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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
[Watch] How to Make Your Dry Fertilizer Work Harder & Go Farther
October 3, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

09-22-CropLife-dry-fertilizer-webinar-archive-1How can growers make the most of every nutrient they apply, especially with high fertilizer costs? One way is to focus on improving the efficiency of dry fertilizers that are spread in the fall or spring.

Watch our on-demand webinar, "How to Make Your Dry Fertilizer Work Harder and Go Farther," to learn:

  • Why the amount of fertilizer you apply doesn't always equate to the amount of fertility available to your crop

  • How next-generation technology can enhance your fall dry fertilizer program for better nutrient availability and uptake in the spring

  • How Titan XC can help you get more out of every prill you’ve paid for by giving your crop greater access to applied fertility

Hosted by CropLife and presented by Agricen's Director of Applied Sciences, Dr. Brian Cornelious, the webinar explains how Titan XC can help growers maximize their yield opportunities by improving nutrient availability and uptake from treated dry fertilizers.

Fertilizer prills as applied to the field are not available to the plant or soil until they have gone through a conversion process that transforms them from organic forms into inorganic, plant-available forms. For example, applied phosphorus (P205) must be converted to the inorganic forms HPO4 or H2PO4 before the crop can use it.

Titan XC expedites this process. As part of the investment in next year’s crop, it helps deliver maximum yield and return on investment by making every Titan XC-treated prill go farther and work harder, including in corn, soybean and cotton crops.

Watch the webinar today to learn how to get the most out of your fall dry fertilizer application. 

Watch the Webinar

 

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A Cutting-Edge Technology for Fall Dry Fertilizer
September 13, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Wity-radio-down on farmWith 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.

Download the Bulletin

 

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Protecting Yield Potential from Heat and Drought Stress
August 8, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

With many areas of the country in need of moisture, Agricen’s Scott Lay spoke with WITY Radio's Dennis Michelsen about Terramar, a new technology for the row crop market that can help growers protect their yield potential from heat and drought stress.

Dennis - WITY Radio: When it comes to wanting a little more rain and being concerned about stress in our corn and soybeans this time of year, that’s where Terramar comes into play.

Scott - Agricen: Right. Terramar is a new technology for the Midwest corn and soybean markets. We’ve already had it commercially available in high-value fruit and vegetable crops in Florida, California and the coastal areas.

Terramar is a combination of a biological extract of kelp and a carbon source that does two things. One, it helps to minimize effect of heat and drought stress in the plant. We’re trying to protect the yield potential that exists by minimizing yield robbing factors, like heat and drought stress, which are all too often an impediment to yield as the crop matures.

Secondly, it helps with nutrient uptake. As we move through the pollination and flowering to grain-fill phases in both corn and soybeans, it is a critical time in terms of nutrient consumption and nutrient demand. So the more “groceries” we can get into that plant, the better chance we have to optimize yield.

Dennis - WITY Radio: It really doesn’t matter whether they are being applied to a fruit or nut crop or to corn and soybeans. The actual game plan works similar.

Scott - Agricen: That’s very much the case. The factors that drive or impact yield are very comparable across crops. We’ve learned a great deal through our experiences in fruit and vegetable crops, and over the last couple of years we’ve screened Terramar in corn and soybeans and had very consistent results across a wide geography in the Midwest.

Dennis - WITY Radio: This is the perfect time for folks to start experimenting to see what Terramar can do in their fields. If you look at the weather, we are going to need to combat those high stress situations with smarter agronomy.

Scott - Agricen: Heat and drought-like conditions impact yield. That’s a fact. Now, the technology in Terramar is not a replacement for precipitation, nor does it make a 95-degree day 75 degrees. But if you can minimize the impact of that heat and/or drought stress in the plant, that’s a positive thing. It buys you more time and allows the plant to respire more efficiently, create more chlorophyll and undergo more photosynthesis, and that leads to a more consistent and productive yield.

Dennis - WITY Radio: You talked about the wide array of field trials ranging from areas like Kansas that are notoriously dry at this time of year to areas like Central Indiana that get more typical weather. The return on investment and the return in bushels has been quite amazing.

