Many agricultural areas across the United States are facing weather-related challenges, but there are still opportunities to make the most out of what Mother Nature is dishing out.

Terramar, a new product for row crops, is formulated to help crops stand up to abiotic stresses (such as heat and dry conditions) while also increasing nutrient uptake for better plant growth.

The photos below document the performance of Terramar applications made on corn, soybeans and wheat earlier this season, and they show some very strong visual results.

With another opportunity to apply Terramar now here (this time with fungicide or plant nutrition products on reproductive-stage corn and soybeans), we wanted to share these images as a reminder of the potential in this year's crop.

Here are the top 10 Terramar field pictures of 2023, so far:

How can growers mitigate the effects of weather-related crop stresses like heat and dry conditions while also increasing nutrient uptake by their crops during the growing season?

Watch our on-demand webinar, "Introducing Terramar: A New Way to Help Row Crops Stand Up to Stress," to hear:

• How Terramar improves crop tolerance to abiotic stresses while enhancing nutrient uptake
  
  
• Why Terramar is a good fit for any row crop program, including corn, soybean, and wheat
  
  
• Details about application timing, trial results, and more

Intended for foliar use in row crops, Terramar delivers increased nutrient uptake and enhanced stress mitigation to optimize plant health and contribute to enhanced yield.

In addition to the fertilizers growers apply each season, crops can benefit from the nutrients that are already in the soil or in surface crop residues. But first, these nutrients must be mineralized and converted into plant-available forms that the crop can use. An application of Extract PBA can make this process faster and more efficient.  

In the photo below taken by the Nutrien Ag Solutions North High Plains branch in the spring of 2022, half of this Kansas wheat field had a fall application of Extract PBA technology on it (right side), helping to break down corn stalk residue and increase nutrient availability, while the other half (left side) was untreated. 

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

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

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

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

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

Cathy and Martin Quigley struck gold in the 2020 Ohio Wheat Yield Contest, coming in first in their district with a yield of 93.34 bushels per acre. 

What were the keys to Quigleys' success? First, selecting the right wheat variety, the right planting date and the right rate was important. The Quigleys, who live in Clinton county, used Dyna-Gro 9862, a soft red winter wheat, which they planted October 7, 2019.

Having an effective and efficient fertility program was another key to their success. Agricen’s biocatalyst technology was an integral part of the Quigleys' fertilizer program, with Titan XC applied at 1 pint per ton to their fall fertilizer blend and Extract PBA applied at spring topdress in a "weed and feed" application with UAN and broadleaf chemistry.

Growers make nutrient management decisions all season long. This includes the period just before and after harvest, when they need to decide whether a fall dry fertilizer application makes sense.

Growers who do decide to make a fall application face a significant challenge when it comes to dry fertilizer efficiency. This is because applied phosphorus and potassium fertilizers can be easily tied up by the soil chemistry. Even with the best program, only an estimated 10-30% of applied phosphorus and 20-60% of applied potassium will be available to their crop in the spring. This level of inefficiency is not good for the grower or the crop.  

One way growers can better ensure that they are getting more out of the nutrition they apply is by treating their dry fertilizer with Titan XC, a biocatalyst technology that is specifically formulated to increase nutrient availability from dry fertilizers. This can have a positive impact on a grower’s yield, as seen in the summary of corn, soybean and wheat trials from 2010-2019 below.

Broken O Ranch in Augusta, Montana, is a farming operation that grows wheat, barley, alfalfa, flax, canola and chickpeas on about 12,000 irrigated acres.

A big concern at the ranch is how to handle crop residue without burning it. Most states around Montana have banned all burning of residue. Dale Clark, the farm manager at Broken O Ranch, feels that it's only a matter of time before the practice is banned in Montana as well. But he also has bigger issues with the practice.

“Burning residue not only takes time and labor, but it also adversely affects the availability of soil moisture because the ground becomes harder after burning," says Dale. "More than that, it negatively impacts nutrient availability. Nutrients are lost when ash is blown by the wind and redeposited or carried off.”

"At Broken O, we’ve been looking for a sustainable solution that we can implement right now,” he says.

Using Titan XC to improve nutrient release from dry fertilizer can make a big difference when it comes to wheat germination.

In this demonstration, seventeen MESZ fertilizer prills were mixed into field soil in each tray. Prior to mixing in the fertilizer, Titan XC was sprayed on prills in the treated tray. As you can see, wheat germination is significantly advanced in the tray on the right that received the Titan XC treatment. 

Trial results from North Carolina show how Accomplish LM can offer growers wheat yield gains when broadcast in the spring. 

In a wheat trial conducted last season, Accomplish LM was applied at 2 quarts/acre in the spring along with a nitrogen urease inhibitor and UAN broadcast at 20 gallons/acre. The treated part of the field showed a wheat yield increase of 8.13 bushels/acre, compared to no treatment (UAN alone).

In this Kansas wheat trial, Titan XC provided a yield and ROI advantage when used with a banded dry fertilizer application.

Titan XC was applied at 1 pint per ton on MicroEssentials SZ (MESZ), which was placed in-furrow. Compared to the untreated MESZ, the Titan XC-treated MESZ raised wheat yields, with a 7 bu/a yield increase. With wheat prices estimated at $6.50/bu, the return on investment with Titan XC in this trial would be $43.62 per acre.