Spring | 2012 1

Inside This Issue of LIQUID —

•Put Corn Fertilizer In The Right Place . . . . . . . 1

•Facing 2012’s Challenges Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

•Calendar Of Events . . . . 2•Agro-Liquid Protects Soils,

Boosts Yields . . . . . . . . . 3•Update On Vegetable

Crop Research . . . . . . . . 4•LIQUID Performance

Proven Over Time . . . . . . 5•Grower, Agro-Liquid

Work Together . . . . . . . . 6•Farmers Honored For

Nutrient Practices . . . . . 8•New Workers Assets

For Agro-Liquid . . . . . . 10•More Support Boosts

‘Farm American’ . . . . . . 10•Know What’s Happening

In Your Fields . . . . . . . . 11•Your Area Sales

Account Managers . . . . 12

Managing Editor: Albert Bancroft

By Jerry Wilhm, Senior Research Manager

Even if you have decided that Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers are in fact, the best way to get

essential plant nutrition into your crop, there are still some adjustments to coax still more bushels out of your corn.

It’s important to start getting nutri-tion into the corn seedling as soon as possible. So why not put the fertilizer

where it will have the best opportunity to perform?

Over the past several years, we’ve evaluated planter-applied fertilizers to find the best placement for best yield. When seed firmers with fertilizer tubes showed up years ago, we found their use resulted in better results than placement away from the row.

Now it’s time to revisit this topic, since there are some newer placement options. One of these is an in-furrow tube that places the fertilizer in the bottom of the seed furrow, just before the seed drop. We first looked at it in

Put Corn Fertilizer Where It Will Do the Best Job

Spring 2012 www.agroliquid.com•800.678.9029

Continued on Page 3

ResponsibleNutrient

Management®

ResponsibleNutrient

Management Does It Better!

www.agroliquid.com

2 www.agroliquid.com•800.678.9029

I don’t know about you, but I get excited when the calendar rolls over to a new year.

For those of us in agriculture, anticipation of a new growing season increases as plans are being made. The New Year will, no doubt, present some hurdles for us. My magic 8-ball hasn’t informed me of what those chal-lenges will be, but they’re sure to be lurking.

The expectation of adversity being present in virtually every growing season is what attracts many of us to agriculture like moths to a light. Most of us would be bored with figuring out how to over-come the same obstacles year after year.

However, a trusty resource is invalu-able to help with any challenge — Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers.

The New Year brings a lot of deci-sions to be made, and it seems most of them are expensive. Fertilizer decisions are no exception.

At Agro-Liquid, we recognize the investment that it takes to raise a crop, and we realize that plant nutrition is a big part of that investment. That’s why we dedicate so many resources to helping the grower manage his plant-nutrient dollars responsibly.

Good recommendations are a mix of art and data. The data is easy. Soil testing, yield maps, yield expectations, etc., can all be obtained and analyzed.

The art enters because everything is connected. No one variable, or plant nutrient, exists in a vacuum. As one variable is adjusted, another has to be

considered and adjusted as well. A low yield goal might only require nitro-gen as an input. An intermediate goal might require not only the nitrogen component, but also need some phos-phorus and potassium.

A high yield goal, which most pro-ducers desire, may not only require

nitrogen, potassium and phospho-rus, but also the addition of some micros. Why? Because as we move toward higher yields, a nutrient like zinc —which may not have prevented a grower from reaching a lower yield goal — might be the limiting factor for a high yield goal.

It’s also a dash of art to make a good recommendation, because there isn’t a linear relationship of nutrients to be followed as yield expectations rise. It isn’t as simple as doubling or tripling a recipe.

The investment in resources by Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers is made to help remove some of the guesswork from of the ‘art’ portion of the recom-mendation. Our research and agron-omy staff routinely looks at responses from additions of different nutrients, based on soil tests, so we can better judge if a return can be expected under given circumstances.

Granted, nothing will exactly emulate what will happen on a given farm, but replicated evaluation cer-tainly helps. We do this in order to better make responsible prescriptions for the grower’s nutrient-management decisions.

As you approach your fertility deci-sions for the upcoming year, make sure you speak with your Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers sales rep. They’re trained to ingest the data, mix it with art and make a recom-mendation that’s right for your situation.

