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See the latest news, innovation updates, trial results, grower stories and more from Agricen. 
Why Corn Growers Like Accomplish Technology for Soil Health
August 2, 2022 — Posted By Agricen

Soil health is the foundation of a successful crop. In our short video, The Plant Is Secondary, growers talk about their approach to improving their soil and keeping it healthy, including the role that Accomplish biocatalyst technology plays. 

"If your soil's healthy, obviously your crop's going to do what it needs to do," says Heath Cutrell, who farms in Virginia and across the state line into North Carolina.

Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett adds, "If we could take care of the biology of the soil, the plant is secondary. It's what happens when we do a good job with the biology." 

The corn growers in the video have seen firsthand how Accomplish technology can help with healthier soils and better nutrient availability for their crops. 

"Because of the Accomplish we're feeding the microbes, we're pushing that microbial activity and the mineralization, and we've giving ourselves nutrients," Don Stall, who farms in Michigan, says. "My soil tests have climbed and that's due to that fodder breaking down and returning that nutrient to us. It's a big deal."

"Over the years, we've got high phosphorus levels from manure applications. Even though we have such high P levels in the soil, we just can't get it into the plant. [Our dealer] said 'Here's a product, Accomplish, try that,' and right off the bat we were 0.1, 0.15 higher on our tissue samples. So year after year, we started running a little bit more, and the more we were running, the less commercial fertilizer we would have to buy," Indiana grower Kevin Kalb notes.

University of Illinois' Dr. Fred Below also weighs in.

"What I like to think of a product like Accomplish as is that it's trying to capture the essence of the value that's in that manure," he says. "They called it a fertilizer catalyst because one thing it does is it helps make immobile nutrients more available. 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."

You can watch the video below.

See more by browsing our YouTube channel or by watching our film, Last Stand. 

Watch Last Stand

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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.

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Striving for Record Corn Yields
December 8, 2021 — Posted By Agricen

How high can corn yield go? In our short video, "Striving for Record Corn Yields," you'll see how some corn growers try to test the limits and push for record-setting yields.

"I wish I could tell you that high yield is a recipe, like following the cookbook. By gosh, it isn't that way. High yield...it is an art form," says Dr. Fred Below of the University of Illinois in the video. 

The growers featured in the video faced multiple obstacles during filming in 2020 — from hurricanes and tropical storms in the East to a derecho that flattened crops and caused billions of dollars worth of damage across the Midwest. 

"We had a tremendous crop out there. The storm just took part of it," says Iowa farmer Kelly Garrett, whose farm was in the path of the 2020 derecho that made records as the most destructive and costliest thunderstorm disaster in U.S. history.

"We had a hurricane come in here the other day. Raise a good corn crop and then it's sad to come in here and watch it laying on the ground the way it is, broke off," says Heath Cutrell, who farms in Virginia and North Carolina.

In addition to Kelly and Heath, the video features growers Don Stall (Michigan) and Kevin Kalb (Indiana). These farmers all have had winning entries in the NCGA Corn Yield Contest in recent years. Agricen's product technologies, including Accomplish, Extract PBA and Titan XC, have been part of their winning programs.

"You have to use products that work if you want to be chasing these kind of yields," says Kevin.

See their stories below.

You can also hear more from each grower by watching the full version of Last Stand, also available on our YouTube channel.

Watch Last Stand

 

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Agricen Presents Last Stand, a New Film about Farming
October 12, 2021 — Posted By Agricen

Last Stand Movie PosterFarmers have a story to tell, and we wanted to capture it. During the 2020 growing season, Agricen hired a film crew to document the experiences of growers from four different farm operations in the United States. The result is Last Stand, a movie that follows some of America's top farmers as they try to grow the highest yields possible in a season full of challenges. The film can be watched by visiting LastStand.ag.

“While you can never predict what the growing season will be like, the 2020 season certainly did manage to throw many surprises into the mix. Excessive rain and hurricanes, the historic derecho in Iowa and across the upper Midwest – and that’s just the weather,” says Michael Totora, president and CEO of Agricen. “We think this is an important film that not only gives viewers a unique glimpse into the lives of the featured farmers, but also into the lives of farmers across the U.S. in 2020.”

The farmers featured in the film have a passion for farming and produced some of the highest corn yields in the nation in recent years. They also have the humor, grit and resilience to help them succeed at the job.

In Last Stand, you’ll meet:

    • Don Stall – A former Marine, Don still reflects on the lessons he learned in the Marine Corps to help him face the challenges of being a farmer. Don farms in Michigan.
    • Kelly Garrett – Kelly farms with his father and three sons in Iowa, where they work cattle and grow corn, soybeans and winter wheat.
    • Heath Cutrell – Heath is a third-generation corn, soybean and wheat grower farming in Virginia and across the state line in North Carolina.
    • Kevin and Shawn Kalb – Kevin and Shawn farm with their children in Southern Indiana, where they produce corn, soybeans and turkeys, and can often be found smashing state and national corn yield records.
    • Dr. Fred Below & Connor Sible – Dr. Below and PhD student Connor Sible are from the Crop Physiology Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where they research factors influencing corn and soybean productivity.

