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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
Three Ways to Combat Drought Stress in Corn
July 25, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

droughtDrought 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.

Terramar-corn 01

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.

Terramar-corn 02

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.

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Nutrien's Gregg Schmitz on Adopting Biochemistry in the Field
March 16, 2020 — Posted By Agricen

Gregg S - Nutrien

Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Gregg Schmitz has witnessed transformational changes in agriculture–from the birth of modern crop protection to the growth of today's market for ag biostimulants and biologicals, even leading some of the early, pivotal field trials that brought Accomplish technology to Nutrien's row crop customers.

We recently spoke with Gregg about his take on this biocatalyst technology, and why growers who aren't already using Accomplish LM, Titan XC or Extract will want to consider adopting this biochemistry in their fields in 2020.

With a father who was part owner of an agriculture retail facility in Iowa, Gregg grew up in the ag business, working in both retail and wholesale during high school and joining the sales team when he graduated. In 1985, the business was acquired by United Agri Products—which ultimately evolved into Nutrien Ag Solutions. Currently, Gregg serves as Nutrien Ag Solutions' Marketing Manager for the Western Iowa, Eastern Nebraska, South Dakota Division.

Gregg is a sound agronomist who firmly believes in soil health. His 2007-2008 replicated trial results on Accomplish were the springboard for incorporating this technology into Nutrien’s core fertilizer and plant nutrition business.

“In the summer of 2007, I got a call to evaluate a product called Accomplish LM that was then being used in California and other states, mainly on specialty or high value crops," says Gregg. "We decided to spray some strips in the fall of 2007 at a corn test plot we had north of Wall Lake, Iowa. To be honest, I was initially skeptical."

"In the summer of 2008, we started to see some visual differences at the V5-V6 stage of growth," he says. "In the area where we applied Accomplish, the corn leaf color was greener. Below ground, we saw more root mass with the Accomplish treatment. We had roots that extended at least three feet into the soil along with a more fibrous root system. We took these trials to yield and had good ROI on all of the applications we made."

AccomplishLM_Corn 01

Gregg and his team had also sprayed a few strips on soybeans in the fall of 2007, using the Accomplish that was left over after spraying the corn test strips. He saw benefits with that crop, too, including seeing the soybeans retain their leaves longer prior to harvest.

"Going into the fall of 2008, we set up trials with key customers at each of our divisions to replicate our results on a larger, real-world scale," he says.

Based on observations from his initial Accomplish LM trial work (harvested in 2008) and from subsequent trials testing the technology with customers at different locations over a two-year period, Gregg's skepticism changed into a belief that Accomplish technology could enhance his grower customers' operations. Some of his observations from that period included:

  • More mellow, less compacted soils and less residue where Accomplish was applied, allowing for smoother tilling operation
  • A customer with tight clay and high pH soils reporting a much more even appearance to his corn field with Accomplish than he had ever seen in past crops–the difference in emergence was right to the line where the trial was applied
  • A big visual difference in terms of more even color, plant development and tassel emergence–along with a 10+ bu/a yield response–in a large-scale trial testing Accomplish technology with UAN in a corn-on-corn field that had liquid hog manure applied the previous fall
  • Carryover effects on crop growth and yield into a second growing season–without additional Accomplish application
AccomplishLM_Corn 02
In an early trial testing Accomplish technology, more even corn tassel emergence
was seen where Accomplish was applied.

Today, Gregg uses a systems or solutions approach to help his customers maximize their ROI on every field, an approach that typically includes 1 gallon per acre of Extract (which contains Accomplish technology) each year. Since 2010, he has also used Titan XC on the majority of dry P&K applications. We asked him why he believes biochemistry is so important to soil health and sustainable crop production.

"There is a quote from Dick Goff, who was an agronomist from Midwest Laboratories in the 1980s. He always said, 'We cannot expect a plant’s productivity to be greater than the foundation and health of the soil.' This quote always stuck with me, as it is about balancing everything we do," says Gregg.

“In my mind, biochemistry is the catalyst to delivering the balance we need to help our customers preserve their ability to maximize productivity and ROI on every acre they farm," he says. "With the Accomplish products, we see many of those benefits, like the development of the roots and the mellowness of the soil, both in the current crop year and even beyond."

With plenty of growers who haven’t yet tried or adopted biological or biostimulant technologies, Gregg encourages them to explore the benefits of biochemistry for improving soil health and crop performance.

“There are over a decade's worth of trials showing how Accomplish biochemistry can benefit our growers," Gregg says. "Doing some hands-on research, even if it's outside of the normal row crop production, can be a good way to build confidence. One way I looked at the technology early on was by using it in my own garden and on my lawn."