Agro-Liquid representatives realize that it’s the proper use of nutrients in a program, and not the numbers in a given analysis, that lead to the best yield outcome. And if you don’t believe me, go to www.farmguytv.com and watch the latest Farm Guy episode. He’ll set you straight!

As this growing season kicks into high gear, let the excitement, as well as the challenges, begin.

“ThePerspective”By Galynn Beer,Senior Sales Manager

With Each Growing Season’s New Challenges, We’ll Be There

■ Mid-South Farm & Gin ShowMemphis, TN • March 2-3

■ Commodity ClassicNashville, TN • March 3-5

■ Eau Claire Farm ShowEau Claire, WI • March 6-7

■ North American Farm ShowOwatonna, MN • March 17-19

CaLENDar oF EvENTS

“We recognize the investment that it takes

to raise a crop…”

Spring | 2012 3

2009 on a limited basis, and again in 2010 and 2011.

This placement was compared to seed-firmer placement, where the fertilizer tube was split before the tip and fertilizer is directed to the sides of the furrow — but actually slightly above the seed.

It’s speculated that seed-firmer or in-furrow tubes will give adequate distribution around the seed, with less coming in direct contact with the seed, which would be advantageous where seed injury may be a concern.

Many planters are set up for 2-by-2-inch placement. This would have the advantage of putting down some ni-trogen with the planter, while keeping the phosphorus and potassium fertil-izer away from the seed.

To answer a question about late ap-plication of P and K fertilizer, a treat-ment was included that applied the

Pro-Germinator™ + Sure-K™ + Micro 500™ at sidedress with the nitrogen.

In some areas, there may be so much spring rain that growers are some-times forced to just get the seed into the ground under wet conditions and forgo the liquid fertilizer in the race to get planted.

Would it pay to add this nutrition later? A replicated plot experiment was conducted at the North Central Research Station to compare these

placement options. The results are in the following picture, and 2-year yields are in the table.

Clearly there is an advantage to placement close to the seed. There is some further yield increase with the tube placement.

For the seed firmer, there may be a difference in performance with the straight stream off the back of the firmer vs. the splitter, but that will be tested later.

And if planter fertilizer is left out at planting? There was still an advantage to application with sidedress, as we saw an average yield increase of 12.7 bushels per acre compared to nitrogen only. But it still yielded less than that with the planter application.

So good luck this year, and we hope that this research-proven information is beneficial!

Planter Fertilizer Placement Effects on Corn Yields, 2010-11

North Central Research StationPlacement 2010 2011 Avg.

In-furrow tubes 196.7 200.0 198.4Seed firmer 190.0 198.3 194.22x2 185.5 194.9 190.2

Put Corn Fertilizer Where It Will Do The Best Job... Continued from page 1

In south Texas, like many other areas, growers face many challenges to achieve profitable yields across

their farms. Sam and Josh Ruiz are no different,

and turned to Agro-Culture Liquid Fer-tilizers for their crop’s nutrient needs.

As vegetable and row crop produc-ers, they began looking for ways to increase the efficiency and ease of use of their fertility program.

“We saw Agro-Liquid as a way to more accurately meet our nutrient needs, and recognized the easy han-dling and application of their prod-ucts,” says Sam.

Using the recommendation from their dealer as determined by soil samples, Sam and Josh started apply-ing their new fertility program.

“It was apparent immediately after the crop came up that our decision was a good one,” Sam says.

Sam felt that their vegetable crops got the benefit of a product that was balanced nutritionally. With crops like tomatoes, onions and mixed greens, quality and balanced nutrition is key when attempting to maximize what a farm can yield.

They also went to Agro-Liquid prod-ucts for solutions in their corn, cotton and grain sorghum crops.

“With products like Pro-Germina-tor™ and Micro 500™, we can apply our whole nutritional program in-fur-row with zero germination problems,” Sam says. “This saves us trips and gives us the ability to place the fertilizer right next to the seed.”

They saw their lint and grain yields increase due to the fertilizer’s ability to protect itself from their high-calcare-ous soils, which would normally tie up a great portion of their application.

In addition to row placement, Sam

was very impressed with the post-emergence capabilities of Agro-Liquid products.

“We can easily mix some additional nutrients in with a herbicide or insecti-cide application and get a later-season addition of fertilizer,” he says. “Using this method, we can wait to evaluate our crop’s potential and apply nutri-ents during the season when certain nutrients are needed at greater levels.”

