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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
Raising Soil Fertility & Crop Yields on Continuous Corn Acres
September 6, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Chris Perkins Otwell Indiana

For the past several years, Chris Perkins, a grower and Nutrien Ag Solutions location manager in Otwell, Indiana, has been running an experimental, high management, continuous corn plot using several products in the Loveland Products portfolio, including Accomplish LM and Titan, so that he can prove the value of the products he sells to his customers.

Many of the decisions that Chris makes in the management of his plot are driven by ongoing research at the university level, primarily that of Dr. Fred Below of the Crop Physiology Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

We spoke to Chris to learn more about how he uses biocatalyst products to tap into nutrients in his field, bring up fertility levels, and sustain a healthy soil structure under his corn on corn acres. We also spoke to Dr. Below to hear his take on the success Chris has had raising soil fertility levels and crop productivity. Watch the video to hear from Chris and Dr. Below. 



"One of the things that Chris does exceptionally well is that he manages the residue so that it releases more nutrients in season, throughout the whole season," says Dr. Below. "Chris took that marginal field and, over the last three years, I've seen him raise yields by 60 bushels. He's done this with a combination of technologies. He's managed the nutrients that are in the residue, he's managed the nutrients that are in the soil, and he's protected the crop."

One of the key benefits Chris has noted from using Accomplish and Titan technologies is an increase in soil nutrient values.

Learn more about the work Chris has done to improve soil fertility on his continuous corn acres.

"In the past three years, we have taken a field that was in the mid-20s on phosphorus and, by running biologicals such as Accomplish and Titan with our fertilizer, we've pushed those levels to over 150 lbs per acre," says Chris. "We have all of these nutrients in the field from my dad, from my grandpa, and probably even from my great grandpa, and that's what we think has come in with the Accomplish technology, which breaks those nutrients down for us so that they can continue on through the new crop."


Find out more about the biocatalyst technologies Chris is using and how they can help your operation by accessing our biocatalyst technology FAQ.

Download the FAQ

 

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[Corn Trial] Bigger Roots & Healthier Stalks with Titan XC
August 1, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

In this field trial on corn, root digs show a more developed root system in plants fertilized with Titan XC-impregnated dry fertilizer compared to untreated dry fertilizer. The corn trial was conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions in New Brunswick, Indiana. 

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Photos from the trial also show that stalks are denser and healthier with the Titan XC biocatalyst applied to the grower's dry fertilizer.

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All photos were taken in early July.

Learn more about using Titan XC to enhance your dry fertilizer application by downloading our fertilizer breakdown study.

Download Titan XC Prill Breakdown Study

 

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[Hoosier Ag Today] Extending Nutrients for Soybeans This Year
May 18, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

hoosieragtoday.pngScott Lay recently spoke to Hoosier Ag Today about Extract PBA and how it can help maximize soybean yield potential when used with a pre-emerge herbicide or fertilizer application this spring. 

Hoosier Ag Today: Extract is a biocatalyst that helps make nutrients in the soil available to crops. Scott Lay from Loveland Products explains. 

Lay: Really what Extract does is frees up or mineralizes nutrients that are already bound in the soil. It helps to decompose residue, which is essentially nutrients awaiting to be utilized by the plant. It simply accelerates that process that Mother Nature is already performing, by helping to decompose and mineralize more nutrients, putting them in a plant available form so that we can maximize yield in a given crop.

Hoosier Ag Today: With concerns about nutrient levels in soil this spring, this product may be helpful in improving yield, especially in soybeans. 

Lay: We're able to introduce it with a pre-plant herbicide and/or fertilizer type application. Our results have been very consistent in soybeans. We've averaged about a 4 bushel per acre response in soybeans when we've utilized Extract.

Hoosier Ag Today: Lay says the product works all season long and can help make sure that adequate nutrients are available later in the season during the critical yield determination period.

Lay: We're able to extend the nutrient mineralization process throughout the season to provide a more adequate flow of nutrients to the soybean plant during the critical yield determining time through July and even into August.

Hoosier Ag Today: Ask about Extract at your local co-op or Nutrien Ag Solutions store.

You can read the article at Hoosier Ag Today. You can also listen to the full interview in the video.

Download the Extract soybean study to see how Extract has performed in recent soybean trials across the Midwest.

Download the Study

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[Trial Data] Extract PBA Brings Big Returns on Two Crops in One Year
December 14, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

In this trial from Attica, Indiana, Extract PBA brought in big returns on two crops in the same year.

Extract PBA was applied in the fall of 2015 on soybean stubble, and winter wheat was planted. At harvest, the crop planted where Extract was applied had an 8 bushel per acre yield advantage.

Download Extract PBA Product Booklet

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In 2016, the grower planted double crop soybeans in the same field, again gaining a yield advantage (5 bushels per acre) where Extract PBA had been applied the previous year. The combined ROI to the grower was $69/acre.  

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One of the major benefits of Extract PBA is that it increases nutrient mineralization in the soil. As seen in this trial, this can potentially have benefits that last more than one year. Plan on using Extract PBA in the fall or spring to maximize nutrient mineralization and help feed your crop.

Learn more by downloading the Extract PBA product booklet.

Download the Booklet 

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Extract PBA with Fall Burndown Leads to Soybean Yield Increase
November 7, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

A proactive fall herbicide program can help growers get ahead of next season's weed pressure by controlling difficult weeds, allowing them to start out the spring with cleaner fields and setting the stage for better spring herbicide performance. By adding Extract PBA to a fall burndown package, growers can also gain the benefits of increased yield and ROI. 