"Make sure you dig plants and get your hands dirty," he adds. "It all starts in the roots and the soil.”

Find out why the biocatalyst technology Accomplish LM, Titan and Extract makes a good addition to agronomic programs by accessing the biocatalyst technology booklet.

Download the Booklet

 

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How to Overcome Crop Stress & Improve Crop Quality with Kelp Science
February 24, 2020 — Posted By Agricen

01-20-Kelp-webinar-landing-page-publicOur recent webinar, "Overcoming Crop Stress and Improving Crop Quality with Kelp Science Innovations," is now available to watch online.

During the on-demand webinar, you'll learn about:

  • The role of kelp technologies in agricultural production
  • New, biological methods of kelp extraction and how they have advanced kelp science
  • A new kelp technology, Maritime®, and how it can help improve crop quality and increase abiotic stress tolerance

You'll also see recent trial work in a variety of specialty crops, which shows how Maritime performs in field conditions.

Watch this on-demand webinar today to learn about new kelp science innovations and the kelp technology in Maritime.

Watch the Webinar

 

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It’s All About the Roots!
April 1, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

By Maud Hinchee, PhD, Chief Science Officer, Agricen Sciences 

seedling_roots_soil-1.jpgIt’s spring, and newly germinated seedlings are revving their engines!

Once a seedling has secured a foothold with its root, it uses the power of its photosynthetic engines to drive growth. Sunlight is the fuel source, enabling the plant to produce the proteins, lipids and carbohydrates it needs to make new leaves and new roots. To create these internal building blocks, the seedling must mine and extract raw materials from the soil in the form of water, macronutrients and micronutrients.

How does a root prospect? Unlike the “49ers” who picked up their stakes and often travelled great distances to join the California Gold Rush, a plant is literally rooted to its home. Often, its immediate home is not choice real estate with plentiful water and nutrients on tap, so the plant needs to be able to find water and nutrients, sometimes at great distance, and “sluice” them back through its root system to the growing shoot.

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Crop plants are lucky, as growers work to ensure that the necessary nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, are available for their germinating seeds through careful fertilization. However, added nutrients are not necessarily distributed evenly in the soil. Nitrogen, typically applied as nitrate or ammonia, tends to move relatively easily and homogenously down through the soil, while phosphorus tends to be bound up quickly with metals and is typically found in patches nearer to the soil surface.

The most productive plants are ones that can efficiently find and utilize nutrients – no matter where they might be distributed in the soil – by “sniffing” them out with their growing root tip, which has nutrient receptors that function similarly to the receptors found in our nose. These receptors can sense whether or not a nutrient is present. If a root perceives a low or high concentration of a nutrient, it responds by changing its nutrient mining strategy.

If the seedling’s growing primary root senses a low quantity of phosphorus, the seedling shifts its nutrient excavation strategy. It slows its primary root growth and produces a higher density of long, lateral roots that can better prospect for bioavailable phosphorus typically found in the topsoil. If a lucky lateral root finds a rich pocket of bioavailable phosphorus, then additional root proliferation and root hair formation may occur to fully mine that motherlode.

In the case of nitrogen, which tends to be distributed more deeply and homogenously in the soil, the primary root continues to drive down into the soil, producing lateral roots that are relatively evenly distributed along its length. If the root senses that nitrogen levels are becoming low, then it devotes energy to lateral root growth to increase its access to larger soil volumes.  

The root system doesn't find its nutrients by chance! As the seedling journeys towards its ultimate goal of reproducing, it actively modifies its root system to best drill into a rich vein of water or nutrients.

Growers can help, too, by using biocatalyst technologies that increase root mass and enhance root development, allowing plants to better mine the nutrients they need to grow and yield optimally.


Learn more about biocatalyst technologies by browsing Agricen's collection of resources, which includes product studies, videos and publications.

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Understanding Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry
January 20, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

Booklet: Understanding Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry

Understanding the microbiology and biochemistry of the soil is an important part of understanding plant health and nutrition.

Download our booklet to learn more about soil microbiology and soil biochemistry, as well as how soil microbes influence soil health, nutrient release and nutrient use efficiency in farming operations.

This booklet covers:

  • Definitions of soil microbiology and biochemistry 
  • Influence on plant growth, health and nutrition
  • Beneficial roles of soil microorganisms
  • Biochemical interactions in the soil-plant system
  • Influence on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

Learn more by downloading "Understanding Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry."