Overall, Sam says he’s been im-pressed with the way Agro-Culture products have changed the way his family’s operation looks to fertil-ize their crops. They’re continually looking to expand how they use the products so that they can maximize the LIQUID advantage.

“My faith in Agro-Liquid’s products is strong,” he says, “and will continue to grow as I find new and innovative ways to push their capabilities on my farm.

agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers Protects Soils, Boost Yields In Texas By reid abbott, Sales Account Manager

4 www.agroliquid.com•800.678.9029

This season at the North Central Research Station (NCRS) was slow to start, with lots of rain

early followed by dry and hot condi-tions. This required some adjustments to the planting, foliar applications and harvest schedules.

Lately, adjusting plans seems to be more common than following what was designed over the winter months. Still, many trials turned in very good yield results. In all cases, the fertil-izer programs based on Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers performed as well as the conventional programs. And in many cases, the Agro-Culture pro-grams out-yielded them.

Here are a few of the highlights from

this past season: ✔ Using Agro-Liquid products as a

part of the row-starter program, up to a full fertility program, for pota-toes can enhance the yield and grade distribution of the treated plants. Using only Pro-Germinator™ in place of 10-34-0 for phosphorus in the row starter increased yields by over 20 cwt/A. The fertility program with only Agro-Liquid products produced a yield that was more than 60 cwt/A above the conventional program.

A similar trend in these treatments was seen in a contract-research trial in Washington. However, in that trial, the full Agro-Liquid program yielded 12 tons (240 cwt)/Acre above the growers

standard program. This is a pretty amazing response when you know the grower standard yielded over 40 tons per acre.

✔ Melons grown utilizing Agro-Liq-uid products again out-yielded those produced with conventional materi-als, and many guests at the NCRS say they tasted better too. Early-season yields and total-season yields favored the programs utilizing the high-quality Agro-Liquid materials such as Pro-Germinator™, Sure-K™, High NRG-N™ and Micro-500™.

✔ Like the melons, the Cole Crops (broccoli and cauliflower) showed better early-season yields and total yields where the Agro-Liquid materi-

als were used. Foliar applications of ferti-Rain on the broccoli, and other crops, promoted still greater yields (larger heads) and shorter harvest window than observed for the conventional program.

✔ With the cooperation of a Michigan cherry grower, trials for the newly introduced Fase 2 continue to show a nice growth response on newly planted fruit trees. The caliper of the trunks has increased faster, the size and

number of lateral branches was also greater with regular applications of this material. When Fase 2 was applied at key growth stages on mature cherry trees, yield increases continue to provide evidence that this material has a real fit into fruit production.

Please look to the research tab on our Web site, www.agroliquid.com, or ask your local Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers dealer for complete in-formation on these and many other research trials conducted at the NCRS last season.

New things to watch for in 2012 and beyond will be the planting of an apple orchard, Christmas-tree production and expansion of other perennial crop trials at the NCRS.

DOING IT RIGHT. Having the right equipment allows for more replicated research on specialty crops.

SOLO JOB. Dr. Brian Levene does doing his own specialty research.

an Update on our 2011 vegetable Crop researchBy Dr. Brian Levene, Specialty Crop Research Manager

Spring | 2012 5

With years of data from the North Central Research Station, comparisons of how

Agro-Culture Liquid Fertil-izers products perform over a number of years is easy to see.

Data for long-term fertilizer use on a number of crops, in-cluding corn, soybeans, sugar-beets and black beans, can be found throughout the research.

Last year marked 8 years of fertilizer-program comparisons in both sugar-beets and black beans. These crops are grown in a 4-year rotation with winter wheat and corn.

Fertilizer programs are determined by soil tests for each field location.

Within each experiment, the Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers products and conventional fertilizer programs stay in the same plots. This prevents any effects that applications of dry fertilizer may play in the following growing season.

SugarbeetsSugarbeets are planted early in cool

soils, which leads to slow germination.This, combined with having a sensi-

tive seed, means that in-furrow fertil-izer applications are not recommended at full program rates.

Therefore, Pro-Germinator™, Sure-K™ and Micro 500™ are applied in a 2-by-2-inch band at planting. The nitrogen source was High NRG-N™ applied broadcast after planting.

The conventional program had potash preplant incorporated, 10-34-0 with 9% manganese and zinc applied with 2x2 placement and 28% UAN post plant broadcast.