In this trial, which was conducted in West Lebanon, Indiana, Extract PBA was applied with fall burndown in 2015 to release nutrients in the soil and residue for the next season's crop. Soybeans were planted in the spring of 2016. At harvest, Extract PBA treatment was associated with a  5.1 bu/a yield advantage and a return on investment for the grower (ROI of $37/acre compared to the untreated soybean yield; ROI calculation for that time period assumes $9.50 cash beans.).

Download Extract PBA Product Booklet

Extract-soybeans

Extract PBA is not limited to use with fall burndown herbicides. It is also effective when used in the spring with pre-emergence herbicides. With either application, this biocatalyst can help growers mine nutrients out of both soil and crop residue to feed the next crop.

Learn more about Extract PBA by downloading one of our Extract PBA publications.

Access Extract PBA Publications

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Big Improvements in Soil Fertility after Accomplish & Titan
June 30, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

Chris Perkins Otwell Indiana-1Chris Perkins, a Nutrien Ag Solutions location manager in Otwell, Indiana, likes to practice what he preaches when it comes to the products he recommends to growers. If he’s not familiar with something, he tests it on his own family farm and carefully evaluates the data to make sure the product is living up to its claims.

“My dad lets me have 17 acres for a community plot where we’re doing corn on corn,” says Chris. “I want to show guys ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing, and this is what we’re seeing because of this product, management practice or hybrid.’”

Over the past few years, Chris has been evaluating Accomplish and Titan on his 17 acres, and he’s seen both his yields and his soil nutrient values rise. Along with the fertility added by the continuous corn, he credits the Accomplish and Titan technologies for contributing to a good portion of those increases.

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“These acres have received moderate fertilizer levels, but not enough to support the rise in soil nutrient values we’re seeing, much less the yields being attained,” says Chris. “We’re testing soil from the same spot in the same way and at the same lab, and that’s how we noticed something big going on with potassium and phosphorus. There’s something happening in the soil. And even when I work the ground, it has more tilth to it than I’ve seen in years.”

As part of Chris’s program, he has been applying Titan on dry fertilizer before planting, then running Accomplish with starter in furrow. In the fall, he runs Accomplish with nitrogen and works the ground. Chris recognizes that continuous corn contributes to the fertility in the field by moving minerals to the surface through residue. But his other corn on corn acres aren’t doing as well as those where he uses Titan and Accomplish.

“In fall 2013, we were in the low- to mid-100s [lbs per acre] on potassium and low- to high-20s for phosphorus. From a fertility standpoint, there were really no available nutrients there for the crop,” says Chris. “Then, when you look at the soil samples from January 2015, we’re at the mid-60s for P and over 300 for potassium, and that’s after we took off a 230 bushel corn crop. By February 2016, my potassium was in the 400s and phosphorus continues to rise, right on the heels of the fall harvest of a 260 bushel corn crop in 2015. At the fertility rates being run, that’s just not what I’m expecting to see.”

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Abbreviations: BpH=buffer pH; OM=organic matter. Nutrient values reported as lbs/acre unless otherwise specified; averages are taken from 2.5-acre grid samples.

“Putting it another way, over the course of three years, I’ve put on 500 lbs of DAP—about 230 lbs of phosphate—and harvested three corn crops. Technically, there wasn’t enough fertilizer in there to have the soil test at 96 lbs per acre this February from the 20s back in 2013,” says Chris. “When you calculate what we took away with the grain, it’s about 235 lbs of phosphate. Those three crops only got 230 lbs and we went up almost 70 lbs in the ground.”

To check how much nutrient release he might be getting from stover, Chris compared nutrient values with his other fields in corn on corn production. 

“Where I just work the ground and don’t apply Accomplish in the fall, my potassium levels increased by about 30-50 lbs per acre in corn on corn rotations. But where I run Accomplish with nitrogen, the levels have increased over 100 lbs per acre,” explains Chris. “My soil nutrient levels speak for themselves. I keep doing the math and looking for explanations on why our fertility rates are getting better, and I really think it has something to do with these products.” 

Download our biocatalyst technology FAQ to learn more about Accomplish and other biocatalyst technologies.

Download the Booklet

 

 

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Starter Fertilizer Paying Off This Year
August 4, 2015 — Posted By Agricen

This year, many parts of the country dealt with above-average to excessive spring rains. Wet conditions set the stage for denitrification (converting nitrogen in the soil system into N2 gas) and nitrate leaching, which may explain some of the yellowing growers have observed in fields where there has been a lot of moisture.  

Starter fertilizer use can help to overcome some of this nitrogen loss by adding nitrogen back into the system. Other crop inputs can also pay off. Accomplish LM can be used in a starter blend to ensure that more of the applied nitrogen or nitrogen in the soil system is in a form that is readily available for plant uptake.   

In the field trials we’ve seen this season, the difference between starter and no starter was very obvious. Starter applications that included Accomplish LM have been giving a very strong performance, as seen in these corn trials from Wheatland, Indiana. 

Corn - Wheatland, Indiana (2015)

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Starter vs. no starter fertilizer; Photo taken May 27, 2015

 

Corn - Wheatland, IN (2015)

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Accomplish LM applied at 1 qt/acre; RiseR FA applied at 2.5 gals/acre; Sniper LFR applied at 3.2 oz/acre

 

Corn - Wheatland, IN (2015)

corn_wheatland_IN-3

Accomplish LM applied at 1 qt/acre; Black Label Zn applied at 3 gals/acre; Sniper LFR applied at 3.2 oz/acre

 

Learn more about starter fertilizers and how Accomplish LM can enhance corn starter programs. Download “Improving Crop Yields with Starter Fertilizers.”

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