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

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.

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."

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

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.

Releasing Nutrients from Cover Crop Skeletons with EXTRACT PBA

August 8, 2019 — Posted By Agricen

Soybean with cover crop Cover crops provide many benefits that can improve the health of soil, water, and the following crop. However, they can also pose some drawbacks. In the spring at planting, cover crop skeletons can interfere with seed to soil contact. They can also stress the seedling by interfering with access to sunlight, requiring the planted crop to stretch so that it can reach above the cover crop canopy.

EXTRACT PBA provides an efficient way to manage cover crop skeletons so that growers can avoid these issues and give the coming crop a nutritional boost. These Nutrien Ag Solutions trials conducted in Ohio show how an application of EXTRACT can break down cover crop skeletons to release nutrients for the following crop.

In the picture above, EXTRACT was applied in the fall at 1 gallon/acre. In the spring prior to emergence, the treated part of the field had better planting conditions with more available nutrients compared to the untreated part of the field. This translated into healthier soybean plants during the growing season.

In the picture below, EXTRACT was applied in the summer at 2 gallons/acre. Once again, this side by side trial shows healthier, more robust soybean plants in the EXTRACT-treated part of the field compared to no treatment.

You can learn more about EXTRACT PBA by downloading the EXTRACT PBA booklet.

[Data] Titan XC Proves Agronomic Benefit in Cotton, Corn & Soybeans

March 27, 2018 — Posted By Agricen

Results from cotton, corn and soybean trials conducted in North Carolina and Virginia show how Titan XC can optimize yield potential by enhancing the availability of applied P&K within an annual cropping cycle.

In cotton, treating dry fertilizer with Titan XC led to a yield increase of 328 lbs of lint/acre compared to untreated fertilizer, for a return on investment of over $203/acre for the grower.

Corn trials conducted at five locations in the mid-North Carolina and Virginia region showed an average yield increase of 10.4 bushels/acre with Titan XC-treated dry fertilizer compared to untreated, with an average ROI of $31.60/acre.

Finally, soybean trials conducted at six locations in North Carolina demonstrated an average yield increase of 3.98 bushels/acre when Titan XC-treated fertilizer was used, with an average ROI of $28.84/acre.

Learn more about using Titan XC as an agronomic tool in your dry fertilizer program by viewing our Titan XC featured studies.

[Trial] Titan XC Provides 14 Bushel Yield Advantage in Soybeans

November 30, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Growers who spread dry fertilizer on corn fields going to soybeans may want to consider the results of this Titan XC trial from Cozad, Nebraska. In a test plot, treating dry fertilizer with Titan XC provided a 14 bushel/acre yield advantage in soybeans compared to the soybean plots where untreated fertilizer was applied.

By accelerating the breakdown of treated dry fertilizers, Titan XC makes nutrients more available for plant uptake and utilization, which can benefit every crop. Learn more by watching a Titan XC webinar.

Soybeans Excel with Nutrient Release from Fall-Applied Extract PBA

September 26, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Extract PBA has been making a big difference in soybean trials being conducted by Nutrien Ag Solutions Palmyra at a farm just outside of Monroe City, Missouri. Extract PBA was applied in the fall of 2016 at 1 gallon per acre on corn stalks, along with 2 gallons per acre of UAN. Soybeans were planted on May 18, 2017, and all pictures were taken approximately two months later, on July 26, 2017.

The photos show that soybeans from the Extract-treated part of the field have longer primary roots, larger leaves and stems, and more nodes and nodules compared to soybeans from the untreated parts of the field.

"There is a significant difference in the number of nodes and nodules," says Andrea Althoff, the intern in charge of conducting the trial. "The greater number of nodules helps with nutrient absorption and the consistency of the plants allows for more even sunlight distribution, both of which can lead to higher yields."

Andrea notes that the farm, which follows a corn/soybean rotation, has clay pan soils with poor drainage. Although it is drought prone, she adds that it is capable of producing 200 bushel corn and 70 bushel soybeans when growing conditions line up.