Black BeansVery similar to soybeans, black-bean

seed is extremely sensitive and stand reduction can occur with in-furrow fertilizer applications.

The Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizer program contained Pro-Germinator™

plus Sure-K™ and Micro 500™ applied at planting in a 2-by-2-inch band. De-pending on the year, the High NRG-N™

was applied after planting, either in the same 2-by-2-inch band or broadcast.

The conventional program included potash pre-plant incorporated, 10-34-0

with 9% manganese and zinc applied with 2-by-2-inch placement, and 28% UAN applied either in a 2-by-2-inch

band or post-plant broadcast.Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizer’s

North Central Research Station has been testing products since 1994. Long-term studies such as these prove sustainability of an Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers program.

Fewer nutrients applied per acre and fewer applications while producing equal or better yields makes LIQUID the best option.

LIQUID Performance Proven Though The YearsStephanie M. Zelinko, Field Agronomy Research Manager

With high usability and efficiency, Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers, on average, applied 70% less pounds of nutrients per acre while achieving similar yield. Eight years of research show a yield advantage of 1.2 tons an acre, with less product and fewer trips across the field.

Multi-Year Fertilizer Program Comparisons in Sugarbeets North Central Research Station

Fertilizer Program 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2008 2009 2011 Avg.

* 24.7 21.6 23.6 21.0 29.2 26.9 27.2 20.6 24.4

Conventional** 22.9 21.4 22.5 21.9 25.9 26.0 25.6 19.3 23.2 +1.2 tons/acre

Fertilizers rates were applied to match soil test recommendations for each location and year*Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers included: Pro-Germinator, Sure-K, Micro 500 (2x2) High NRG-N (broadcast)**Conventional program included: potash (preplant incoperated)10-34-0, 9% Zn, 9% Mn (2x2) 28%

Eight years of research on black beans shows an average yield increase of 150 pounds per acre. With 57% fewer pounds of nutrients applied per acre, this proves Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers increased efficiency and usability.

Multi-Year Fertilizer Program Comparisons in Black Beans North Central Research Station

Fertilizer Program 2001 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Avg.

* 24.5 25.0 28.8 26.7 24.8 23.3 24.7 19.5 24.7

Conventional** 21.6 23.9 25.1 25.9 22.5 20.8 25.9 19.6 23.2 +1.5 cwt/acre

Fertilizers rates were applied to match soil test recommendations for each location and year*Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers included: Pro-Germinator, Sure-K, Micro 500 (2x2) High NRG-N (broadcast)**Conventional program included: potash (preplant incoperated)10-34-0, 9% Zn, 9% Mn (2x2) 28%

“Fertilizer programs are determined by soil tests for each field location…”

6 www.agroliquid.com•800.678.9029

Many people think about starting a new business, but never actually do it.

But Trey Curtis, owner of Concept Ag, took that leap of faith. Growing up on a row-crop farm in Marianna, Ark., Trey found out firsthand the trials and tribulations of farming.

After graduating from the University of Arkansas in 1993, Trey became a successful seedsman for Golden Harvest in southeast Missouri. Territories developed and relationships continued to form as Trey moved up the ladder of success with corporate positions at Syngenta and Monsanto.

Trey had always dreamed of owning his own company, and in 2010 it became a reality when he saw the opportu-nity to start an agricultural distribution company for seed.

Concept Ag was envisioned to be more than just a run-of-the-mill distribution company. To avoid becoming part of the status quo, Concept Ag was formed on some key principles:

✗ Provide growers with the highest-quality products ✗ Provide sound agronomics ✗ Create a positive return on investment ✗ Be responsible to the environment ✗ Continued grower education

To address these requirements, Concept Ag tests different seed and fertilizer products, usage rates and cultural practices on their customers’ farms to get realistic local field data.

To ensure that Concept Ag is on the cutting edge, Trey is focused on asking questions and learning from progressive growers to find out what products and cultural practices they’re implementing, and sharing what’s working with his customers. These principles allow Concept Ag customers to have access to the most up-to-date information on new products and management tools — backed by local data — and products offered at a competitive price.

Why Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers?Before the formation of Concept Ag, Trey did extensive

research on the pros and cons of setting up an ag distri-bution company. He spoke with several friends that had already started their own.

