AgroLiquid NEWS SPRING 2021
Alfalfa is the Queen of Forages | 1 Micro 500’s Winning Record | 4 Ten Years of Permanent Plot Research | 7 Planter Sulfur Applications | 9
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Alfalfa
Alfalfa is now the third most valuable crop in the U.S., behind only corn and soybeans.
This alfalfa plot harvester allows us to weigh fresh samples and subsample for quality.
Alfalfa is the Queen of Forages Dan Peterson, Agronomist
Although there is growing interest in alternative forages such as annual grass/small grain blends with annual legumes and other forbs, alfalfa is still the “Queen” of forages (corn silage is “King”). There are many reasons for this, including alfalfa’s unparalleled animal nutrition profile. Good quality alfalfa cut at the right time will contain 20% or more of crude protein — the highest of the popular forage crops. This protein is highly soluble with a great balance of amino acids. According to Forage Complete, a seed genetics company, alfalfa contains “vitamins such as A, E, K, D, B1, C, B2, B12, U, B6 and amino acids such as folic acid, panthothanic acid, biotin, niacin and inocitole. In addition to these, alfalfa has high levels of calcium (Ca), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), copper, chlorine, magnesium, iron, boron, manganese and cobalt.” Other benefits from alfalfa in the ruminant diet include:
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• H ighly degradable protein, up to 74-79% according to some estimates. • Its digestibility reduces the amount of cud a cow must chew. • It increases rumen buffering. • It promotes faster digestion of digestible fiber. • C ows will often eat more alfalfa than grass because the fiber content is usually lower in well managed alfalfa.
Ca, and micronutrients. An interesting and very useful characteristic of alfalfa that I discovered early in my research is that it absorbs foliar nutrition more efficiently than any other crop that I have experience with. In fact, it is so good at absorbing foliar nutrients that we can apply significantly higher rates of our nutrients, including the sulfur products accesS™ and S-Calate™, in foliar applications to alfalfa than in any other crop that I’m aware of.
• Significant dry matter increase •R educe time between cuttings by 3-4 days
More than Just Excellent Feed Benefits of alfalfa in the crop rotation include its exceptional drought tolerance, high rates of soil nitrogen fixation, opportunities for summer manure applications, weed seedbank reduction, breaking the extended diapause corn rootworm cycle, and it significantly improves soil health. It is also a valuable cash crop, particularly in the Great Plains and Southwestern U.S. A significant amount of alfalfa is exported to Southeast Asia, Japan, and to the Middle East. It is now the third most valuable crop in the U.S., behind only corn and soybeans. Clearly alfalfa will remain a major crop in the U.S.
More Yield & Better Quality From a fertility standpoint, alfalfa requires significant amounts of P, K, S,
In recent years AgroLiquid has been conducting significant research on alfalfa, including trials with four cooperators in south central Minnesota this past summer. Several AgroLiquid treatments were evaluated against dry fertilizer and as a foliar supplement to dry fertilizer. AgroLiquid treatments were applied to 6-8" regrowth between cuttings. At two locations, the foliar treatments were applied to the 2nd and 3rd cuttings, with the 4th harvested to measure any carry-over effect. At the other two locations, the treatments were applied to the 2nd and 4th cuttings. At three of the four locations, the AgroLiquid treatments resulted in significant dry matter yield increases versus the dry fertilizer, while at the fourth location there was no significant yield difference across the treatments. One consistent effect of the AgroLiquid foliar treatments we observed in the Minnesota field trials was significantly faster growth between cuttings, reaching cut maturity (late bud) 3-4 days earlier than the dry fertilizer treatments. This is a very consistent effect from AgroLiquid foliar treatments in alfalfa across all years, cuttings, and locations.
82% Win Rate vs. Dry Fertilizer Since 2015, including the Minnesota locations in 2020, our overall cumulative field plot win rate in alfalfa across
88 comparisons versus competitive treatments is 82%, which in agronomy is a terrific result! While in Minnesota this past year and in the 2019 plots in western Kansas, we didn’t see any meaningful quality differences; in 20152018, we observed significant quality improvements in the AgroLiquid treated alfalfa over the dry fertilizer. Bottom line — alfalfa growers should be aware that a well-thought-out crop nutrition management plan can significantly benefit yield performance and profitability. As always, if your crop is not reaching its full potential, contact your crop nutrition expert to help investigate opportunities. We’re here to help you develop a crop nutrition plan to meet your yield goals.