Scott - Agricen: In terms of yield impact, our average across a wide range of corn trials is in that 6 to 8 bushel range and in soybeans we’re looking at a 3 to 5 bushel range. There are instances where conditions are more challenging with heat and drought stress where we've seen upwards of a 10 to 12 bushel response in corn and similar in soybeans. We’re confident in the consistency that Terramar will deliver in terms of yield impact. 

Terramar 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.

 

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Agricen's Farming Films Win Multiple Telly Awards
June 15, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Last-Stand-1We are proud to announce that our farming film, Last Stand, and three related short videos took home Telly Awards this year. The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens.

Last Stand, a movie about the joys and challenges of being a farmer that was filmed during the 2020 growing season, was recognized with both a Silver and a Bronze Telly. It is available to watch as both a short, 20-minute version and an in-depth, hour-long film.

The other Telly Winners were the short videos Religious Experience, You'd Never Go Without It, and The Whole World Can Benefit, which can be viewed below. All of the winning videos were produced by the team at Light Work Productions.

Religious Experience

Silver Winner: Non-broadcast - Lifestyle Category

American farmers talk about farming, family and what drives them every day. "I love farming. I still get up every morning excited to go outside and to do what I do. I don't think everybody can say that," says Heath Cutrell, who farms in Virginia and North Carolina. "The reward is the lifestyle," says Don Stall, who farms in Michigan. "I produce something that's tangible...and I see my efforts paying off. When you harvest and the yields are big, it's very satisfying."

You'd Never Go Without It

Silver Winner: Non-broadcast - Sales Category

How do you grow a crop that's bigger, greener and healthier? In this video, growers who have produced some of the highest U.S. corn yields in recent years discuss their approach to farming and why they use Accomplish and Titan technologies in their crop production programs. "Putting Accomplish in furrow, we do that on every acre of corn and soybeans. The roots with Accomplish and without, if you saw that, you'd never go without it," says Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett. The video also features growers Don Stall, Heath Cutrell and Kevin Kalb, and the University of Illinois' Dr. Fred Below and Connor Sible. "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," says Dr. Below.

The Whole World Can Benefit

Bronze Winner: Non-broadcast - Sustainability Category

By better managing fertilizer inputs, growers can better take care of the land and water while also adding to higher yield and return on investment. In this video, you'll hear how Accomplish and Titan help growers increase their yields in an environmentally friendly and cost effective way. "Tissue samples don't lie, all the way up to the yield. Accomplish has been helping free up the phosphorus. It's a big win on our farm," says Indiana farmer Kevin Kalb. The video also features Iowa grower Kelly Garrett, Connor Sible and Dr. Fred Below of the University of Illinois and Nutrien Ag Solutions crop consultant Scott Brinkman. "We're out here trying to protect the water system, because it's the water I drink at night," says Scott.

Watch more videos from Agricen by visiting our YouTube channel or our Featured Videos page.

Visit Featured Videos Page

 

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Getting More Out of the Nutrients You’ve Already Paid For
April 12, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Wity-radio-down on farmWith the spring planting season starting, Agricen’s Scott Lay spoke with Dennis Michelsen on WITY Radio’s Down on the Farm podcast about why growers might want to take a look at Extract PBA this year to get more out of nutrients they’ve already paid for.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Input costs are going up for producers, but that’s why they need to take an extra look at Extract this year. 

Scott - Agricen: Extract aids in the mineralization and release of nutrients that are already in the soil profile or in last year’s crop residue. These are nutrients that the farmer has already paid for. The object is getting more of these nutrients in a plant-available form to provide the necessary fuel to increase crop yield.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Extract has a tremendous track record in university studies and it shows a gain no matter what the fertility program is, which I think is a good key to seeing it work in the field.

Scott - Agricen: We've had the product out for six years. In 2022, we’ll treat approximately 2 million acres with Extract. You don’t get to that level without consistent results. We’ve seen an average yield increase of 10.1 bushels per acre in corn and 4.2 bushels per acre in soybeans. With today's economics, it takes slightly less than a 2 bushel increase in corn and less than a bushel increase in soybeans for Extract to pay for itself. The ROI on a per acre basis translates roughly to $45-55 per acre, depending on the price of the commodity.

Dennis - WITY Radio: One of the big factors in that ROI is that growers don’t have to make another pass to put down Extract.