One of them was current Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers area manager Britt Boyd of North Carolina. Britt not only talked about the benefits of the Agro-Culture products, but showed them to Trey.

After an extensive fact-finding mission, Trey came to the conclusion that adding liquid fertilizer to his seed business was the right thing to do.

Then came the big question: Which liquid fertilizer company to go with?

Several other liquid-fertilizer companies were researched,

and Trey found that our products would set him apart from the others because it was doing business differently from many of the fertilizer companies across the nation.

Trey liked the fact that Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers not only markets and manufactures its complete line of prod-ucts, but also does extensive research both independently, and with contract research across the nation, including the North Central Research Station.

Agro-Liquid is a very heavily research-based fertilizer company, following one of LIQUID’s slogans “Farmer Tested, Research Proven,” and the company has the largest research

station devoted to crop nutrition where products are tested against conventional products and other competitive products.

The North Central Research Station is also the origina-tion point of new products that hit the market, and will continue to be.

With a new company such as Concept Ag, having products that are on the cutting edge is very important to compete in a very mature agricultural market. Agro-Liquid’s research and development program ensures new products are placed properly.

It was very important for Trey to have the peace of mind that his customers — some of which he has now known for 18 plus years — are not going to be a guinea pig.

“Working with my sales-account manager, Adam Beck, we’re using soil-test results to ensure proper placement of the product, which increases grower profitability,” Trey says. “With a complete soil test, including a test for micronutri-ents, we’re able to see what a crop will respond to before the growing season starts.”

Coming from a very diverse market, it was equally im-portant that Concept Ag offer a diverse fertilizer product lineup. One company fit the bill: Agro-Culture Liquid Fer-

a Progressive Company For Progressive GrowersBy adam Beck, Sales Account Manager

PASSING THE TEST. Trey Curtis out in the field with Agro-Culture’s Mike Wilhour verifying product performance.

Spring | 2012 7

By FarmGuy

The lack of understanding in our country about what farmers do is pretty scary!

My Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers sales professional told me about what the folks at Fur-niture Row were doing to help spread the word about the importance of American agriculture.

The next thing you know, here comes Regan Smith, the #78 NASCAR driver. My cousin, Urban-Guy, is one of millions of die-hard race fans who understands how important farming is to our nation, because he checked out FarmAmerican.com. I hope millions more will do the same.

I think it’s cool that a non-ag company like Furni-ture Row would want to partner with the ag industry to help farmers and ranchers tell their story.

Watch episode 2 and see how that meeting turned out. WOW!! I’m now working on my third episode. I think research is critical to the future of food security in our country, and I had an experience last season that I want to share with anyone who will listen. It was pretty unbelievable and I don’t want to “spill the beans,” but I can say that Dr. Jerry Wilhm is one amazing guy.

I think you’ll learn a lot and maybe laugh a little. Look for Episode 3 later this spring. I’m on Face-book now so let’s keep in touch.

In case I didn’t mention it, you can access the FarmGuy episodes, current information, comic books, new FarmGuy items as they come out, even coloring pages for the kids at www.FarmGuyTV.com.

Well, I’ve got to get to the studio. See ya around…maybe literally.

tilizers, which was a perfect match to Concept Ag’s strategy to bring high-quality, innovative and unique concepts to the grower.

Agro-Liquid’s Assets For GrowersGrowers working with Concept Ag continue to have posi-

tive experiences with Agro-Liquid’s products. “For the 18 years I’ve been in agriculture, I’ve always

heard that using a starter fertilizer will make your corn look good early, but won’t show any yield increase at harvest,” Trey says. “With many other products that we’ve tested, this is true.

“But the testing we’ve done with Agro-Liquid has shown that their products do produce a positive yield increase. We’ve seen a consistent 5- to 11-bushel yield increase consistently on corn with a 3-gallon starter rate of the their products.

“As we increase these rates, our benefits increase. We’re also starting to see opportunities to go with full rates of Agro-Liquid and either reduce our even eliminate dry-fertilizer application.

“In soybeans,” Trey adds, “we’ve seen a 10- to 15-bushel yield increase with our program. In rice, we’ve seen a 15-bushel increase, with 2 points better milling yield by replacing our dry with a total Agro-Culture Liquid Fertil-izers option.

