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We 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

You'd Never Go Without It

Silver Winner: Non-broadcast - Sales Category

The Whole World Can Benefit

Bronze Winner: Non-broadcast - Sustainability Category

Many growers apply the “4R” framework for nutrient management—using the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place—to more closely match crop nutrient needs to fertilization practices while supporting sustainable agriculture goals.

Guided by this framework, growers have been able to improve their fertilizer use efficiency and reduce nutrient loss to the environment. However, despite best practices, an estimated 40% to 50% of applied nitrogen is either immobilized by soil microorganisms or lost from the soil through denitrification or leaching, rendering it unavailable to the crop. Although some soil microorganisms contribute to nitrogen loss or immobilization in the soil, others can have a positive influence on nitrogen use efficiency by enhancing the availability or stability of nitrogen in the soil or by enhancing root growth and physiological functions.

How Microbes Affect Nitrogen Use Efficiency

Bacteria and other microorganisms—through their metabolic processes—exude or secrete a wide range of biochemical compounds (called primary and secondary metabolites) into the soil. These biochemicals are not simply the waste or byproducts of metabolic functions. They are the tools through which microorganisms communicate and function in the soil. Some of the ways they can influence nitrogen use efficiency are by:

Complexing nitrogen into organic forms. Biochemical compounds exuded by bacteria and other microorganisms can influence nitrogen transformations. They can also promote the combination of nitrogen into more complex organic compounds, such as amino sugars, amino acids, and proteins, which can induce a metabolic response in other microorganisms and plants.

Keeping nitrogen in plant-available forms. Biochemical compounds in the soil can help keep or convert nitrogen into a plant-available form. One of the well-understood mechanisms of conversion is mineralization, which is the conversion of organic nitrogen to plant-available ammonium. Although not all of the exact mechanisms of conversion or transformation through which this occurs have been uncovered, it is thought that the biochemicals in the soil might also influence the conversion of nitrate back into an ammonium form, or even the transformation of ammonia back into ammonium or amino compounds.

Enhancing root growth and root physiological functions. Roots can respond to signals from biochemical compounds in many ways, including by increasing growth and branching, increasing the uptake of nutrients such as nitrogen, or limiting the uptake of compounds such as salt ions. Roots can also respond to biochemical signaling in the soil biochemistry by making changes to their own exudates. This can have an effect on rhizosphere bacterial functions that, in turn, may help make nutrients more available to the plant. 

Helping Growers Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency

To gain greater nitrogen use efficiency, growers who are already using the 4R framework and similar practices can utilize additional tools and technologies to aid with soil health, plant health and nutrient efficiency. Available technologies not only include enhanced efficiency fertilizers, nitrogen stabilizers and nitrogen inhibitors, but also biochemical tools like fertilizer biocatalysts, which make use of biochemical mechanisms to directly stimulate bacterial, nutrient and plant functioning. 

The fertilizer biocatalyst Accomplish can effectively convert applied nitrogen into plant-available forms to increase nutrient availability and facilitate nitrogen uptake by the plant, as seen in this pivotal study. Similarly, Extract PBA is a biocatalyst that can be used to release nutrients that are tied up in the soil, hasten residue breakdown and facilitate the cycling of nutrients—including nitrogen—back into the soil. By helping to ensure that more of the nitrogen a grower applies gets into the crop, these biochemical technologies can increase nitrogen use efficiency. 

Learn more about the influence of soil biochemistry on plant health and nutrition by downloading the 'Understanding Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry' booklet.

By Brian Cornelious, PhD, Director of Applied Sciences

The plant biostimulant industry today is improving agricultural sustainability and soil health while generating significant new economic growth. This global growth is being driven by the need to produce more food for a growing world population, and to do so more sustainably in response to demands from consumers, advocacy groups, and regulators.

Plant biostimulants can include products such as bacterial or microbial inoculants, biochemical materials, amino acids, humic acid, fulvic acid, and seaweed extracts.

