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

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.

Terramar: Top 10 Field Performance Photos of 2023

July 5, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

Terramar Top 10 Many agricultural areas across the United States are facing weather-related challenges, but there are still opportunities to make the most out of what Mother Nature is dishing out.

Terramar, a new product for row crops, is formulated to help crops stand up to abiotic stresses (such as heat and dry conditions) while also increasing nutrient uptake for better plant growth.

The photos below document the performance of Terramar applications made on corn, soybeans and wheat earlier this season, and they show some very strong visual results.

With another opportunity to apply Terramar now here (this time with fungicide or plant nutrition products on reproductive-stage corn and soybeans), we wanted to share these images as a reminder of the potential in this year's crop.

Here are the top 10 Terramar field pictures of 2023, so far:

1. Terramar on Corn – Ferris, Illinois

Dry conditions (No rain for 11-12 days). Terramar was applied at 1 pint/acre. Photos taken May 26, 2023, 8 days after application. 15 plants per bundle.

2. Terramar on Corn – Muscoda, Wisconsin

Corn crop planted April 29, 2023. Dry conditions (2.2” precipitation since planting). Terramar was applied at 1 quart/acre at V5. Photo taken June 21, 2023, two weeks after Terramar application.

3. Terramar on Soybeans – Farmington, Illinois

Terramar was applied at 1 pint/acre on May 29, 2023. Photo taken 16 days after Terramar application.

4. Terramar on Soybeans – East Chain, Minnesota

Terramar was applied at 1 quart/acre. Photos taken 5 days after Terramar application.

5. Terramar on Wheat – Kentucky

Terramar was applied twice, each time at 1 pint/acre prior to a sub-freezing event. Joint (head) was above ground. Photos taken mid-May.

6. Terramar on Wheat – Oberlin, Kansas

Terramar was applied at 1 quart/acre on March 24, 2023. Very dry conditions. Photos taken May 4, 2023, 53 days after Terramar application.

7. Terramar on Corn – Fairview, Illinois

Terramar applied at 1 pint/acre at V4 (left) & at 1pint vs 1 quart (right).

8. Terramar on Corn – Bennet, Nebraska

Terramar was applied at 1 pint/acre on May 30, 2023. Photo taken June 20, 2023, 21 days after Terramar application. Some leaf rolling observed on untreated corn. 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

9. Terramar on Corn – Ferris, Illinois

Terramar was applied at 1 quart/acre on on June 3, 2023. Photos taken 5 days after Terramar application. Plants taken 20 rows into each block; 1 plant every 20 steps. 5 plants per bundle.

10. Terramar on Corn – Parker, South Dakota

Terramar was applied at 1 quart/acre at V4 on June 7, 2023. Photos taken 8 days after Terramar application.

*Bonus Photo* Terramar on Corn – Arcadia, Indiana

Terramar was applied at 1 quart/acre at V4-5.

*Bonus Photo* Terramar on Wheat – Western Kansas

Terramar was applied at 1 quart/acre at first green-up (Feekes 3-4) on March 21, 2023. Cold and dry conditions. Photo taken 54 days after application.

Learn more about Terramar by downloading the Terramar row crop bulletin.

A Cutting-Edge Technology for Fall Dry Fertilizer

September 13, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Wity-radio-down on farm With fall fertilizer season approaching, Agricen’s Scott Lay spoke with WITY Radio about using Titan XC to get more efficiency and return on investment out of dry fertilizer applications.

Dennis - WITY Radio: I think Titan XC is going to be a great addition to producers' game plans here in the fall.

Scott - Agricen: Titan XC has been available for about 10 years now. With each successive fall, use increases as folks better understand the benefits of what a fertilizer efficiency technology can provide for their operations.

Dennis - WITY Radio: You guys have a track record now of treating so many acres.