Sure-K® and Kalibrate® are clean, chlorideand hydroxide-free potassium solutions. The unique formulations of these products provide increased crop utilization, allowing lower total product application volume to produce the same results as other conventional potassium fertility products when applied at typical rates.
Pro-Germinator® is used primarily for the application of phosphorus, but is partnered with nitrogen, potassium, and micronutrients for maximum performance. Phosphorus is the key nutrient in getting a pasture stand established, and in forages, the primary task of phosphorus is transforming protein, fat, and carbohydrates into energy.
Most farmers focus on macronutrients to improve yields and crop quality. However, micronutrients also play a pivotal role in crop development. From boron to molybdenum, we have a full line of micronutrients.
Micro 500
Micronutrients are essential for crop growth and are just as important as N-P-K, only needed in smaller quantities.
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Micro 500’s Winning Record By Stephanie Zelinko, Agronomist
As one of AgroLiquid’s core products, Micro 500® has been a part of our portfolio for over 30 years. True to AgroLiquid’s commitment to continuous product research, we have a plethora of data on the performance of this essential micronutrient formulation. Combining five key micronutrients: zinc, manganese, iron, copper and boron, Micro 500 is a perfect fit to address micronutrient needs in any crop. Additionally, its flexibility and safety allows it to fits many application methods including planter, foliar and irrigation. As growers look to improve the efficiency of each acre and hybrids improve, corn yield potential continues to rise. With this increase in yield, providing complete crop nutrition becomes more critical to ensure top potential is achieved. Micronutrients are essential for crop growth and are just as important as N-P-K, only needed in smaller quantities.
Putting Products to the Test As mentioned, the performance of Micro 500 has been tested many times. While Micro 500 has been put to the test across the spectrum of crops — from fruits, tree nuts, cereals, vegetables, potatoes and more traditional row crops, this article is focusing on our long-term corn research. Corn is the most widely planted crop across the U.S., and AgroLiquid has many data points on Micro 500’s performance over the past 30 years. Having this dataset allows us to determine the likelihood of achieving a positive yield response when Micro 500 is added to a corn fertilizer program. In this summary of trials, we evaluated all applications where Micro 500 was applied on corn compared to the same treatment applied without micronutrients. This provides the yield response from the additions of Micro 500. Application rates ranged from 1 to 2 qt/acre. Nineteen different trials over
multiple years were tested at different sites across the U.S. including Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri and Indiana. Data was summarized over all sites and showed a 7.8 bu/acre yield increase when Micro 500 was added to the fertility program. Win-rates for both yield and economics were determined using this data set. From these nineteen trials, the addition of Micro 500 to a corn fertility program provided a positive yield response 94.7% percent of the time. Therefore, not only were trials averaging nearly 8 bu/acre more, they also proved to consistently provide that response.
The Key Question: ROI? But is this yield response enough to cover fertilizer costs? In addition to yield, economic win-rates are also evaluated. Economics are calculated using the current Chicago Board of Trade price of corn and current market value of Micro 500. Each site was analyzed individually by determining the added dollars earned from the yield increased minus the cost of Micro 500 dollars invested (corn yield increase $ - fertilizer $ = economic return on fertilizer dollar spent). Review of all locations shows the addition of Micro 500 to a fertility program provides an economical return 89.5% of the time.
Calculating Risk Knowing the likelihood of acheiving a successful yield return in addition to being able to evaluate the risk of a fertilizer investment can help in risk assessment and making management decisions. Being able to arm our customers with the confidence that comes from more than 30 years of field research and experience is in large part what motivates AgroLiquid to continuously prove the performance of our crop nutrition products at our North Central Research Station in Michigan and field trials across the U.S. and Canada. Clearly, we have a lot of data at our fingertips! Micro 500 isn’t our only win-rate analysis. We have summaries on Sure-K as a foliar application on soybeans, accesS on corn and ProGerminator planter applied on corn. And we are not stopping there, we are continuing to test our products to strengthen our datasets. In 2021 we will be focusing our efforts on sulfur, both eNhance™ and accesS™ planter applied along with in-furrow applications of our newest product springuP. For more information on our win-rate trials and other research projects, checkout our research database at research.agroliquid.com or contact your local AgroLiquid representative for more information.