See more Extract PBA results in soybeans by downloading our featured soybean study.

[Hoosier Ag Today] Extending Nutrients for Soybeans This Year

May 18, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Scott 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.

Extract PBA Gives Soybean & Corn Yields a Boost in Midwest Trials

May 15, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

One of the key ways to positively impact soybean and corn yields is by optimizing nutrient availability to the growing crop throughout the season. A number of trials conducted across the Midwest show that an application of Extract PBA is an effective and consistent way to achieve this.

By helping to mineralize soil nutrients more effectively and getting more nutrition into soybean and corn crops, Extract PBA can enhance crop vigor and yields, as seen in the soybean and corn trials shown below.

An aerial image from that same soybean trial clearly shows where an application of Extract was made.

Extract soybeans aerial.png

Nutrien Ag Solutions crop consultants note that, on average and under current market conditions, it requires only a 1.2 bushel yield increase in soybeans and a 3.5 bushel yield increase in corn to make an Extract investment break even. As you can see from the trials above and additional trials in soybeans and corn, there is a high probability of positive net return.

Learn more about using Extract PBA to enhance nutrient release in your fields by accessing the Extract PBA booklet.

[RFD IL Radio] Improving Soybean Performance with Spring Applications

May 1, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

What can Midwest growers do to ensure they will get good performance from their soybeans? Scott Lay recently discussed this issue with RFD IL Radio Network, including how a spring application of Loveland’s Extract PBA biocatalyst can help optimize soybean yield potential.

RFD: How do we get the best performance out of soybeans? The product that we’re talking about is Extract. First things first, Scott, what is Extract?

Scott Lay: Extract is a fertilizer biocatalyst that we are positioning in soybeans, and it is unique to Nutrien Ag Solutions/Loveland Products. Extract is designed to help speed up nutrient mineralization and free up additional fertility for the growing crop so it can realize its full yield potential.

RFD: Interesting that it’s a fertilizer biocatalyst, but it’s not applied with fertilizer. How does that work?

Scott: It is often applied with liquid fertilizers, particularly in corn and wheat. But in this instance, we are applying it with soybean herbicides. This is simply because across Illinois and the greater part of the Midwest, fertilizing for a soybean crop isn’t an established practice. The presence of Extract allows growers to mineralize more nutrients, pulling in more of the nutrients from the soil that already exist there.

RFD: So Extract is in a liquid form?

Scott: It is in a liquid form, so it’s very easy to use, and it can be tank-mixed with virtually any combination of herbicides and/or liquid fertilizers.

RFD: So if I’m about to perform my burndown as I anticipate planting, I can tank mix it and be off and running?

Scott: That’s correct. It’s best use in terms of timing in soybeans is early season, either prior to planting the crop or, in some instances, immediately after planting the crop, but prior to emergence.

RFD: Sometimes just getting soybeans to emerge can be a challenge, so I assume this helps with that?

Scott: Very much so, and I think you hit it right on the head. Soybeans are a little more of a fragile crop relative to corn, particularly early season. Getting that even and consistent emergence–that early season vigor and plant health–is very critical, not just in terms of establishing stand count, but also in allowing each and every plant to realize more of its yield potential come September and October.

RFD: I was looking at some notes here about Extract delivering nutrients to the plant when yield is determined.

Scott: Soybeans are a complex biological bean. While early season emergence is critical, nutrient availability is key in terms of determining the yield of that soybean crop. Ninety percent of all nutrients consumed in a soybean plant are taken up from bloom through physiological maturity. When we utilize Extract, we've found that there are more nutrients in a plant-available form throughout the season, including into that July/August timeframe when most nutrients are consumed.

RFD: So we put it in now, and later we have those nutrients available. The nutrients are already in that soil, so it’s just a matter of getting them into that crop?