Scott - Agricen: Extract is often applied with a pre-emergent herbicide on corn or soybeans, and it also fits nicely if you are applying your pre-emergent herbicide with UAN or a liquid nitrogen application in corn. We’re not asking folks to change their practice, but rather to employ this technology to get more miles out of the nutrients that are already held in the soil.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Talking to Dr. Fred Below at the University of Illinois, it appears that Extract improved plant vigor early in the crop season, getting the crop off to a much faster start. A plant that gets off to a good start is going to be a lot healthier to take a little abuse as the season wears on.

Scott - Agricen: Dr. Below has worked with this product for the last seven years and he has found very consistent results. He was the one who took us down the path of “Hey, if it works this well in corn, how about soybeans?” The ability to release nutrients throughout the course of the season with Extract makes for a healthier plant. If you can help prepare the plant for times of stress, that will pay for itself. 

Extract PBA is available from Nutrien Ag Solutions locations.

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 Extract PBA by downloading the Extract PBA corn bulletin.

Get the Corn Bulletin

 

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Titan XC Plays a Big Role on Indiana Grower's Farm
January 31, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Evan Matlock, a farmer from Greenfield, Indiana, first started using Titan XC on his farm about five years ago. In his first year of testing it, he applied Titan XC-treated dry fertilizer on a partial field of soybeans and a partial field of corn. There was an obvious difference between the parts of the field where Titan XC had and had not been applied.

“You could see it visually and we saw it on aerial imagery throughout the year,” he says. “When we took it to harvest, the corn stood out about 4.8 bushels better (with Titan XC) and the soybeans were 2.8 bushels better.”

With those results, Evan had a feeling that Titan XC might be a product he wanted to implement on a broader scale at the farm. That next year, he tested Titan XC-treated dry fertilizer on about half of his acres.

“The next year, we continued to see a yield increase,” he says.

Five years later, he uses Titan XC-treated fertilizer on every acre at Matlock Farms.

“We use it on corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa, sorghum and sudan grass,” says Evan. “It works great.”

Today, Evan spreads Titan XC with his fall dry fertilizer application in front of wheat and spreads his corn and other crop acres in the spring.

“We mix the Titan XC in with potash, MESZ 10, elemental sulfur and ammonium sulfate,” he says. “We’ve built up our soil profile over the last couple of years by using Titan XC. We’ll continue to use it here on every ton of dry fertilizer that’s spread from here on out.”

In the five years he has used Titan XC, Evan calculates that his corn yields have increased by anywhere from 4.8 to 7.1 bushels per acre and his soybean yields have increased in the range of 2.2 to 3.9 bushels per acre. He has recently gone back to growing wheat and saw a 7.1 bu/a yield increase with Titan XC-treated fertilizer compared to check in his latest wheat trial. 

“That really helps out your bottom line at the end of the year,” he says. “Titan XC will be a product that will be used here at Matlock Farms from here on out, and I would highly suggest everyone take a look at it.”

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

Learn more about Titan XC and dry fertilizer efficiency by downloading the Titan XC corn bulletin.

Download the Bulletin

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Loveland Products Launches Accomplish MAX for Row Crops
January 3, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Accomplish MAXAccomplish MAX, a next-generation biocatalyst that provides nutrient efficiency and crop stress tolerance benefits, is now available from Loveland Products through Nutrien Ag Solutions retail locations. It is designed for use with in-furrow starters, 2x2 placement of liquid fertilizers, and liquid sidedress applications.

Accomplish MAX is a proprietary combination of proven Accomplish biocatalyst technology, which growers have used for over a decade to improve nutrient mineralization and uptake on millions of acres across the United States, and cutting-edge kelp technology designed to enhance crop tolerance to abiotic stressors such as cold temperatures, drought and fertilizer salts. 

Key benefits of Accomplish MAX:

  • Increases nutrient availability and uptake by mineralizing nutrients in the soil
  • Improves plant tolerance to abiotic stresses such as cold temperatures and salinity from commercial fertilizers
  • Enhances overall plant performance to help growers reach their yield potential

Common stressors like cold temperatures, drought and fertilizer salts can slow early-season plant growth, robbing growers of yield. By incorporating Accomplish MAX into their existing fertility programs, growers can help their crops better endure some of these environmental stresses, ultimately leading to better results at harvest time.

