Blog

See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
Liquid Starter Fertilizer Programs: Four Common Questions
February 6, 2025 — Posted By Agricen

starter_cornWhy use a liquid starter fertilizer, and how can you make sure your applied nutrients don’t get tied up in the soil chemistry? Here you'll find the answers to these and other common questions about liquid starters.

Why should I consider a liquid starter fertilizer?

Ensuring that seedlings have the nutrients they need for early growth is key to a good crop. The primary benefit of applying starter fertilizer is to enable more rapid growth early in the growing season. This can be viewed as an insurance policy, ensuring that plants reach critical growth periods faster.

By placing starter fertilizers in-furrow with the seed or in a 2x2 band near the seed, the plant has an accessible supply of phosphorus and other nutrients during germination and early development, which can increase growth early in the season, speed development and, for corn, decrease the time to silking.

Why is phosphorus important, and how do starter fertilizers impact the plant's access to phosphorus?

Phosphorus is a critical nutrient for early seedling vigor and root development, stimulating both root development and early shoot growth.

Application of low rates of phosphorus in a starter fertilizer can significantly increase the amount of early plant growth, even in fields where soil phosphorus test levels are high.

Further, in soils that are near or below 50°F, native soil microbes are not very active and are not producing the biochemistry that solubilizes soil phosphorus. Starter fertilizers can therefore provide needed phosphorus when planting in cooler soil temperatures.

Are most liquid starter fertilizers the same?

Not quite. There are two main types of phosphate found in starter fertilizers. They may be present as the sole form of phosphate in the fertilizer or found in combination with the other:

  • Polyphosphates have a higher salt content and must be converted to orthophosphate before plants can utilize the phosphorous.
    • Example: The phosphate in 10-34-0 liquid starter fertilizer is primarily polyphosphate, although some orthophosphate is present.

  • Orthophosphates are low in salt and can be placed right on the seed. Although orthophosphates are readily available, they are easily tied up by soil chemistry.
    • Examples: Liquid starter fertilizers like 7-17-3 and 9-18-9 contain only the orthophosphate form of phosphate. The majority of phosphate in 6-24-6 is in the orthophosphate form, although some polyphosphate is present.

Liquid starter fertilizers might also be formulated with different technologies or with micronutrients to enhance early season crop performance. Loveland Products' RISER (7-17-3 with Zn, Mn, Cu & Fe) is one example. In addition, fertilizer enhancement technologies can also be added to the program.

The trial data below shows one example of how pairing a starter with fertilizer enhancer technology can make a big impact. The average yield advantage gained by using a liquid starter fertilizer enhanced with ACCOMPLISH MAX technology was +13.6 bu/a compared to check (no starter). These results represent two years of Nutrien Ag Solutions trial data from research plots in northeast South Dakota, with 23 locations and a total of 92 replications.

01-25 Accomplish Max_Corn_Northville, SD_600px

How can I stop applied phosphorus from being tied up by the soil chemistry?

Whatever the liquid starter fertilizer you are using, adding a product like ACCOMPLISH MAX or PROLOGUE can make it go farther by enhancing nutrient mineralization—including mineralization of phosphorus—and facilitating nutrient uptake by the crop. (When applying dry starter fertilizers, TITAN XC can be used as an enhancement technology to improve nutrient mineralization and enhance nutrient availability to the growing crop.)

ACCOMPLISH MAX is specifically designed for use with liquid starter fertilizers in furrow or 2x2 to improve the mineralization of phosphorus and other nutrients while also improving the plant's tolerance to early season abiotic stresses like cool temperatures and salinity from applied fertilizers.

PROLOGUE (5-0-0 6.3% Zn) combines zinc, a critical early season micronutrient, with unique nutrient solubilizing technology that increases the efficiency of both applied phosphate and existing phosphate bound in the soil. It fits any banded liquid phosphorus-based fertilizer program requiring supplemental zinc for optimal plant growth.