“The benefits in wheat, cotton, and vegetables have all been equally as impressive,” Trey concludes. “As we go forward with our local testing, I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. I do believe that the use of Agro-Liquid prod-ucts and managing our dry fertility and micros properly will help our customers maximize yield on each acre.”

Agro-Liquid’s Benefits To The Environment

Trey and his family are very conscious about safeguard-ing the environment and noticed that Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers sponsors the Responsible Nutrient Management Practitioners program.

By giving plants exactly what they need each year, “we almost eliminate fertilizer runoff,” he says. “Being from southern Arkansas, I’m very familiar with the dead zones present in the Gulf of Mexico, which most experts claim is caused by fertilizer runoff.

“As I learn more about the inefficiencies of dry fertilizer compared to Agro-Culture products, I feel strongly that we should safeguard the environment by using products that are taken up by the plant, rather than ending up in lakes, rivers and the ocean, or in our drinking water.

“With more and more environmental regulations coming, farmers must look at different ways of fertilizing their crops, especially if they’re close to waterways. I believe Agro-Cul-ture Liquid Fertilizers is the answer.

“Concept Ag is very excited about working with the Agro-Culture products in the future. We’ll continue to do local research to find the best products and management prac-tices for our customers that are yield maximizing, profitable and environmentally responsible.”

8 www.agroliquid.com•800.678.9029

Three innovative producers were recognized by the Responsible Nutrient Management Founda-

tion at the National No-Tillage Con-ference in St. Louis, Mo., held January 11 to 14, 2012.

Winners were Bob Bottens from Cambridge, Ill.; Donn Branton of Le Roy, N.Y.; and David Sutherland, of LeRoy, Kan. The awards were present-ed by Responsible Nutrient Manage-ment Foundation secretary/treasurer James Peterson at the conference’s annual luncheon.

In his remarks, Peterson said indus-try suppliers like Practitioner Awards sponsor Agro-Culture Liquid Fertiliz-ers are working to offer growers better fertilizer products with improved efficiency.

The Practitioner Awards recog-nize growers who develop and adopt farming practices that maximize crop nutrient usage and minimize waste and loss into the environment.

The awards recognize the positive partnership that is developing between innovative suppliers like Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers and progressive growers.

Following is a summary of each of the recipients’ fertility programs.

Bob and Monte Bottens

Applying nutrients closer to the time plants need them is just one of many steps Bob Bottens and his son Monte have taken to refine their ever-changing fertility program. They credit more basic tools as providing the solid base for their increasingly innova-tive program.

Going no-till and pattern tiling their hilly, highly erodible ground were their first steps in keeping soil and nutrients in place.

“We were sick of watching our land wash down the Mississippi. No-till worked,” Bob Bottens says.

They started dabbling in tiling, targeting draws first. But they soon noticed that while the draws were dry, the hillsides weren’t, so they evened it out. They pattern-tiled 440 of their 1,875 acres, installing 480,000 feet of tile in 1998. Today, all of their acres are pattern tiled.

“Excess water is removed, wet spots are eliminated and when rain comes, the water is absorbed instead of washing our soil and fertilizer down the river,” Bottens says. “We can get a 1½- to 2-inch rain event without washing. We want to farm the same soil for the next 100 years, so we don’t want it to move.”

Tiling also helps keep biological soil processes functioning. Flooded fields will kill crops and drown microorgan-isms, and it takes a while for that life to come back, Bottens says.

“Since tiling, our soil tests show we don’t need as much phosphorus and potassium, which says to me our nutri-ents aren’t washing away and that we get better use of fertilizer because the microorganisms make it more plant available,” Bottens says.

Leaving anhydrous sitting vulner-able in the field was a scary and risky

process for Bottens.“You might lose 60% of your an-

hydrous in a wet year and at $800 per ton, I don’t want to lose any,” he says. “That’s why we decided to start ap-plying nitrogen with the planter, even though it might slow us down.”

Since their initial success with the planter, they have evolved their fertil-izer application system. Now they band fertilizer based on soil test and yield history. All fertilizers are liquid for improved control of application.

A 9-20-3 orthophosphate starter solution with chelated micronutrients is applied in the row below the seed and is varied by field according to soil test and yield potential. The micronutrients are necessary to help the plant’s roots func-tion, including the absorption of nu-trients, Monte says. Thio-Sul is applied at a 20% by volume rate with banded UAN 32, along with Agrotain.