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AgroLiquid has been a leader in crop fertility research for over 30 years. Its 1,000 acre North Central Research Station (NCRS) has focused research efforts on proof of performance, innovation development and industry technology. In addition to the research focus at the NCRS, field trials are conducted across the U.S. and Canada. These projects validate results observed at the NCRS while providing local data. The field research also generates product performance data on crops grown outside of Michigan. In 2020 a record number of projects were completed, delivering 84 new datasets. These projects include 13 different crops across 14 states and two Canadian providences. Many of AgroLiquid’s trials are established to compare our high usability formulations to conventional, grower standards in crop nutrition. AgroLiquid’s Flavonol Polymer Technology allows nutrients to be applied at lower rates than conventional products, while providing a similar or better yield response. An overview of 2020 projects on a variety of crops has again shown that AgroLiquid continues to provide superior nutritional products to the agriculture industry. In all of these trials, an AgroLiquid crop fertility program was developed according to soil test to compare to an equal grower standard. In each of these nine comparisons on different crops in different geography, AgroLiquid provided equal or better yield performance, with less actual pounds of nutrients applied. This summary provides just the highlight of these comparisons. More details for each trial, along with other research projects can be found on our research website at research.agroliqiud.com.
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AgroLiquid News
Corn – Kentucky Grower Standard: 186 lbs/A dry fertilizer
Rate
Potatoes – Idaho Grower Standard: Grower Standard: 32 gal/A
Rate
Almonds – California Grower Standard: 142 gal/A
Rate
AgroLiquid: 3.25 gal/A
AgroLiquid: 10 gal/A
AgroLiquid: 86.5 gal/A
Grower Standard: 208.6 bu
Grower Standard: 534.7 cwt
Grower Standard: 2,787 lbs
Yield AgroLiquid: 214.6 bu
Yield AgroLiquid: 556.7 bu
Yield AgroLiquid: 2,975 lbs
+ 6 bu/A
+ 22.1 cwt/A
+ 188 lbs/A
Wheat – Michigan
Sugarbeets – Minnesota
Cotton – Texas
Grower Standard: 34.25 gal/A
Rate
Grower Standard: 3 gal/A
Rate
Grower Standard: 11.25 gal/A
Rate
AgroLiquid: 26 gal/A
AgroLiquid: 3 gal/A
AgroLiquid: 4.75 gal/A
N only: 94.4 bu
Grower Standard: 6,019 lbs recoverable sugar
Grower Standard: 1,585.6 lbs lint
Yield AgroLiquid: 101.7 bu
Yield
Yield
AgroLiquid: 6,033 lbs recoverable sugar
AgroLiquid: 1,608 lbs lint
+ 7.3 bu/A
+ 14 lbs recoverable sugar /A
+ 22.4 lbs lint/A
Citrus – California
Sugarcane – Louisiana
Bell Peppers – Ontario
Grower Standard: 91 lbs/A
Grower Standard: 170 lbs/A dry fertilizer
Grower Standard: 450 lbs/A dry fertilizer
Rate
Rate
Rate
AgroLiquid: 38 lbs/A
AgroLiquid: 10 gal/A
AgroLiquid: 11.9 gal/A
Grower Standard: 24 boxes
Grower Standard: 7,377 lbs sugar
Grower Standard: 12,250 lbs
Yield AgroLiquid: 26.7 boxes
+ 2.7 boxes/A
Yield AgroLiquid: 7,999 lbs sugar
+ 622 lbs sugar/A
Yield AgroLiquid: 19,416 lbs
+ 7,166 lbs/A
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Ten Years of Permanent Plot Corn Research
Research & Development
Jerry Wilhm, Ph.D., Research Lead, North Central Research Station
What if for every 10 crops grown with AgroLiquid crop nutrients, you received an 11th crop on top of the previous 10? Intrigued? Read on, I will explain. Long-Term Research Those familiar with research at the North Central Research Station (NCRS) will recognize our Permanent Plots trials, where the same fertilizer programs are used in the same plots in a corn-soybean rotation. The first of these plot trials ran from 1996 to 2005 and shows results from a single field experiment. Looking at the results, the AgroLiquid program had a higher average yield despite lower pounds per acre of actual nutrients applied, and did not have extra application trips of dry fertilizer. In 2011, another Permanent Plot test was set up on a different farm at the NCRS. This farm was new to the NCRS and the landowner had not grown corn on that
Permanent Plot Corn Yields: 1996-2005 North Central Research Station (5 replications)
Agroliquid (Pro-Germinator, Sure-K™, Micro 500, High NRG-N)
168.1
Conventional liquid (potash, 10-34-0, micro Zn, 28%)
163.5
Conventional dry (potash, DAP, zinc, urea)
159.4
ground for many years. A yield goal of 170 bu/A was set and, as before, different fertilizer programs were developed to apply a 180-30-60 program of N-P2O5K2O. It was determined that 170 bu/A would be a good target based on production of other fields at the NCRS, but — spoiler alert — we were in for a
surprise. The treatments were similar to those of the ’96-’05 plots, with a couple additional treatments: •
Full AgroLiquid program
•
onventional liquid (plus potash C for potassium)
•
onventional dry (all dry fertilizers C applied broadcast)
•
itrogen only (to measure the effects N of the P, K and micronutrients applied)
•
onventional fertilizers, but at the same C reduced rate of applied nutrients as with the AgroLiquid treatment
The treatments and rates are in the table below:
Permanent Plot Corn Yields North Central Research Station 2011-2020
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Trt.