These plant nutrition technologies can help your crops utilize more applied nutrients, which can lead to an increased yield while also improving the return on investment for your growing program.

Learn more about these products and other plant health technologies by accessing the Sustainable Plant Health Technology Overview.

Download the Overview

Read More
[Interview] Every Dollar Counts on the Farm
December 5, 2024 — Posted By Agricen

Wity-radio-down-on-farmAgricen’s Scott Lay sat with Dennis Michelsen of WITY Radio to discuss where TITAN XC and EXTRACT PBA fit into fall practices, and how they can help farmers ensure that every dollar they spend on fertility inputs makes a bigger impact.

Dennis - WITY Radio: With the excellent yields that we've had the last few years, agronomists I’ve talked to say that we've taken more nutrients out of the soil than ever before, and that it's important to recharge those nutrients this fall.

Scott - Agricen: When yields are removed, nutrients are also removed from the soil profile, so it's important to replenish those. It also makes sense to utilize technologies that increase the availability of the nutrients that you've paid for. In a year like this one, with commodity prices diminished 15 to 20% relative to a year ago, every dollar counts. Given the economic scenario, the question of how to increase the amount of nutrients available to the crop next spring and summer becomes even more important.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Some local producers have told me “The only way I can make money this year is by growing more bushels.” So it doesn't really pay to cut back on your dry fertilizer game plan unless you can use a technology like TITAN XC to help you get more out of the dry fertilizers you're already applying.

Scott - Agricen: That's correct. We've had TITAN XC on the market since 2013. It’s a complement to traditional fertility practices. This fall, TITAN XC was applied on its 100 millionth-acre since introduction. With TITAN XC on dry fertilizer, we have a number of university studies that indicate we're increasing the first-year availability of phosphorus by 15 to 20% and potash by about 10%. So the value is there.

When you treat dry fertilizer with TITAN XC, the average yield response in corn is just over 10 bushels per acre, and the average yield response in soybeans is four bushels. So the economics are very consistent. TITAN XC proves itself again and again.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Tell folks how EXTRACT works.

Scott - Agricen: EXTRACT is a liquid product combining the power of our biochemistry components and ammonium thiosulfate. We created it to accelerate nutrient mineralization and release in the soil—release of those nutrients that are already there, perhaps bound to the soil colloid—and also to enhance crop residue breakdown.

If we are applying EXTRACT in a broadcast application with a fall herbicide or in the spring with a broadcast application of a pre herbicide, we're able to increase the mineralization or release of nutrients in the soil while also, if it's in a minimum till situation, enhancing the breakdown of crop residue and getting that residue into more of a plant-available form more quickly.

Initially EXTRACT was targeted more towards the corn acre. We've had great success with it on corn, but as time has passed, we probably treat almost as many acres of soybeans with EXTRACT as we do corn.

Dennis - WITY Radio: When I look at data on TITAN XC and EXTRACT, I see a lot of the third-party and university data from Illinois.

Scott - Agricen: We’ve worked with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2012, and have done trials with Purdue and many other institutions as well as on-farm split-field trials where we can evaluate how the technology performs in a range of conditions. Whether we're talking about EXTRACT as a broadcast application or TITAN XC impregnated on dry fertilizer, those yield results have been pretty consistent.

TITAN XC and EXTRACT are available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the interview below or on Agricen's YouTube channel.

 

Read More
Biocatalyst Technology Helps 2023 Corn Yield Contest Winners Succeed
April 15, 2024 — Posted By Agricen

More than three dozen farmers in the 2023 National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Yield Contest used Agricen's biocatalyst technologies in their winning programs. They include four farmers who took top places at the national level and 34 who took top places in their states. 🏆

NCGA_social-2023

The winning growers used one or more of the following products in their corn fertility programs: Accomplish MAX, Ensurgo, Extract PBA, Levitate, Maritime, Prologue, Terramar and Titan XC. All of these products are exclusively available from our partner, Loveland Products, through Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Corn Yield Winners

The 2023 national corn yield winners again included Virginia farmer Heath Cutrell, who earned first place in the "Conventional Non-Irrigated" category (396.12 bu/a yield). You can learn more about Heath in our short video, Striving for Record Corn Yields.