As part of the Biostimulants Council, Agricen and other council members are working to advance policy and regulatory frameworks that increase biostimulant market access and encourage research and innovation in the United States. A key part of this work is to develop an industry definition of biostimulants in the U.S., similar to work done in Europe that led to the recent inclusion of plant biostimulants in the EU Fertilizing Products Regulation (FPR) that took effect in July 2019. 

Within the FPR, plant biostimulants are defined as:

"A product stimulating plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient content with the sole aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of the plant or the plant rhizosphere:

• Nutrient use efficiency
• Tolerance to abiotic stress
• Quality traits
• Availability of confined nutrients in soil or rhizosphere."

Agricen's products, which are based on nature and built on science, are designed to give growers the tools they need to increase plant productivity, quality and sustainability by addressing these points. 

As groups across the spectrum work diligently to address the urgent issues confronting agriculture around the globe, we at Agricen are looking forward to continuing to participate in and meaningfully contribute to the search for new innovations and solutions.

You can learn more about biostimulants for agriculture by downloading our "Growing for the Future" white paper. 

Over the past few years, we've posted several agriculture-related videos that showcase the efforts growers are making to implement new products and practices that help them improve ag productivity and sustainability. If you haven't yet seen them, here are a few of the most popular and most recent.

Prove It to Me (4-min version)

"Prove It to Me" follows 5 growers in Iowa and Arkansas during the course of a growing season. See the issues they face, as well as how they approach using new products—including Accomplish and Titan—as they try to maximize their productivity and sustainability. 

Grower Stories: Chris Perkins, Otwell, Indiana

In this video, you can hear Chris Perkins, a grower and Nutrien Ag Solutions location manager in Otwell, Indiana, speak about how he uses Accomplish and Titan to tap into nutrients in his field, bring up fertility levels, and sustain a healthy soil structure under his corn on corn acres. You will also hear from Dr. Fred Below of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who discusses the success Chris has had raising soil fertility levels and crop productivity. 

Building Sustainable Agriculture Programs

Working together with state and local government, USDA, and others, farmers around Black Hawk Lake in Iowa are testing and implementing conservation practices to protect the lake from nitrate runoff. As part of their efforts, Jeff Frank and some other local growers are using Accomplish and other biocatalyst products to help them be even more sustainable in their agricultural practices, while also keeping their acres productive. See what they are doing by watching the video.

You can also access our biocatalyst technology FAQ to learn more about Accomplish, Titan, and other biocatalyst technologies.

Many technologies and practices play a role in helping farmers protect soil and improve water quality. At Black Hawk Lake in Iowa, that's making a difference. 

Watch the video to learn more, and to see how Accomplish LM is helping:

 

 

 

 

 

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Jeff Frank, a fourth generation farmer from Auburn, Iowa, grows corn and soybeans on a 1,200-acre century farm that he and his wife operate. He is an avid drone enthusiast and dealer (hear him speak more about drones and farming in this video), sits on the board of directors of his local Farm Bureau, is currently a candidate for the Iowa Soybean Association board of directors, and recently converted his barn over to a new coffee roasting endeavor. You may also remember Jeff from last year’s farming film, Prove It to Me.

Like other growers across the country, Jeff is concerned about sustainability on his farm.

“When you think about what you’re putting on the field, you have to think about the future,” he says. “You try to do things to make the land better, so we leave it in better condition than when we got it.”

Enhancing Water Quality

Jeff is participating in the Elk Run Watershed Water Quality Initiative, a program promoting the implementation of in-field and edge-of-field practices that reduce nutrient loss to surface waters, all while maintaining the productive capability of cropland and providing farmers with a cost share benefit.

“Water quality is a big issue in our county,” says Jeff. “Because my ground water drains into Elk Run but is not in the watershed, I’ll be doing a cover crop project, and we’ll monitor my water to see what nitrates and phosphorus come out of the tile on the farm.”