Scott - Agricen: We will treat nearly 10 million acres’ worth of dry fertilizer in the calendar year 2022. In the University of Illinois trials that we’ve conducted since 2011, the average yield response to adding Titan XC to a dry fertilizer program is about 4 bushels per acre of increase in soybeans and nearly 10 bushels per acre of increase in corn. With those types of results, we continue to find new farmers who recognize the value of Titan XC, and we’re happy to provide a cutting edge technology for their operations.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Titan XC is about using your fertilizer input more efficiently. But if you’re using it more efficiently, you might be able to reduce the amount of fertilizer you’re applying without hurting your bottom line.

Scott - Agricen: Imagine you go to the grocery store to purchase orange juice, but all that’s available is oranges. You need to convert the oranges to orange juice. Think about that in terms of dry fertilizer. We’re applying oranges to the field, but what that crop needs is orange juice. Titan XC increases that efficiency—that conversion of dry fertilizer prills to a plant-available form—and it really adds up.

Dennis - WITY Radio: You have done testing to see what the effect of a reduced fertilizer rate is with Titan XC.

Scott - Agricen: In 2017 and 2018, we conducted on-farm trials in Sydney, Illinois, where we reduced the fertilizer rate intentionally by 10 percent and added Titan XC to that reduced-rate application. The average yield response in corn was 7 bushels per acre greater compared to the full rate fertilizer alone. Now, fertilizer lasts in the soil for longer than a year. It doesn’t just simply quit. That next crop year, when soybeans were planted after the corn, there was another 1.2-bushel response on the soybeans without additional fertilizer.

Dennis - WITY Radio: This might be better for your soil health as well.

Scott - Agricen: We’ve tracked a number of different farmers’ fertility tests over the last 17 years in Illinois. Where Titan XC has been employed, the actual P and K levels in the soil are increasing. So there is a positive long-term benefit for the producer and for the environment as well. We are creating a more productive soil environment for that corn or soybean crop to grow.

Titan XC is available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

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

Learn more about Titan XC by downloading the Titan XC corn and soybean bulletin.

Why Corn Growers Like Accomplish Technology for Soil Health

August 2, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Soil health is the foundation of a successful crop. In our short video, The Plant Is Secondary, growers talk about their approach to improving their soil and keeping it healthy, including the role that Accomplish biocatalyst technology plays.

"If your soil's healthy, obviously your crop's going to do what it needs to do," says Heath Cutrell, who farms in Virginia and across the state line into North Carolina.

Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett adds, "If we could take care of the biology of the soil, the plant is secondary. It's what happens when we do a good job with the biology."

The corn growers in the video have seen firsthand how Accomplish technology can help with healthier soils and better nutrient availability for their crops.

"Because of the Accomplish we're feeding the microbes, we're pushing that microbial activity and the mineralization, and we've giving ourselves nutrients," Don Stall, who farms in Michigan, says. "My soil tests have climbed and that's due to that fodder breaking down and returning that nutrient to us. It's a big deal."

"Over the years, we've got high phosphorus levels from manure applications. Even though we have such high P levels in the soil, we just can't get it into the plant. [Our dealer] said 'Here's a product, Accomplish, try that,' and right off the bat we were 0.1, 0.15 higher on our tissue samples. So year after year, we started running a little bit more, and the more we were running, the less commercial fertilizer we would have to buy," Indiana grower Kevin Kalb notes.

University of Illinois' Dr. Fred Below also weighs in.

"What I like to think of a product like Accomplish as is that it's trying to capture the essence of the value that's in that manure," he says. "They called it a fertilizer catalyst because one thing it does is it helps make immobile nutrients more available. There is a whole, vast source of nutrients in the soil, and if we can make some of those more available, that has a real value."

You can watch the video below.

See more by browsing our YouTube channel or by watching our film, Last Stand.

Three Ways to Combat Drought Stress in Corn

July 25, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Drought stress can cause significant yield reductions in corn, so it's important for growers to proactively consider ways they can reduce the impact of dry conditions on their crops.

Although growers can't control the weather, they do have options that can help them improve plant health and strengthen their corn crop's stress tolerance in the face of drought.

What Options Do Corn Growers Have for Combating Drought Stress?