Other national winners who used Agricen's technology were:

  • Maryland farmer Temple Rhodes, winner of the "Conventional Irrigated" category (375.67 bu/a yield)

  • Ohio's Corey Farrens, winner of the "Conventional Non-Irrigated - Corn Belt States" category (340.46 bu/a yield)

  • New Jersey's Scott Truszkowski, who earned second place nationally in the "Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Non-Irrigated" category (323.75 bu/a yield)

We are proud to be a part of these growers' winning programs and wish them the best of luck as we begin the 2024 growing season.

Learn more about some of the technologies used in the winning programs by downloading the Sustainable Technology Overview.

Download the Overview

Read More
[Interview] Helping Dry Fertilizer Overcome Cool Weather Challenges
December 13, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

AgriTalk podcast 1200pxRon Calhoun, PhD, Senior Manager for Plant Nutrition at Loveland Products, sat with AgriTalk’s Chip Flory to discuss the challenges that cool weather can bring when growers add dry nutrition to the soil during the fall.

Ron - Loveland Products: As we put our dry fertilizers like MAP, DAP, potash, and MESZ in the fall to get ready for next year, those dry materials need to be mineralized by the microbial communities in the soil for the nutrients in them to be available to our plants. Cool conditions in the fall and spring don't really propel that process forward, so that can limit the efficiency of those products. The mineralization process needs assistance to overcome the depressed microbial activity.

Chip - AgriTalk: Where does that assistance come from? Is it biochemistry?

Ron - Loveland Products: You're exactly right. We have a dry fertilizer enhancement product called Titan XC, and it is using that biochemistry from the soil microbial community to make the nutrition more available. We take that biochemistry and we'll actually sparge it onto the dry fertilizer ahead of time. 

That way, when you're putting the treated dry fertilizer out, the biochemistry that would typically be provided by soil microorganisms is already on the fertilizer prills, so that we can start the mineralization process and have the nutrition ready to go when the crop season hits.

Chip - AgriTalk: How effective is Titan XC in boosting fertilizer efficiency?

Ron - Loveland Products: We have probably 300 trials from the last 12 to 15 years, and we're closing in on 100 million acres on which Titan XC-treated fertilizer has been applied. I would say, in general, we're looking at probably around a 15 to 20% improvement in nutrient use efficiency.

Designed for use with dry fertilizers, Titan XC contains concentrated biochemistry to help growers maximize the yield potential of their crops by increasing nutrient availability and uptake. It is compatible with a variety of dry fertilizer blends, including phosphate and potash (P & K) blends, MESZ, MES10, sulfate of potash and ammonium sulfate. Titan XC is available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the original interview below or on Agricen's YouTube channel.

Learn more about Titan XC by visiting cropfertility.com or downloading the Titan XC product booklet.

Download the Booklet

Read More
Lifelong Friendship Leads to Advice a Grower Continues to Count On
November 6, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

Jason Jaggers Illinois - Doing More with LessJason Jaggers is a third-generation corn and soybean farmer in Wyanet, Illinois. When it comes to getting advice from his Nutrien Ag Solutions agronomist, Chad Taylor, he knows he has someone he can count on. Chad is not only his agronomist, but also his childhood friend. 

"Chad and I grew up together. Now he's my Nutrien agronomist. If he brings a product to me, he knows it better perform," says Jason. "He's also a grower himself, so he understands that."

Two of the products that Chad has introduced to Jason are Titan XC and Extract PBA. They are biocatalyst technologies that help growers "do more with less" by enhancing nutrient use efficiency. 

"As he's brought Titan, Extract and multiple other products to the table, they've all performed very, very well," says Jason. 

In the fall, Titan XC on dry fertilizer is a particularly important part of the equation. 

