where prices are, growers are really going to have to focus to make money next year. Residue can play an important role in helping to achieve that. Residue doesn't have to be just another obstacle to deal with when you're trying to get your crop planted. By releasing the nutrients locked up in your crop stubble, you get more ROI out of your original nutrient investment by benefitting next season's crop. We recommend that you rethink your residue as an important component of the planning process for next year's crop. 

Q: What is the value of my residue?

A: Here's a great example of the value of residue. If you're a corn producer, for every bushel of corn you grow, your residue contains an average of 0.45 lbs of N, 0.16 lbs of P, and 1.1 lbs of K. If you had a 200-bushel crop in 2014, that's an NPK value of 90-32-220. Think about how valuable those nutrients can be if you can release them in time for spring planting.

Q: With a big harvest, how should I deal with all of my post-harvest residue? What's a good way to speed residue breakdown and access the nutrients in my stubble?

A: Many growers turn to fall tillage or a fall nitrogen application to help them speed residue breakdown. Although tillage does a good job of physically breaking up the residue and increasing the surface area that microbes have to work on, it has little direct influence on the mineralization of nutrients trapped in residue. Nitrogen can provide some benefits, but lack of sufficient N is not the main limiting factor for residue breakdown–soil temperatures are, since microbial activity, which is what produces the biochemistry needed to break down crop residue, drastically drops off below 50 degrees F. This is why we recommend a post-harvest application of EXTRACT – which contains biochemistry that enhances residue breakdown, nutrient release and nutrient mineralization, even at lower temperatures – to help you capture the value of your residue. 

Learn more about the benefits of a residue application of EXTRACT by reading the our crop residue booklet.

Accomplish technology can be used to help release and mineralize nutrients in high residue fields. Given the high potassium levels in corn stover and the high potassium demand for a soybean crop, this is a perfect situation for using a residue application of Accomplish technology to improve plant performance (Figures 1-3) and gain a yield advantage in the coming soybean crop (Figure 4).

Figure 1. Soybeans, Wimbledon, ND (2011). Improved nutrient uptake in soybean treated with fall-applied Accomplish LM (right) compared to check (left). Accomplish LM was applied in the fall of 2010 at 2 quarts/acre with 1 gallon of 28% UAN and 10 gallons of water per acre**.

Figure 2. Soybeans, Wimbledon, ND (2011). Improved nutrient uptake and root growth during the growing season with a fall residue application of Accomplish LM (right) compared to check (left). Accomplish LM was applied in the fall of 2010 at 2 quarts/acre with 1 gallon of 28% UAN and 10 gallons of water per acre**.

Figure 3. Soybeans, Wimbledon, ND (2011).Improved nutrient uptake with a fall residue application of Accomplish LM (right) compared to check (left). Accomplish LM was applied in the fall of 2010 at 2 quarts/acre with 1 gallon of 28% UAN and 10 gallons of water per acre**.

Figure 4. Soybean yield results, Wall Lake, Iowa (2008). Accomplish LM was associated with the highest yield compared to check (average yield from two check strips adjacent to the Accomplish LM-treated strip) in this trial of soybean grown on corn residue.

Residue applications can be made in the fall, winter, or spring. By using Accomplish technology in their nutrient mineralization programs, growers can speed residue breakdown and release valuable nutrients for a top soybean yield next season.

**Extract PBA, which combines Accomplish LM and ammonium thiosulfate, has been launched since the writing of this blog article. It is now the recommended residue treatment from Agricen.**