Access the Booklet

 


 

 

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Understanding Nutrient Requirements for High-Yielding Corn
September 17, 2014 — Posted By Agricen

By Fred E. Below, PhD, Professor of Plant Physiology, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Agronomic advancements have brought corn yields to new heights, but producers have had little guidance on how to meet the nutrient requirements of modern, high-yield corn hybrids in a way that maximizes their yields. As a result, the high yields we see today have been accompanied in many places across the United States by a significant drop in soil nutrient levels, particularly phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S) and zinc (Zn). This combination—higher yielding hybrids and decreasing soil fertility levels—suggests that producers have not sufficiently matched their maintenance fertilizer applications with nutrient uptake and removal by the corn.

By better understanding nutrient uptake and partitioning, producers can optimize their fertilization practices to meet their crop needs and attain maximum yield potential. I’ll focus here primarily on the uptake, partitioning, and utilization of P and K by corn.

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Typical fertilization for corn in the United States is 180 lbs of N, 90 lbs of P2O5 and 160 lbs of K20 per acre, with no S or micronutrients. For modern corn hybrids in high-yielding systems, mineral nutrients with high requirements for production (i.e., nitrogen [N], P, K) or with a high harvest index (HI: the percentage of total plant uptake that is removed with the grain) (i.e., N, P, S, Zn) are important for obtaining high corn yield (Table 1).1 

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Producers must consider the impact of increased grain and stover nutrient removal on the next crop and employ appropriate fertilizer strategies to ensure that adequate nutrients are available to the crop. Phosphorus is probably one of the most overlooked nutrients, and most farmers are not putting out enough. In relation to total uptake, nearly 80% of P is removed in corn grain, while K is retained to a higher percentage in stover.

Production practices that utilize above-ground stover (i.e., cellulosic ethanol, silage production) may remove an additional 20.8 lbs of N, 4.0 lbs of P2O5, and 23.3 lbs of K2O per ton of dry matter, along with micronutrients. While farmers in Illinois, for example, fertilize 93 lbs P2O5 per acre, on average, for corn production2, the large majority (~80%) of soybean fields receive no applied P. As a result, they would have only the remaining 13 lbs/acre of P2O5 available for soybean production in a corn–soybean rotation3, where P and K fertilizer are commonly applied for both crops in the corn production year. This value would be inadequate to meet soybean P needs for total uptake (48 lbs/acre P2O5) or nutrient removal (30 lbs/acre P2O5) based on a conservative yield estimate of 46 bushels/acre in Illinois.4 Clearly, typical fertilization practices may need to be adjusted to meet crop nutrient needs.

Mineral nutrients are not all acquired at the same time or used in the same way by corn plants, and some require season-long uptake by corn roots for the crop to achieve a high yield. During the V10 to V14 growth stages, 230 bushel corn requires 7.8 lbs of N, 2.1 lbs of P2O5 and 5.4 lbs of K2O per day, but these needs change at other times. To optimize their programs, producers need fertilizer sources that supply nutrients at the rate and time that match their plants’ nutritional needs.

Potassium accumulates more than three-fourths of total uptake by VT/R1 (Figure 1)1, while over 50% of total P uptake occurs during grain fill (after VT/R1) (Figure 2)1, in addition to remobilization of 57% and 77% of the maximum measured leaf P and stalk P contents, respectively. This suggests that a season-long supply of P is critical for corn nutrition, while availability of K at levels that can meet the maximum rates of uptake during early season vegetative growth would be expected to meet corn nutritional needs, since the majority of K uptake occurs during vegetative growth. Thus, practices that are effective for one nutrient may not improve uptake of the other.

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Nutrient management is complex, but improved fertilizer use can be achieved by understanding patterns of nutrient uptake, partitioning, and utilization. Producers should pay special attention to P requirements as productivity increases, as current data suggest a looming soil fertility crisis if adequate adjustments are not made in P usage rates. Agronomic advancements have brought corn yields to new heights, but understanding how to maintain soil nutrient levels can go a long way in helping to sustain high yields.

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Learn how biocatalyst technologies can improve nutrient availability and uptake to help meet the nutrient needs of corn and other crops by downloading the Biocatalyst Technology FAQ Booklet.

Download the Biocatalyst Technology FAQ

 

References:

  1. Bender RR, Haegele JW, Ruffo ML, Below FE. 2013. Nutrient uptake, partitioning, and remobilization in modern, transgenic insect-protected maize hybrids. Agron. J. 105:161–170.
  2. National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS), United States Department of Agriculture. Fertilizer and Chemical Usage. 2011. Illinois Farm Report. 32:8.
  3. NASS. Fertilizer, Chemical Usage, and Biotechnology Varieties. 2010. Bulletin As11091, Illinois Agricultural Statistics.
  4. Usherwood, N.R. 1998. Nutrient management for top-profit soybeans. News and views. Bulletin RN 98105. Potash and Phosphate Inst., Int. Plant Nutrition Inst., Norcross, GA.
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