Corn Fertilizer Program
Application Details
Rate/A
1
Nitrogen only
28%/eNhance™ (sidedress)
47 gal
2
AgroLiquid
Pro-Germinator + Sure-K + Micro 500 (IF); 28%/eNhance (sidedress)
3 gal + 5 gal + 2 qt; 47 gal
3
Low-Rate Conventional
(pound for pound with AgroLiquid)
0-0-62 (b’cast fall after soybeans); 10-34-0 + 9% Zinc + 9% MN (IF); 28% UAN (sidedress)
20 lb; 2 gal + 1 qt + 1 qt; 47 gal
4
Conventional liquid
0-0-62 (b’cast fall after soybeans); 10-34-0 + 9% Zinc + 9% MN (2x2); 28% UAN (sidedress)
200 lb; 7.5 gal + 1 qt + 1 qt; 57 gal
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Conventional dry
0-0-62 (b’cast fall after soybeans); Urea + DAP + 24% zinc (preplant b’cast incorp)
200 lb; 365 + 65 + 8 lb
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The field layout had a corn site next to a soybean site, and the treatments would rotate from site to site into the same plots each year. In the end, there were ten years of corn yields and ten years of soybean yields, all with four replications of treatments. Individual plots were six rows by 210 feet long. The corn yields appear in the following table:
Permanent Plot Corn Yields 2011-2020 Average Treatment Corn Yield By Year (Bushels/Acre, 4 Replications)
•
Trt.
Treatment
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Avg
1
Nitrogen only
195.5
189.9
195.1
185.3
182.9
160.5
184.2
161.5
167.4
176.5
179.9
2
AgroLiquid
213.8
217.9
213.6
189.4
224.7
160.9
212.1
189.3
197.3
199.3
201.8
3
Pound for pound
202.9
204.7
196.4
184.2
196.2
159.9
190.7
170.8
178.4
187.5
187.2
4
Conventional liquid
207.7
197.1
207.1
195.6
221.4
160
212.5
189
200.8
206.5
199.8
5
Conventional dry
202.4
196.4
204.1
193.8
224.6
169.4
197.5
183.8
181.4
200.6
195.4
Yearly averages:
204.5
201.2
203.3
189.7
210.0
162.1
199.4
178.9
185.1
194.1
192.8
ields were much higher than the 170 bu/A yield goal, even Y for the nitrogen only. So the no corn history threw us off, but the treatment rates were not adjusted, and remained the same for all ten years.
•
he highest average yield was with AgroLiquid and was T slightly higher than that of the conventional liquid treatment. But there were extra application trips for potash.
•
he AgroLiquid yield was statistically higher than that of T the conventional dry treatment. (Note: The Least Significant Difference (LSD) value is based on statistical analysis of the data, and if a yield difference between treatments is greater than the LSD value, then it is considered to be a “statistically significant difference.” This is important as it takes variability of data into consideration. The value is fairly low, but it indicates similar trends over 10 years. There are 40 numbers going into each average.)
•
he AgroLiquid yield was significantly higher than that of T the “pound for pound” rate of conventional fertilizers. This demonstrates the importance of high-efficiency formulations. The low-rate conventional treatment yielded pretty close to the full rate conventional treatments for the first two years, but started to decline in the third year.
It was also observed that the AgroLiquid treatment yielded far higher than did the full-rate conventional programs in the first three years, then yields became closer after that. NCRS researchers believe because this was the first application of AgroLiquid to this soil, the corn responded particularly well to the product features, such as protected nutrients, nutrient slow release and micronutrient balance. Additionally, the AgroLiquid treatment used a reduced rate of UAN with the addition of eNhance™. Again, we designed this program for a 170 bu/A yield goal, and actual yields far exceed that. So the
corn enjoyed the premium fertilizer input and got off to a good start, but became more equal, but sustainable, after that. So what about the eleventh ‘bonus’ corn crop? The table shows the extra corn produced over 10 years compared to Nitrogen only. So by using Pro-Germinator, Sure-K and Micro 500, an extra 219.3 bu/A was produced. This is like a whole extra year of corn produced per acre. Actually more!
