In The News

 

Living Up To Their Potential

Published in the Summer 2009 issue of FarmGate Mid-South magazine.

 

Bio-Stimulant Technology Helps Round Out Crops’ Fertility Program.

Missouri rice and soybean producer Les Thomas has been using soil and plant bio-stimulants as part of a comprehensive fertility program since 1986. Thomas first tried Agri-Gro, a bio-stimulant manufactured by Agri-Gro Marketing, Inc., more than 20 years ago and has been using the company's products ever since. In 2007 he started using FoliarBlend, an improved version of the original Agri-Gro product, and his yields and plant health have continued to improve. Both Agri-Gro Marketing products can be applied to the soil, seed and plant foliage.

 

"On rice, I broadcast Agri-Gro with my burndown herbicide or Command, and follow up with FoliarBlend at boot stage," says Thomas, who farms south of Poplar Bluff. "At boot stage when you normally spray a fungicide for sheath blight, I apply FoliarBlend with or without a fungicide. I've used it instead of a fungicide and had good results."

"For example, last year we split a 230-acre rice field into several different fungicide treatments and the FoliarBlend treated rice yielded more than one of the major fungicide treatments, and held even with the other fungicide-treated rice. FoliarBlend doesn't control diseases like a fungicide but it does make the plant healthier and better able to fight off infection."

In soybeans, Thomas applies FoliarBlend with his post-emerge herbicide application along with 7-15-15 liquid fertilizer. Later, when the beans are in early bloom stage, he applies another application of FoliarBlend and 7-15-15.

Many Benefits

Benefits include healthier plants, setting more blooms and pods on soybeans, and slowing down rice diseases, says Thomas. "FoliarBlend is extremely easy to use and I can mix it with anything that I'm spraying," he says. “It also improves the performance of herbicides. I can cut back my soybean over-the-top herbicide rates at least a fourth whenever I mix Agri-Gro or FoliarBlend with the herbicide and the fertilizer and still get good weed control."

Thomas soil samples every three years and includes FoliarBlend and Agri-Gro as part of an overall fertility system. "The treated fields have increased their ability to supply available nutrients to the plant," he says. "Additionally, the treated plants develop better root systems."

This Southeast Missouri grower has used the product since 1986 and has seen consistent performance through the years. "Agri-Gro and FoliarBlend make the plants healthier, no matter the season or conditions," he says. "A healthy plant will withstand drought and adverse growing conditions far better than a stressed one."

With his silt loam soil and inputs, Thomas expects to average 50 bushels of soybeans per acre across 2,200 acres. Some areas will cut as high as 75 bushels, and some lower, but he expects to average 50.

"We’ve accomplished that for the past three years," he adds. "In rice, we expect to average 170 to 180 bushels per acre on nearly 2,000 acres. I plant half Clearfield and the other half to Wells and Francis."

In addition to being pleased with FoliarBlend and Agri-Gro, Thomas is satisfied with the service and support he gets from the company. "I’ve known the Agri-Gro Marketing people for a long time; they'll work with you in any way, which is as important as the product," he says.

"Leave a check plot the first year you try the products. When we started with Agri-Gro in 1986, we planned to try it for three years before deciding whether we would use it over the whole farm. We started with 300 acres. After the second year, we applied it on every acre. We saw that much of a difference that quickly.

"If you do a test plot with FoliarBlend, it will prove itself to you and put more money in your pocket. It pays for itself in a hurry if you use it right. When you compare your milling yield and your bushels per acre with the check plot, you'll be pleased."

Microbial Effect.

Consultant Dr. David Sasseville, Jefferson City, Missouri, who retired from the Missouri University Outreach and Extension after 25 years, has worked with FoliarBlend and Agri-Gro for more than 10 years. “For the cost and the return on investment, it’s worth it,” he says. “Even when I was with the University, and could not recommend products, I would tell growers that based on our research the product merited at least trying.

"When we use FoliarBlend, we get an enhancement of beneficial microbial activity in the soil around the plant. That is one of the big benefits of the material. In the process of getting that microbial stimulation, we can actually raise the soil temperature in the seed furrow similar to how a compost pile raises soil temperatures. In-furrow, it might only be two or three degrees, but that small amount can help you with germination, particularly in cool seasons.

 

"Whether applied in the seed furrow or foliarly, FoliarBlend and Agri-Gro stimulate the growth of soil microbes; the products tend to promote both biodiversity and more balanced microbial populations. As a result, this helps to suppress some of the problems that occur when one microbe gets out of line, such as when a disease occurs in the soil or crop or when certain pesticides select for specific groups of microbes in the soil. A pathogen or disease problem occurs when one of the pathogenic microbes takes off and attacks the plant. So the balance helps to keep pathogens in check. While the product is not designed to be a fungicide or a pesticide, it helps support the natural defenses in the plant, helping it to protect itself."