"If you're making a fall application of fertilizer, it needs Titan XC," say Chad. "Titan brings multiple levels of benefit...being able to take a grower's fertilizer dollar and increase it by upwards of 20 percent."

On Chad's recommendation, Jason has used Titan XC on his fall dry fertilizer for the past decade.

"We've used it for probably the last 10 years in the fall," says Jason. "We tried it on a couple of farms the first year and instantly saw good results. Now I use it on 100 percent of my acres."

Titan XC fall fertilizerGetting ready to spread Titan XC-treated dry fertilizer.

Extract PBA is another product that Chad commonly recommends for corn and soybean producers. He has seen some outstanding results.

"I had a couple of growers say 'I can't raise beans on this farm.' We started utilizing Extract on the solution for corn years and on the residue for bean years. Now they're like, 'Wow, I never thought I would take 80+ bushel beans off this farm.' It's just been a tremendous turnaround in farm production," explains Chad.

On Jason's farm, Extract PBA is being used as a residue management tool on his corn stubble prior to planting soybeans.  

"We're going to apply it on standing corn stalks that are going to go to soybeans next spring just to try to break down the massive amount of residue that we have," Jason says. "It seems that the residue is tying up more and more nutrients, so we're trying to get it to breakdown to get them into the soil profile for next spring."

One of the newer products that Chad is able to bring to the table for his grower customers is Accomplish MAX, which is designed for use with liquid starter fertilizer programs and combines the nutrient availability technology found in products like Titan XC and Extract PBA with a marine-based technology for stress mitigation.

"Everyone who's used it that I've talked to is seeing results. The stress mitigation factor of the kelp extract paired with the Accomplish technology has been a tremendous fit. Now you are getting a healthier, stronger seedling that's encountering less stress— whether it be from cold weather, starter fertilizer salt or salinity within the soil profile," Chad says. "There couldn't be a better coupling of what a new planted seedling needs trying to get up and out of the ground fast and uniform."

You can watch the video below, here or on our YouTube channel, to hear more from Chad and Jason.

Learn more about Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA and Titan XC by downloading the Frequently Asked Questions booklet.

Download the Booklet

 

Read More
[Interview] Put Your Chips on Titan XC This Fall
October 18, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

Wity-radio-down on farmAgricen's Scott Lay recently spoke with Dennis Michelsen of WITY Radio about using Titan XC on fall-applied dry fertilizer blends.

Dennis - WITY Radio: In the fall season, we always talk about Titan XC. Talk a little bit about how it helps growers get the most out of fall fertilizer applications.

Scott - Agricen: Titan XC is applied on dry phosphorus and potash to help mineralize and break down those fertilizer prills, making them more available for next year's crop.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Ag producers don't want to have an extra trip across that field because that's money that they're spending. Titan XC does not require an extra pass.

Scott - Agricen: Titan XC is applied on the dry fertilizer. So whether the local Nutrien retail facility is applying the dry fertilizer or the farmer himself is applying it, putting on the Titan XC doesn't make that job any more difficult, and it also provides a benefit. In terms of a yield impact, we're looking at about an +11-bushel average yield response in corn and about a +4.2-bushel average response in soybeans. So the economics stack up very favorably.

Dennis - WITY Radio:  We're talking more than a 7 to 1 ROI when you add the cost of the product.

Scott - Agricen: That's correct. Farmers are obviously interested in the potential for yield response. But they also ask, "How many additional bushels do I need to produce to pay for that additional input?” In soybeans, a farmer would only need 0.6 additional bushels to pay for Titan XC. In corn, it’s a bushel and a half. Farmers are all riverboat gamblers at heart, and they put their chips behind reasonable propositions. With a high probability of payback, Titan XC is one of them.

Dennis - WITY Radio: Lab tests have shown a 22% increase for the first year use as far as available nutrients in those soils. That's a huge advantage.

Scott - Agricen: It is. If we think about a dry fertilizer prill, we're applying rocks to the surface of the ground, albeit small rocks. So the objective is to mineralize those fertilizer prills into a plant-usable form. If we can increase that rate of mineralization by 22%, that translates to a benefit in next year's crop, and that translates to yield.