Approaches for combatting the effects of drought or dry conditions include:

Strobilurin-containing fungicides.
Strobilurin-containing fungicides have known beneficial effects on corn development, even in the absence of disease.
Foliar nutritionals.
Foliar nutritionals can be added to fungicide applications for even stronger plant health effects. Nutrient absorption in the leaf tissue is highly efficient and can partially make up for shortfalls in root absorption when the soil is dry. In addition, applying relatively small amounts of foliar nutritionals can prompt plants to work harder at extracting nutrients from the soil and can increase drought tolerance.
Foliar- or soil-applied biostimulants, biologicals or plant hormone technologies.
Products in this category can stimulate the plant and/or soil microbes to improve crop tolerance to drought stress and allow energy to go into yield, rather than stress response.

One product in the last category is Terramar, available from Nutrien Ag Solutions. Terramar is designed to improve both nutrient uptake and plant response to weather-related stress, including drought or dry conditions. It can be applied in season to help corn stand up to drought and heat stress.

In a field trial from Illinois (photo below), Terramar was foliar-applied on V5 corn experiencing heat and drought stress. Only four days later, the treated corn looked visibly healthier.

A field trial from Kansas (photo below) also shows a visual improvement with foliar-applied Terramar on 12-leaf corn that was experiencing both drought and heat stress. The benefits can be seen both above and below the soil, with a healthier looking plant that has a greater stalk diameter, larger root ball, deeper roots, and heavier brace roots.

What's more, the Terramar-treated plants had 57% greater soil penetration, pulling at the 55-cm level on the water probe measurement, compared to the untreated plants that were not yet pulling at even the 45-cm level when measurements were taken.

With many areas of the nation experiencing hot, dry weather, it's the right time to consider these tools as a way to potentially reduce the total impact of drought conditions.

Learn more about the benefits of the marine-based technology found in Terramar by downloading the corn and soybean bulletin.

Illinois Farmer Sees Consistent Corn & Soybean Increase with Titan XC

November 17, 2021 — Posted By Agricen

When Illinois farmer Benjamin Rice first heard about Titan XC, he thought it sounded too good to be true. But he was trying to find a way to increase the efficiency of the dry fertilizer he was spreading on his farm, so he decided to take it to the field and try it.

Benjamin took two different 80-acre fields, split them in half, and spread the north half of each field with Titan XC-treated dry fertilizer and the south half with untreated dry fertilizer in the fall. He also took two different 40-acre fields and did the same, but spread the treated and untreated dry fertilizer in the spring.

He wanted to commit multiple years to the trial to see if Titan XC consistently worked. For three years, he repeated the side by side trials on the same fields.

“We’re on a corn and beans crop rotation. After the first year I saw a yield increase consistently on the side of the field treated with Titan XC,” he says. “After all three years, both spread in the fall or spread in the spring, my field averages made 6.8 bushel better on corn and 2.6 bushel better on beans.”

Benjamin was also conscious of costs, and wanted to make sure he was really getting value from the Titan XC when applied to his MAP and potash.

“I knew that Titan XC was going to be an additional cost,” he says.

On the parts of the field where he spread Titan XC-treated fertilizer, he pulled back on his fertilizer by 10 percent to offset the cost of the Titan.

The results showed him just how well Titan XC can help drive dry fertilizer efficiency.

“Every field, every application where there was Titan XC, it had 10 percent less MAP and potash spread and yet we consistently, every time, made more corn and beans where we used Titan XC,” he says. “After I saw that on my farm, I will never spread another acre without Titan XC.”

You can hear him talk about his experience in his own words by watching the video below or on our YouTube channel.

Learn more about Titan XC and dry fertilizer efficiency by downloading our fall fertilizer booklet.

Illinois Farm Family Benefits from Earlier Planting with Extract PBA

April 19, 2021 — Posted By Agricen

Along with raising cattle, the DeBaillie family has been growing corn and soybeans in northwestern Illinois for over 65 years. Today, Randy, Rob and Russell DeBaillie, who are the third-generation of farmers in their family, farm around 6,000 acres of land in a longstanding no-till farming practice. Extract PBA is one of the products they rely on to help them run a successful operation.