Permanent Plot Corn: Extra Corn Over 10 Years North Central Research Station 2011-2020 Trt.
Treatment
10 yr. avg.
Extra bu/A over 10 yrs.
1
Nitrogen only
179.9
--
2
AgroLiquid
201.8
219.3
3
Pound for pound
187.2
72.7
4
Conventional liquid
199.8
198.7
5
Conventional dry
195.4
155.0
The AgroLiquid Advantage Is AgroLiquid sustainable? Meaning, will it continue to perform over time? As you can see from our long-term research, the answer is: yes it will. Finding the answers to these questions is why AgroLiquid remains committed to replicated field trial and hands-on experience from the North Central Research Station and throughout North America. Armed with the knowledge and confidence that comes with this extensive research, our Researchers, Agronomists and Sales Team are able to make scientifically based recommendations to sustainably optimize yield potential. You can find all of our research results on our website at research.agroliquid.com. AgroLiquid.com
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One of the best products to apply with the planter is AgroLiquid's eNhance™, which can be safely applied in furrow with common rates of 1-2 qts/A for most crops.
Sulfur
Sulfur deficient corn plant
Planter Sulfur Applications Tim Duckert, Research Agronomist, North Central Research Station
Happily, crop yields have increased exponentially over the last 20 years. However, these high yield goals require a larger supply of nutrients, including sulfur. Due to the increased need for sulfur (S), the reduced supply of atmospheric sulfur, and losses to the environment, it’s necessary to include sulfur as a consideration in all crop nutrition plans.
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AgroLiquid News
Just a Reminder: S Is Important In the winter 2020 issue of this newsletter, AgroLiquid Agronomist John Leif provided many details of why sulfur is needed, how it reacts in the environment and its role in plant nutrition. Considering what we learned from John’s discussion of the need for sulfur, and taking into account cooler environmental conditions at planting which may limit any mineralization of sulfur from the soil, we can extrapolate that early sulfur applications may be beneficial to the development of the young seedling.
Especially at Planting There are many different application methods and products available to meet the sulfur need of today’s crops. Applying sulfur with the planter is an excellent placement method to get the available form of the nutrient next to the root system and maximize the benefit to the new plant. This placement can also be more environmentally friendly because it is placed near the zone of uptake and will likely get used by the young plant before it has a chance to leach from the soil system.
What S Fertilizer Can Be Used In-Furrow? One of the best products to apply with the planter is AgroLiquid’s eNhance™, which can be safely applied in furrow with common rates of 1-2 qts/A for most crops. It has been an exceptional product for providing three to six pounds of equivalent sulfur
at those rates. Very few—if any—other sulfur products can be used in-furrow. This gives eNhance an edge, when applied infurrow, of being the closest sulfur source to the new seedling’s root system. Applying nitrogen while planting also provides an opportunity to add sulfur to the nutrient program. The addition of sulfur to applied nitrogen improves the plant’s response to that nitrogen. One AgroLiquid product that mixes well with liquid nitrogen fertilizers is accesS. Nitrogen fertilizer is often placed 2x2 or on one or both sides of the row, the latter of which is becoming more common. These placement areas near but not directly with the seed are still beneficial to the young root system. AccesS should only be applied away from the seed and the aforementioned systems work well for planter application of this product. A typical planter application may be 1-2 gallons per acre which would provide five to 10 pounds of equivalent sulfur.
But What Does the Data Show? The chart below shows data from both eNhance and accesS in multi-year studies. At least seven years of data and 12 experiments were used to compare additional planter applied sulfur to a normal planter program without sulfur.
210 197.1
200
Planter
190.9
Yield - bu/A
190
183.8
Planter + Sulfur
186.5
180
eNhance: 2qt/A eNhance applied in-furrow at planting.
170
Pro-Germinator, Sure-K, Micro 500 and nitrogen rates were the same between the two treatments.
160
- Average of 7 years and 13 experiments.
150
AccesS: 1 qt to 2 gal/A accesS applied at planting.
140 130
Pro-Germinator, Sure-K, Micro 500 and nitrogen rates were the same between the two treatments.
120
- Average of 7 years and 12 experiments.
eNhance In-Furrow
accesS Planter applied
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