“The Thio-Sul acidifies the band where nutrients are placed and keeps the nitrogen in a more plant-available form longer,” Monte says.

Sidedress nitrogen ap-plications are knifed in with a 30-foot sidedress bar mounted on a Miller high-clearance sprayer, which removes some pressure from the planter and puts nitro-gen application even closer to when the plant needs it. Foliar applications at 10 days pre- and post-tassel round out the program.

“We’ve seen yields double in the last 10 years, and our percent yield increase is generally 15% to 25% more than the county

Growers Honored For Efficient Nutrient PracticesBy No-Till Farmer and aCLF Staff

BEST PRACTICES RECOGNIZED. No-Till Farmer executive editor/publish-er Darrell Bruggink (l) and Responsible Nutrient Management Foundation treasurer/secretary Jim Peterson (r) stand with RNMP award winners (l-r) Donn Branton, Bob Bottens and David Sutherland.

ResponsibleNutrient

Management®

ResponsibleNutrient

Management

Spring | 2012 9

average,” Monte says. “Despite slowing down planting and making multiple trips through the field, our biggest inconvenience is figuring out where to store all the grain.”

Donn BrantonWhen you ask Donn Branton how

he’s excelled at managing nutrients ef-ficiently and profitably, he quickly cites three reasons:

✔ Take soil and tissue tests ✔ Band fertilizer when possible ✔ Be willing to change

The bottom line, says Branton, is that constantly evaluating the form, rates and placement of nutrients can make the difference between farming profitability and not farming at all.

“When we can, we band fertilizer instead of broadcasting it,” Branton says. “Years ago when we used conventional tillage, we broadcast fertilizer. It was quick and easy, but it was not efficient.”

Branton farms 1,300 acres near Lake Ontario and grows crops in varied soils, including fields with thin topsoil and those with limestone bedrock and high water tables. He no-tills peas, oats, wheat and alfalfa; strip-tills soy-beans, grain corn, sweet corn and dry edible beans; and zone-tills grain corn, soybeans and oats.

Through frequent testing — some-times twice in 3 years — Branton applies phosphorus to maintain and improve crop yields.

“The levels of phosphorus and po-tassium don’t change very much, but we may need to apply potash on alfalfa hay fields,” Branton says. “I do watch the levels of calcium and magnesium, and we spread a lot of gypsum.”

Branton has pulled soil samples using 1-acre grids by soil type and, most recently, by management zones based on soil type and topography. He’s constantly considering which work best.

In addition, he takes tissue samples of winter wheat weekly from green up in the spring to the flower stage.

“We are taking the weekly samples to create a baseline,” Branton says. “While we are focusing on nitrogen, sulfur and zinc levels, we are monitoring other nutrient levels as well.”

Branton’s soft red winter wheat

yields have increased by 15 to 20 bushels, pushing his 4-year average just over 100 bushels.

The conventional wisdom in Bran-ton’s area was that fertilizer should be placed in the top 2 inches of the soil because it would be vulnerable to leaching 8 to 10 inches deep. But Branton thought spring rains could make shallow-placed nitrogen vulner-able to washing out.

In an onfarm 3-year study, strip-till with deep-placed nitrogen produced 7.4 tons per acre of sweet corn; strip-till with shallow-placed nitrogen yielded 6.72 tons per acre; and zone-till with shallow-placed nitrogen resulted in 5.76 tons per acre.

“With shallow-placed fertilizer, warmer temperatures and more active microbes can break down the fertiliz-er,” Branton says. “By placing nitrogen 8 to 10 inches deep, the soil is cooler and the microbes are not as active. The fertilizer down deep is available as the corn grows and the soil warms up.”

David SutherlandDavid Sutherland’s 45-bushel

average soybean yields are consistently 25% above the county average. His 154-bushel average corn yield bests the county average by 20%, and his 65-bushel wheat yield averages 42% better than the county average.

He credits no-till, judicious nutrient and micronutrient use and cover crops for his yield success. Due to the high-land vs. lowland nature of the ground he farms, Sutherland tests soil based on soil type, which is either a silt clay or a silt loam.

“We don’t take soil tests in a grid pattern. Instead, we take them based on soil type in the field and we take them every year,” he says.