Like other growers, the DeBaillies like to get their crops in as early as possible, usually in the last week in April. They typically plant corn at 36,000 seeds per acre in their highly productive rolling clay hills. Given their northern location in Orion, Illinois, harvest ordinarily ends around Thanksgiving.

DeBaillie Farm Rob, Russell and Randy DeBaillie of Orion, Illinois - on the farm and ready to plant in an Extract-treated field.

Mike Roegiers, a crop consultant with Nutrien Ag Solutions who has been the DeBaillie family's advisor for over 25 years, says that with their high yields and today's genetics, the DeBaillies needed an effective way to manage their corn residue so that they could get in their fields earlier than in the past.

"We don't have enough heat in the fall and early spring to rely on the residue from the high-yielding, fuller season hybrids naturally breaking down in time for that early planting window," says Mike.

About six years ago, the DeBaillies started a trial with Extract PBA to try to address this challenge, and today they spray it on all of their corn stalks. Bean stubble gets a vertical tillage tool in the fall. They also use Titan XC to treat their dry fertilizer on most acres.

"With Extract, the residue in between the corn stalk rows turns to dust now when the planter's residue managers hit them," say the DeBaillies. "We also get in the fields at least a week earlier than in the past."

This, in turn, helps them achieve an earlier harvest date.

When they look at their neighbors' fields, the DeBaillies have said they can see a difference in the amount of crop residue compared to their own fields, with corn stalk rows from two years prior still visible in the neighbors' bean stubble. They've also seen a yield impact in their soybeans planted after corn.

"Our soybean yields were rather flat before," they say. "Since we started using Extract, we see our yield averages constantly on an upward trend."

They believe a lot of this success is from earlier planting in drier and warmer soil conditions due to using Extract PBA.

Mike adds that Extract PBA has also made a significant overall improvement in the DeBaillies' farming operation by allowing earlier application of herbicide in the spring. They are now looking into applying Extract PBA with fall herbicide for soybeans to make early spring more efficient.

"In the old days, they may have had to let a field sit an extra couple days to dry," he remarks. "Now they have that little edge with Extract to make the field work earlier and much profitably all year."

Learn more about using Extract PBA to help manage crop residue by downloading the crop residue booklet.

Titan XC Raises Phosphorus Levels in Depleted Soil

September 30, 2020 — Posted By Agricen

At the Nutrien Ag Solutions branch in Manlius, Illinois, farmer and crop consultant Chad Taylor has been witness to many Titan XC success stories. One that particularly stands out in his mind is the effect that Titan XC has had on one of his grower client's fields, helping to transform farmland that was largely phosphorus deficient into land with optimal soil phosphorus levels.

"The farm was quite run down when he purchased it, and we've been pretty amazed with the activity of Titan XC in just a short time," says Chad.

When the grower first took over the field in 2012, soil tests taken in fall showed that phosphorus levels were very low throughout the field, with an average soil phosphorus level of just 41.5 lbs/acre. Five years later, after applying Titan XC-treated phosphorus and potassium fertilizers every fall, soil phosphorus levels were excellent. In 2017, the date of the most recent soil tests (taken in spring), the average soil phosphorus level had increased to 122.5 lbs/acre.

The grower has been similarly satisfied with the corn and soybean yields on his acres.

"We treat both the phosphorus and potassium with Titan XC for all of his acres and we definitely plan to continue," says Chad. "He's a believer in this technology."

As seen in this and other trials, the biocatalyst technology in Titan XC can help growers maintain or build soil nutrient levels by increasing the availability of nutrients from applied phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. This can lead to increased nutrient use efficiency while also driving yield and ROI.

Learn more about Titan XC, including how it helps drive yield, innovation and sustainability, by downloading the Titan XC Drives booklet.

Titan XC Proves Worth & Increases Corn Yield in VRT Fertilizer Program

May 21, 2020 — Posted By Agricen

corn tassel In the fall of 2017, Benjamin Rice, a crop consultant for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Sidney, Illinois, was faced with a challenge.