There are several reasons why this type of project is appealing to Jeff. Not only is clean water a worthy goal for everyone—farmers included—but Jeff also hopes that finding effective, voluntary solutions can help prevent a level of regulation that might hurt farmers’ livelihoods.

“We all want clean water. Farmers are no different than anyone else,” says Jeff. “But if we can clean up the water voluntarily, that’s much better than being forced to. Certain regulations on nitrogen runoff could affect our yields and our profitability. One regulation doesn’t fit every operation.”

Understanding the Consumer Perspective

Another concern Jeff has is the misperceptions consumers have about farmers and farming. There’s a lot that consumers should know, and it’s something he feels farmers need to address.

“Farmers tend to be a tight-lipped bunch and we don’t like to brag, but we need to get out there and talk to consumers,” says Jeff. “We’re trying to produce as much as we can as cost-effectively as we can, and we’re also producing a safe product. I don’t think consumers understand that, and it's our responsibility to educate them.”

In the past year, Jeff converted his barn over to coffee roasting. Interestingly, his new endeavor has made him more understanding of the consumer perspective and the disconnect between consumers and farmers.

“The coffee roasting business my wife, son and I started this past year really opened my eyes,” says Jeff. “It was the first time I really understood why some people think meat comes from a grocery store. I thought the same thing about coffee! It’s simply not true. There’s a lot to coffee production. All of the things that make quality beans–the growing elevation, the volcanic soils, building trusting relationships with growers and their families–are really important.”

Reaching Out 

For his part, Jeff reaches out to consumers through his local Farm Bureau, including talking about farming and farm technologies through the Bureau’s “Agriculture in the Classroom” program and volunteering at the Iowa State Fair booths sponsored by the Farm Bureau and Iowa Food and Family to help promote consumer education.

“Our profession has grown and changed immensely in the last 20 years. For the kids, technology is a big thing,” says Jeff. “They are amazed that a farmer would be using the technology that we’re using today – things like autosteer in the tractors, remote sensing and drones. Those things are really phenomenal to them, and are becoming the standard in the industry.”

Social media is another way he reaches out, and hopes that other farmers will, too. 

“Social media is something a lot of farmers really aren’t accustomed to, but we need to use it,” says Jeff. “I tweet and my wife knows social media is a must in today’s retail world. We hope other farmers will be encouraged to be more comfortable with new ways of communication to help promote the diligence and integrity of today’s farmers.”

If you would like to see more of Jeff on his farm and hear more about his experiences, we invite you to watch the film "Prove it to Me".

We are very excited to introduce “Prove It to Me,” a new film that follows five farmers through the 2015 growing season—from planning and planting to growth and harvest.

Each of the farmers featured in the film used Accomplish, Titan or both technologies as part of their program, and all speak about the results they achieved with our biocatalyst technology (Hint: It’s pretty darn good news!). We invite you to watch a “Prove It to Me” online today.

None of the farmer testimonials were scripted or coached. Their thoughts on the products and practices are simply in their own words and, as you’ll see, a great testimony to using Accomplish and Titan as part of any growing program.

We hope you enjoy the film, and we would be happy to hear any feedback you might have.

In the last few decades “agricultural sustainability” has emerged as an industry catchphrase. We all agree that we should be doing it, but what does it really mean? Before we can start practicing “agricultural sustainability” we must define what it means. Let’s take a look at a few existing definitions.

According to the Farm Bill, established by Congress in 1990, the term sustainable agriculture means "an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:

• Satisfy human food and fiber needs
• Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends
• Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls
• Sustain the economic viability of farm operations
• Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole."

“Save and Grow,” a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, discusses the concept of sustainable crop production intensification, producing more from the same area of land while conserving resources, reducing negative impacts on the environment and enhancing natural capital and the flow of ecosystem services.

The USDA’s stance on sustainable agriculture is that it defies definition. The USDA website
states, “if nothing else, the term ‘sustainable agriculture’ has provided ‘talking points,’ a sense of direction, and an urgency, that has sparked much excitement and innovative thinking in the agricultural world.”