Titan XC is available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the interview below or on Agricen's YouTube channel.

 

Read More
[Watch] Enhance Dry Fertilizer Efficiency to Maximize Yield & ROI
September 27, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

09-23-Dry-Fertilizer-Webinar-archive

How can growers enhance the efficiency of their fall-applied dry fertilizer blends to maximize yield and return on investment? 

Watch our on-demand webinar, "How to Enhance Dry Fertilizer Efficiency to Maximize Yield & ROI," to hear:

  • How to enhance the efficiency of your fall dry fertilizer application

  • What you can do to improve nutrient recovery after applying dry fertilizer blends

  • How to increase yield and return on investment in any crop production system with Titan XC on your dry fertilizer blend

The nutrients in dry fertilizer prills are not highly available to the crop as applied. To become available for crop use, they must first be converted into a plant-available form. 

Titan XC is a fertilizer biocatalyst designed to expedite this process and unlock the potential of dry fertilizer programs. When applied to fall- or spring-applied dry fertilizer blends, Titan XC can expedite nutrient availability and uptake, enhance nutrient use efficiency and improve nutrient recovery from the applied fertilizer and from the soil. 

In an analysis of 125 third-party and side-by-side trials conducted over the past decade, the average yield increase gained by treating dry fertilizer blends with Titan XC was +10.9 bu/a in corn (73 trials), +3.9 bu/a in soybeans (30 trials) and +4.0 bu/a in wheat (22 trials) as compared to yields with untreated dry fertilizer.

By giving crops greater access to the nutrition they need, Titan XC can help boost crop yields and increase a grower's return on investment.

Titan XC is exclusively available from Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Watch the webinar today to learn how to maximize dry fertilizer efficiency this fall with Titan XC.

Watch the Webinar

 

Read More
Enhancing Fall Dry Fertilizer Efficiency and Grower ROI with TITAN XC
August 24, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

Fall can be a good time to apply dry phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizers because of lower workloads and drier soils. A fall dry fertilizer application can also increase P and K availability for crops planted in the spring by giving the fertilizer prill more time to undergo natural weathering and breakdown in the soil compared to spring applications.

However, just because you apply 300 pounds of P and K this fall, it doesn’t mean that all 300 pounds will be available to next season's crop. Soil physical, chemical and biological properties combined with weather conditions all play a role in fertilizer availability. Even under the best conditions, an application of dry fertilizer on its own is usually not very efficient. In the first season after application, only about 10-30% of applied P and 20-60% of applied K is typically available for use by the growing crop.

For a higher rate of fertilizer efficiency, TITAN XC can be applied to dry fertilizer blends, increasing the efficiency of applied P and K fertilizers by an estimated 30%. This contributes to a number of benefits, including improved plant performance (as seen in the photos below from Dassel, Minnesota), as well as a positive yield response.

Titan Dassel MN Corn 2023 4 pics

In the corn trial below from Ohio, a fall application of TITAN XC-treated dry fertilizer led to an average yield increase of +8.3 bushels per acre over 6 replications as compared to untreated dry fertilizer.

Titan-Corn-Northern OHIn a corn trial from Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Hopkinsville, Kentucky research farm, treating dry fertilizer with TITAN XC led to a yield increase of 6 bushels or more per acre compared to untreated fertilizer. This was true whether the fertilizer was applied at the full rate (300 lbs/acres) or the reduced rate (270 lbs/acre). What is most notable here is that there was no real difference in corn yield between the two different rates of untreated fertilizer (270 or 300 lbs/acre).

Titan - corn_KY

Sometimes the answer is not more fertilizer, but rather greater efficiency. By employing TITAN XC to increase the breakdown or mineralization of the P and K nutrients spread in fall, more will be available to the crop next year when it needs it, which can lead to better yield results. 

Learn more about TITAN XC by downloading the TITAN XC fall fertilizer booklet.