Sasseville says another benefit is that FoliarBlend and Agri-Gro tend to loosen clay soils. "Microbial activity produces a lot of carbon dioxide which helps to break up clods. Additionally, the products promote microbes that produce long chain sugars (polysaccharides) that act like glue,” he says. “They take the clay particles which are very fine, and bind them together into granules like grains of sand. That allows better drainage, better soil aeration, better root penetration and decreases the amount of plant energy that’s needed to penetrate the soil. Additionally, after you use this product for a season, you’ll notice that the horsepower required to plow will start diminishing in heavy clay soils."

 

Sasseville says FoliarBlend and Agri-Gro also offer a micronutrient benefit. "The product's micronutrients were added not only to feed the plant, but also to take care of the needs of the microbes—the bacteria and the fungi,” he explains. “Most microbes need the same nutrients as plants. Also, many microbes produce enzymes, which help break down the organic matter and help mineralize the nutrients that are in the soil and make them more available to the plant."

The Missouri consultant says growers also can potentially reduce their fertilizer rates. "You can reduce the amount of fertilizer applied when you use this product, but as a consultant, I never tell growers the first year they use the products to back off on fertility,” he says. “I recommend growers use FoliarBlend to complement their existing fertility program, and then do soil sampling and tissue analysis. Those two things will determine whether you can reduce your fertility the following year.” Ultimately, growers can increase their yields with FoliarBlend and Agri-Gro. “For example, in our FoliarBlend tests for the last 3 years, including the wet 2008 season, we averaged a 9.8-bushel per acre increase in soybeans,” Sasseville says. “With corn, we typically see an 11- to 15-bushel increase."

 

USDA Research

Dr. Robert J. Kremer, USDA/ARS Microbiologist, Cropping Systems & Water Quality Unit, Columbia, Missouri, has researched FoliarBlend and several similar products since the 2006 growing season and has observed that all products tested have performed equally well.

 

In the case of FoliarBlend, he has made one or two foliar applications through the season on soybeans and corn. Additionally, he has worked with Roundup Ready soybeans and corn since they became widely available in 1997. He says FoliarBlend helps correct several problems in these genetically-modified (GM) crops.

"I noticed more infection of the roots of GM soybeans and corn with certain fungi more so than what I observed with conventional varieties,” Kremer says. “Additionally, soybean nodulation is quite poor on many of these GM varieties, which decreases nitrogen fixation. There also have been reports that there could be some complication with glyphosate in the plant with micronutrient availability for plant nutrition.

"FoliarBlend contains plant growth regulators, microbial stimulants and micronutrients, such as iron and manganese. So we tested the material to see if we could offset some of the effects that we saw in the GM crops sprayed with glyphosate."

 

In two out of the three test years, including 2008 which was a bad one for soybeans because it was so wet, Kremer saw a 10 to 15 percent yield increase using the product. “FoliarBlend decreased the incidence of fungal infection on the roots, primarily fusarium species, which are involved in diseases such as sudden death syndrome,” he explains. “The product also improved the nodulation of soybeans, partly because it's supplementing some of the growth regulators that might be compromised by glyphosate that is systemically translocated throughout the genetic plants. We also saw improved nutrient uptake."

Corn also performed better when treated with FoliarBlend. Kremer saw a 10+ percent yield increase on corn planted on bottomland soils. In 2008, his treated corn increased yields from 199 bushels to 224 bushels per acre.

 

"FoliarBlend and similar products can complement a comprehensive fertility program, which is especially important with growers who farm large acreages that may vary widely in levels of soil fertility across all of their fields," Kremer says.

 

Bio-Stimulant Manufacturer

Headquartered in Doniphan, Missouri, Agri-Gro Marketing, Inc. has grown to become a global company with sales in six continents. Stephen Smith, who serves as the company’s president, defines the company as a manufacturer of specialty plant nutrients and "Bio-Stimulant" technology. Though their technology has been successfully applied in several fields of business ranging from industrial and municipal waste treatment to the livestock feed industry, their emphasis has always been agriculture. Smith says, "Quite simply our technology helps growers create healthier, more balanced soils and plants that produce higher yields with superior quality. Most of the focus in agriculture is on the chemical and physical aspects of the production process and rightfully so, they are truly important. However, in order to maximize any plants yield potential you have to look beyond just the physical and chemical and consider the biological element of crop production as well. This is an essential area of crop production that many growers overlook and what Agri-Gro and FoliarBlend were formulated to address. In reality, these products do what fertilizer and physical tillage alone can't.

 

"FoliarBlend is a new, updated version of the original Agri-Gro. We've made several improvements in the product by expanding its micronutrient content and adding a proprietary component that elevates the plant's natural defense mechanisms to name a few. The product delivers healthier, more disease resistance crops with consistently higher yields. Field trial results and feedback from growers around the world have been outstanding."

For more information about Agri-Gro Marketing, Inc., and their products FoliarBlend and Agri-Gro, go to www.agrigro.com.

 

Roundup Ready™ is a trademark of Monsanto Company.