With today’s corn genetics providing the potential to grow more than 300 bushels per acre, growers need a new take on crop management, particularly when it comes to soil fertility. Have 15 minutes? Hear Dr. Fred Below of the University of Illinois talk about how to move from a “feed the soil” to a “feed the plant” approach to high-yield corn fertility program. 

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

It’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.

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

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

Agricen and sister company, Agricen Sciences, have released a new white paper. “Growing for the Future: Supporting Sustainable Agriculture with a New Generation of Biologically Sourced Tools for Plant Nutrition” provides growers with the information they need to understand biologically sourced plant nutrition and how it can help them meet sustainability goals.

We all know that drought and excessive heat cause significant yield reductions, with devastating consequences for growers. But why, exactly, does this occur?