He typically recommended Titan XC to his grower customers as a treatment for applied dry phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to help increase yield and profitability. Making the case for using this fertilizer biocatalyst was easy with growers who were blanket spreading dry fertilizers, but demonstrating the value of Titan XC was more complicated with a customer who used variable rate (VRT) applied fertilizer and did not want to pay more for the Titan XC technology. Benjamin needed to figure out a way to prove that Titan XC could have a nutrient efficiency and yield benefit when used with his customer's VRT fertilizer.

Benjamin and his grower devised a large, split-field trial consisting of 320 acres over five fields. Half of the acres would be treated with the grower's standard program (100% VRT-applied P & K), and the other half treated with Ben's program (90% VRT-applied P & K plus Titan XC). The trial was designed so that both programs were identical in cost to the grower.

Two of the fields were spread with each fertilizer program in the fall of 2017, and the remaining three fields were spread with each program the following spring, in 2018, with no additional applications planned for the trial period. Corn was planted in the spring of 2018.

Yield Results in Corn

At harvest, Titan XC proved its worth. Compared to the grower's standard VRT program, the VRT program with Titan XC-treated fertilizer resulted in an average corn yield increase of +6.8 bu/acre over the five fields, for a net revenue of $23.80/acre (based on corn at $3.50/bu).

One Application, Two Years of ROI

No additional fertilizer was spread in the fall of 2018 or spring of 2019 for the 2019 soybean crop planted in the trial fields. Even so, Ben’s customer recorded a +2.6 bu/acre soybean yield increase where the Titan XC program had been applied the previous year, for an added return on investment of $22.10/acre (based on soybeans at $8.50/bu).

Summary

In this split-field trial, one application of Titan XC-treated VRT fertilizer resulted in increased yields and profit for the grower over two seasons. The two-year total ROI with VRT fertilizer spread with Titan XC was ~$45.90/acre in this corn/soybean program, with no cost to the grower for the Titan XC technology. With a planned trial period of four years, Ben and his customer continue to analyze the potential for greater nutrient efficiency and higher yields with Titan XC, and the grower is eager to try this biocatalyst technology on his untreated fields at the trial's end.

Learn more about Titan XC by downloading the Titan XC product booklet.

Obtaining the Highest ROI on Fall Fertilizer Applications

September 4, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

titan-fall-fertilizer When it comes to fall dry fertilizer applications, poor soil conditions and bad weather can significantly decrease fertilizer efficiency. Treating dry fertilizer with Titan XC before it goes out in the field can help growers address these challenges and get the highest return on their fertilizer investment.

How Titan XC Helps Maximize Grower ROI

The concentrated biochemistry in Titan XC makes nutrients in treated phosphorus and potassium-based fertilizers available to the crop more quickly. This creates greater fertilizer efficiency in the first season after application and ensures that the crop has the necessary nutrition when it needs it most.

Titan XC also helps hold the applied nutrients in a plant-available form, protecting them from tie-up in adverse soil conditions, such as high pH or poor soil composition. As an additional benefit, Titan XC has been shown to promote greater root system development, which gives the crop better access water and nutrients. This can lead to increased nutrient uptake and better yield performance.

Recent Trials Demonstrate Increased Fertilizer Efficiency

In five recent Midwest corn trials evaluating Titan XC with a fall or spring fertilizer application, treating dry fertilizer with Titan XC led to an average yield increase of 6.8 bu/a compared to untreated fertilizer. This yield increase was achieved despite reducing the treated fertilizer rate by 10% compared to untreated fertilizer.

Getting the Most Out of a Crucial Investment

Adding the Titan XC biocatalyst to dry fertilizer is a great way to get the most out of a crucial investment this fall. With Titan XC, growers can expect to get more efficiency out of their fall-applied phosphorus and potassium fertilizer through increased nutrient availability and enhanced root development, setting the crop up for improved performance in the coming season.

Download the Titan XC corn bulletin to learn more about how Titan XC performs in fall and spring fertilizer programs.

Blog

What Options Do Corn Growers Have for Combating Drought Stress?

Yield Results in Corn

One Application, Two Years of ROI

Summary

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