Scott: That’s very true. Step one, of course, is applying nutrients. Certainly a number of dollars are expended in that effort. But that’s not always a guarantee that the nutrients find themselves in a plant-available form that the crop can utilize. Extract, while it’s not magic, simply accelerates that process of releasing nutrients that are otherwise bound up by metals and calcium, and perhaps limited by pH or weather. It helps make the plant more efficient in its end result.

RFD: You have done trials?

Scott: We have a lot of trials. Over the last several years, a number of land grant institutions across the Midwest, other third-parties and our folks at Nutrien Ag Solutions Services have conducted probably in the range of 100 to 150 trials so far. We’ve seen some very consistent results when we’ve used Extract.

RFD: What about return on investment? Would this lead to an increased yield bump? Because it is still an input, so we would need to cover that input.

Scott: Well said, it's absolutely an input. We recognize that the name of the game is return on investment. What we’ve found across our trials and from in-field use is that the positive yield result has averaged right at about 4.5 bushels per acre of increased soybean yield. It’s a very consistent return on investment given the minimal cost for Extract. In relative terms, it costs about 1.2 bushels of increased yield to pay for the Extract application.

RFD: Where does one find Extract?

Scott: You can find the product at any Nutrien Ag Solutions retail store across the Midwest, and our local sales representatives and agronomists would be happy to have a discussion about Extract and how it may potentially fit into a particular farmer’s operation.

Listen to the Interview.

You can also download the Extract soybean study to see how Extract performs in soybean trials across the Midwest.

[Ohio AgNet] Improve Soybean Yield by Addressing Nutrient Availability

April 24, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Ty Higgins of Ohio AgNet sat down with Scott Lay to discuss soybean nutrient needs and how Extract PBA can increase nutrient release to help improve soybean fertility.

AgNet: Typically, it’s not practical to spend similar money on fertilizing soybeans as it is on fertilizing corn. But this year, there might be a change of thought in that area.

Scott Lay: One thing we like to talk about as it relates to yield in soybeans is identifying limiting factors. Often, that limiting factor for soybeans is the availability of nutrients.

More often than not, a lot more effort related to fertility is focused on corn, which certainly makes good sense. But we can’t forget about that soybean crop and its nutrient needs that exist throughout the season. So we’re always trying to find ways to optimize nutrient availability to the growing crop throughout the season, so that we’re able to impact yield.

AgNet: That’s where a product from Loveland Products and Nutrien Ag Solutions comes into play.

Scott: We have a product called Extract that is a fertilizer biocatalyst product with some ammonium thiosulfate. Through several years’ worth of university testing and internal trials across the Midwest, we've found that we’re able to impact early season vigor and emergence and get a more even stand as the crop comes out of the ground, which is certainly important. But as the season goes on, nutrient availability to the plant is oftentimes a limiting factor, one that can be impacted by weather. For example, dryer conditions can impact the ability of the plant to utilize nutrients. The Extract technology helps to mineralize nutrients more effectively, getting more into the plant at the time when yield is determined, later in the growing season.

We have dozens of third-party trials of Extract, as well as real-life farmer split-field type of comparisons. What our research has found is that the average yield response is about 4.3 bushels, and 85 percent of the time we get a net positive yield response.

At the end of the day, I think that’s what anyone is looking for–a consistent technology that performs and that delivers a positive return on investment.

AgNet: And those results don’t discriminate between tillage practices.

Scott: We've found across a wide range of tillage practices–from clean tillage at one end of the spectrum to no-till on the other end–that nutrient availability is compromised regardless of the amount of residue.

In instances where there is more crop residue from the prior year, we have to recognize that there are a lot of nutrients bound up in that stalk residue. The biocatalyst component of Extract helps to accelerate the breakdown of that residue.

You’ve already paid for those nutrients, so it’s a way to help accelerate that breakdown process and get more nitrogen, phosphorus and potash into that growing soybean crop.

Listen to the Interview.

You can also download the Extract soybean study to see how Extract performs in soybean trials across the Midwest.

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