Download the Booklet

Read More
Congratulating the 2022 Corn & Soybean Yield Contest Winners
May 1, 2023 — Posted By Agricen

In the NCGA's 2022 National Corn Yield Contest, nearly three dozen winners used Agricen's biocatalyst technologies in their winning programs. They include four farmers who took top places at the national level and 31 who took top places in their states. 🏆

NCGA_social-2022 (1)

The winning growers used one or more of the following products in their corn fertility programs: Accomplish MAX, Extract PBA, Levitate, Maritime, Terramar and Titan XC. All of these products are available from our partner, Loveland Products, through Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Corn Yield Winners

National corn yield winners include Virginia farmer Heath Cutrell, who, with a yield of 394.05 bu/acre, earned first place in the "Conventional Non-Irrigated" category. His yield was also the highest overall corn yield in this year's contest. Heath was previously featured in Agricen's Last Stand film.

Other national winners who used Agricen's technology include Chad Henderson of Alabama, who placed second nationally in the "Conventional Irrigated" category with a yield of 333.04 bu/acre, and Temple Rhodes of Maryland, who took third place in the nation in the "Strip, Min, Mulch, Ridge-Till Irrigated" category with a yield of 344.94 bu/acre. 

Soybean Yield Winners

Agricen's biocatalyst technologies were also a part of several winning soybean programs. The top place winner of the Pennsylvania Soybean Yield Contest and two first place winners of the Michigan Soybean Association Yield Contest all used at least one of Agricen's technologies in their soybean fertility programs:

  • A. Dale Herr, Jr., 1st Place, Overall & South Central Region, Pennsylvania - 97.49 bu/acre
  • Don Stall, 1st Place, Overall & Late-Maturity, Michigan - 98.88 bu/acre
  • Jim Schaendorf, 1st Place, Mid-Maturity Non-Irrigated, Michigan - 89.40 bu/acre 

We are proud to be part of all of these growers' winning programs and wish them the best of luck this season.

Learn more about the technologies used in the winning programs by downloading the Sustainable Technology Overview.

Download the Overview

Read More
Alabama Grower Sees Impressive Corn Yield Gains in TITAN XC Trial
October 25, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Chad Henderson, an XtremeAg farmer in Madison, Alabama, trialed TITAN XC-treated dry fertilizer on his farm in 2022. He saw impressive results in both his irrigated and dryland corn. 

"We can't wait to try this again," says Chad. "We had great results with this product."

In the trial, Chad compared his standard strip till fertilizer blend to the same fertilizer blend treated with TITAN XC at 1 pint per ton.  Both treated and untreated fertilizer blends were applied at 180 pounds per acre. Two different hybrids were in the planter, and each treatment (treated vs untreated dry fertilizer) was replicated 3 times for each hybrid in both irrigated and non-irrigated parts of the field.

In irrigated corn, Chad's average corn yield was 276.7 bu/a with his standard fertilizer blend and 293.8 bu/a with the TITAN XC-treated dry fertilizer, for a yield advantage of +17.1 bu/a compared to the check. 

TitanXC-irrigated-corn-IL-01

He saw similar results in his dryland corn, where his average corn yield was 89.8 bu/a with his standard fertilizer blend and 106.0 bu/a with the TITAN XC-treated dry fertilizer, for a yield advantage of +16.2 bu/a compared to the check.

TitanXC-dryland-corn-IL-02

"It was the same results through irrigated and non-irrigated," says Chad. "We're looking forward to doing some more trials with this. We were really pleased with it."

You can hear about the trials directly from Chad in this video.

TITAN XC is an innovative biocatalyst that is formulated for application on dry fertilizers to increase nutrient efficiency and provide a yield response across diverse crops. It contains a range of beneficial biochemistries, including enzymes, that help mineralize the applied nutrients to make them more available for plant uptake and utilization.

Learn more about TITAN XC by downloading the TITAN XC corn bulletin.

Download the Bulletin

 

Read More
<< Prev
1 2 3 4 5
... 8 Next >>