Last-Stand-grower-collage

Pictured above are top producers Don Stall (top L), Kelly Garrett (top R), Heath Cutrell (bottom L) and Kevin and Shawn Kalb (bottom R).

Another factor that ties the growers together is that they have used Agricen's product technologies in their high-yielding programs.

“Several years ago, we noticed that a number of growers with top corn yields at the state and national levels used our product technologies in their production programs,” says Totora. “With Last Stand, we set out to dig into that, but it quickly became much more. Their stories, as captured in the film, are deeply personal, yet also familiar to farmers everywhere.”

Last Stand, filmed by agriculture documentary veterans Light Work Productions, is the second long-form film about farming developed by Agricen. Agricen’s previous film about agriculture, Prove It to Me, which followed five farmers from Arkansas and Iowa during the 2015 growing season, is also available to view.

Explore the Last Stand trailers or visit laststand.ag to watch the full film. 

Watch Last Stand

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[Video Roundup] How Farmers Improve Ag Productivity & Sustainability
November 29, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

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.

Download the FAQ 

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Raising Soil Fertility & Crop Yields on Continuous Corn Acres
September 6, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

Chris Perkins Otwell IndianaFor the past several years, Chris Perkins, a grower and Nutrien Ag Solutions location manager in Otwell, Indiana, has been running an experimental, high management, continuous corn plot using several products in the Loveland Products portfolio, including Accomplish LM and Titan, so that he can prove the value of the products he sells to his customers.

Many of the decisions that Chris makes in the management of his plot are driven by ongoing research at the university level, primarily that of Dr. Fred Below of the Crop Physiology Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

We spoke to Chris to learn more about how he uses biocatalyst products to tap into nutrients in his field, bring up fertility levels, and sustain a healthy soil structure under his corn on corn acres. We also spoke to Dr. Below to hear his take on the success Chris has had raising soil fertility levels and crop productivity. Watch the video to hear from Chris and Dr. Below. 

 
 

"One of the things that Chris does exceptionally well is that he manages the residue so that it releases more nutrients in season, throughout the whole season," says Dr. Below. "Chris took that marginal field and, over the last three years, I've seen him raise yields by 60 bushels. He's done this with a combination of technologies. He's managed the nutrients that are in the residue, he's managed the nutrients that are in the soil, and he's protected the crop."

One of the key benefits Chris has noted from using Accomplish and Titan technologies is an increase in soil nutrient values.

Learn more about the work Chris has done to improve soil fertility on his continuous corn acres.

"In the past three years, we have taken a field that was in the mid-20s on phosphorus and, by running biologicals such as Accomplish and Titan with our fertilizer, we've pushed those levels to over 150 lbs per acre," says Chris. "We have all of these nutrients in the field from my dad, from my grandpa, and probably even from my great grandpa, and that's what we think has come in with the Accomplish technology, which breaks those nutrients down for us so that they can continue on through the new crop."

Find out more about the biocatalyst technologies Chris is using and how they can help your operation by accessing our biocatalyst technology FAQ.

Download the FAQ

 

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[Video] Building Sustainable Agriculture Programs
July 18, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

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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Working together with state and local government, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, and others, farmers in the area are testing and implementing conservation and nutrient reduction practices to protect the lake from nitrate runoff.

As part of their efforts, Jeff Frank and some other local growers are also using Accomplish LM and similar biocatalyst products to help them build even more sustainability into their agricultural practices, while also helping them remain productive.

"When you think about what you're putting on the field, you have to think about the future," Jeff says. "What I liked about Accomplish was that it was friendly to the environment."

Watch the film "Prove It to Me" to see Jeff on his farm and hear more about his experiences.

"The root system is the best nutrient removal system we have on the planet," says Gregg Schmitz of Crop Production Services. "As we get healthier plants, the roots will be more efficient and deliver more available nutrients to the plant during the course of the year. Customers that have been using the Accomplish biochemistry technology have seen nice yield responses and gotten good ROI since we introduced it."

Find out more about how Accomplish LM helps growers build sustainable agriculture programs by accessing our Growing for the Future booklet.

 Access the Booklet

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[Video] Make Every Nutrient Count with Extract PBA
March 15, 2017 — Posted By Agricen

For the best soybeans this season, make every nutrient count with Extract PBA. 

Extract PBA combines concentrated biochemistry and a nitrogen source to release the nutrients your beans need all while helping you access the full value of your fertilizer investment. Turn to Extract PBA this spring to feed your soybeans and maximize yield potential.

You can learn more about Extract PBA by contacting your local Crop Production Services retailer, or registering for our upcoming webinar, "A New Perspective on Soybean Yield Improvement."

Register for Webinar 

 

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[Video] Fertilizer Breakdown with Titan XC
January 9, 2017 — Posted By Agricen
Treating dry fertilizer with Titan XC accelerates prill breakdown for rapid nutrient release and improved nutrient uptake by crops. This time-lapse video shows how quickly Titan XC works to break down 9-23-30, 11-52-0 and MESZ fertilizers.

 
Learn more about Titan XC and its agronomic benefits by downloading the Titan XC product booklet. 

Download the Booklet
 
 
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Prove It to Me [Film]: Follow 5 Farmers Through the Growing Season
March 14, 2016 — Posted By Agricen

ProveItToMepngWe 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.

Watch the Film

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