“For years we’ve been driving crop yields with Accomplish LM. In Accomplish MAX, we’ve combined that proven biocatalyst technology with powerful kelp technology to both enhance nutrient use efficiency and improve abiotic stress tolerance, providing a significant agronomic advantage,” says Taylor Ivy, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Plant Nutrition, Loveland Products.

Accomplish MAX was extensively validated in corn, cotton, and soybean crops during the 2021 growing season, both at the Loveland Products Research farms in Kentucky and in 60 replicated on-farm trials and 20 replicated trials at third-party cooperators and university sites.

Accomplish MAX is manufactured by Agricen.

Learn more about Accomplish MAX by downloading the Accomplish MAX booklet.

Download the Booklet

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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.

Download the Booklet

 

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[Hoosier Ag Today] Maximizing Your Dry Fertilizer Investment
November 4, 2021 — Posted By Agricen

Hoosier Ag Today-1Agricen’s Scott Lay recently spoke with Hoosier Ag Today about how growers can maximize their dry fertilizer investment with Titan XC.

Hoosier Ag Today: One of the first decisions for farmers regarding next year's crop results relate to dry fertilizer. With fertilizer prices surging, growers are trying to find ways to maximize their investment. Lay says that's where Titan XC comes into play.
Scott: In terms of benefit, what we're looking for is the ability of the product to enhance the mineralization, or breakdown, of dry fertilizer prills so that come next spring when the crop goes in the ground, we have greater nutrient availability to that growing crop, which will lead to a more consistent yield response at the end of the year.
Hoosier Ag Today: Lay says that across third-party trials and university results, Titan XC's average yield response over untreated fertilizer is 10.2 bushels per acre in corn and 4.6 bushels per acre in soybeans. Even with fertilizer prices rising, Lay believes that type of response is worth the investment.
Scott:  It's not what you spend, it's what you get for what you spend that matters. Titan has been on the market for ten years, and we have nearly 50 million acres of commercial experience and results to draw on.  What we've found is that we get a more consistent yield result and a better ROI with Titan XC, and we're able to increase the availability of nutrients by nearly 20 percent in that first year. If you can enhance the value or benefit of those dry fertilizer dollars invested by 20 percent, we think that's a pretty sound investment.

This radio segment 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 Fall Fertilizer Booklet.

Download the Booklet

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Corn and Soybean Growers See Synergy Between TITAN XC and EXTRACT PBA
June 7, 2021 — Posted By Agricen

TITAN XC and EXTRACT PBA both help growers get more out of their fertilizer investments. But is there any benefit when they are applied in the same growing season? These trials show how TITAN XC on fall dry fertilizer followed by EXTRACT broadcast in the spring with pre-emerge herbicide can lead to improved yields and return on investment for the grower.

All three on-farm trials—two corn, one soybean—were conducted in South Sioux City, Nebraska, to look at the addition of TITAN XC and EXTRACT to the grower's standard practice (GSP). TITAN XC was applied at 1 pint per ton to dry fertilizer that was spread in the fall of 2019. This was followed in the spring of 2020 by EXTRACT applied at 1 gallon per acre with pre-emerge herbicide. 

In both corn trials, fall-applied TITAN XC followed by spring-applied EXTRACT led to a yield increase of over +12 bushels per acre, which was accompanied by a positive ROI.

Titan-Extract-corn-1-1

Titan-Extract-corn-2-1

Similarly, the soybean trial also showed a yield increase (+4.98 bushels/acre) and positive net ROI with TITAN XC and EXTRACT in the grower's program.

Titan-Extract-soybeans

Treating dry fertilizer with TITAN XC, a proven technology for enhancing dry fertilizer efficiency, expedites nutrient availability and uptake from the treated ton, while EXTRACT, whether applied alone or with pre-emerge herbicides, helps to release tied up nutrients in the soil. 

Whether a grower wants to find ways to be more efficient with their crop nutrition, improve sustainability, or stretch each dollar further, TITAN XC and EXTRACT can help, and can even be used together for greater benefits. 

Learn more about TITAN XC and EXTRACT PBA by downloading the Frequently Asked Questions booklet.

Download the Booklet

 

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