At Agricen, our goal is to help you adapt to the changing demands of the industry. We are constantly considering what “sustainable agriculture” means and how we can takes steps to put it into practice.

Learn more about what we are doing by viewing our resources page or downloading our "Growing for the Future" booklet.

For more than a decade, Agricen has invested in rigorous scientific research focused on developing practical biological and biochemical tools to improve the quality and performance of plant nutrition programs. The result is innovative products like Accomplish and Titan, used by growers worldwide to increase the availability of their applied nutrients, improve their nutrient use efficiency and maximize their yield potential.

Our products have been rigorously evaluated in hundreds of studies, demonstrating efficacy across crops, soil types and fertility practices.

We are constantly working to enhance our understanding of how biologically sourced tools can contribute to the economic and environmental sustainability of production agriculture. Our efforts in the field are complimented by an active laboratory research program, led by our sister company Agricen Sciences, devoted to unravelling the complexity of microbial communities and their interactions within the plant-soil system.

Today, we are leading the innovation and delivery of biochemical plant nutrition technologies to give growers the tools they need to increase sustainability and productivity.

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This is Part 5 of our five-part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) about sustainable growing practices. To learn more about Agricen and our contributions to sustainable growing practices, subscribe to our blog.

Agricultural biologicals are a fast growing sector in agriculture, but it hasn’t always been this way.

One of the challenges in the advancement and modern day acceptance agricultural biologicals has been the profusion of companies over the years selling “miracle” microbial solutions—often of indeterminate quality or origin.

By making overstated claims that were not backed by rigorous science, these companies contributed to the perception that biologically sourced tools for plant nutrition were little more than “snake oil.”

Soils Systems Are Complex

Another major challenge to the development of these tools has been the very complexity of the soil-plant system, coupled with the limitations of the technology to meaningfully analyze this system.

In fact, developing a full understanding of the complex microbial communities in the soil is a challenge of staggering magnitude.

Even with today’s sophisticated genetic analysis tools, we can identify only about 1 percent of the microorganisms found in any soil sample at the species level. Thus we know very little about how the remaining 99 percent of the microbial community, which is still unidentified, functions in the soil-plant system.

Microbial Communities Impact Plant Nutrition Biochemically

Even more challenging—and perhaps more important—may be trying to understand how these microbial communities biochemically impact plant nutrition.

Each microbial and fungal organism may be the source of unique biochemical compounds that affect a variety of soil, plant and microbial community functions through interactions triggered at the molecular level.

With the evolution of next-generation tools for molecular analysis, we now know that there are numerous signaling compounds and other molecules that are capable of “turning on” various plant genes that affect plant functioning—things like nutrient acquisition, rooting responses and the production of secondary metabolites within the plant itself.

Research Increasingly Supports Biological Tools

Researchers today are working to deepen their understanding of how these complex microbial communities and their metabolites affect plant nutrition, and they are applying this knowledge to improve crop production. Their efforts are reflected in a growing body of literature that supports the use of biological tools in agriculture, as well as increasing recognition of the need for more sustainable production practices by growers, policymakers and international organizations.

It’s time for another look at how we can use the tools of biology to enhance an inherently biological system. This doesn’t require an anti-chemical approach. Rather, we can make our agricultural practices both more productive and more sustainable by incorporating the next generation of biologically sourced tools into existing growing practices—in a sense, an “integrated nutrient management” approach similar to the integrative frameworks used in crop protection practices.

It will take time for this science to evolve and mature. Years—perhaps even decades—of work lie ahead in deciphering the biologically induced changes within the soil-plant system. However, we don’t have to wait until all of the mysteries are solved to start putting the knowledge we do have to work for us—and solving some of the great challenges of the day.

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This is Part 4 in our five-part series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) about sustainable growing practices. To learn more about Agricen and our contributions to sustainable growing practices, subscribe to our blog.