On corn, his White planter — which can no-till 16 rows of 30-inch corn or

31 rows at 15 inches — makes the first field pass. Pulled by a Cat Challenger outfitted with two sets of fertilizer tanks, the unit injects low-salt, 5-20-5 liquid fertilizer plus zinc in the seed slot.

Martin row cleaners prepare the seeding zone, followed by a Martin smooth coulter that places 10-34-0 plus potash at 3 inches to the side of the seed slot and 3 inches deep.

“The planter contains a variable-rate fertilizer unit, but I don’t pre-program it by field. Instead, I adjust it based on the soil type I am planting into,” he says. “We see a definite yield response from the zinc in the starter fertilizer. I think it helps emerging seedlings if the weather is cold and wet.”

Sutherland then makes a pass over the field with his Apache self-propelled sprayer with a mix of 28% nitrogen, micronutrients (usually sulfur, zinc and possibly manganese, based on soil tests) and pre-emergence herbicides.

“I think the sulfur aids nitrogen absorption by the crop,” he says.

Sutherland adds a mix of hairy vetch, tillage or oilseed radishes and lentils after wheat and before corn. After corn, he applies a mix of clover, buckwheat and wildflowers that attract honeybees after corn.

“We are participating in the Con-servation Security Program, so we are increasing our use of cover crops to scavenge and store nitrogen for the next crop,” he says. “The deep-rooted cover crops will also pull micronutri-ents and potash from below and put it where the crops can use it.

“These cover crops seem to help reduce weed growth the coming season and we’ve really seen an increase in organic matter. In the winter, these fields are alive. You can find insects and earthworms at work in them. Since we’ve been no-tilling, our organic matter has more than doubled.”

Nominations for the 2013 class of Responsible Nutrient Management Practitio-ners can be made on the Foundation’s web site at www.rnmf.com. Click on the Applications and RNMF Practitioner Award links to fill out a nomination form. Self-nominations are accepted.

Winners receive travel and hotel expenses covered by Agro-Culture Liquid Fer-tilizers for the 21st annual National No-Tillage Conference in Indianapolis from January 9 to 12, 2013. Meanwhile, No-Till Farmer covers the winners’ conference registration fee.

10 www.agroliquid.com•800.678.9029

« Expanding The agro-Culture Business«

Since starting with Agro-Culture in August 2011, Jackie Aldridge says she’s spent most of her time becoming famil-

iar with Agro-Liquid and her own depart-ment so it will benefit her team.

Jackie manages the accounts-receivable department, which oversees customer ac-counts, invoicing payments and handling credit reviews.

Jackie works alongside Neeli Warren and Eustaquia Lee, and all three strive to provide excellent service to our customers and Agro-Liquid departments.

“I don’t believe in the statement, ‘It’s not part of my job or my department,’” she says. “If we don’t have the answer, we’ll find someone who does.”

Jackie has a 20-year-old son who attends Alma College and plays soccer there as well.

Jackie enjoys outdoor activities, such as working in the yard or garden, taking a bike ride, working out and watch-ing her son play soccer. She also enjoys knitting, reading, hockey, college football, baseball and NASCAR.

Interacting with customers and coworkers is an enjoyable part of her daily activities, and she takes great satisfaction in resolving issues for others.

“I’m here to answer questions and assist with accounts,” she says, and I look forward to working with everyone.”

Jackie Aldridge

a valuable Part of a Strong accounts receivable Team As our company grows, it provides

new opportunities and positions, and one recent change we made

to the sales-management structure is ap-pointing regional sales managers.

We currently have three of them, includ-ing Dave Brewster, who works with four sales account managers: Gary Veach, Jason Garcia, Reid Abbott, and Jacob Nowa-kowski. Dave has been with the company since May 2011.

Dave and his family relocated to Atlanta, Ga., where they’ve enjoyed a much warmer winter than they experi-enced in Ohio. He has a 14-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, both of which play baseball and basketball, and Dave enjoys spending time practicing with them.

He says his daughter tried soccer and likes that sport as well, so three sports will keep them all busy. Dave finds himself on the golf course as time permits, but he’ll be taking time off after recently tearing the ACL in his knee.

Since Dave is new, he’s traveling around to get familiar with the area managers, growers and crops. Covering as many states as he does keeps him busy and always provides an opportunity to see something new. Travel is something he enjoys, so it’s been a good fit for him to oversee a large area.

The message he carries in the field is this: “Growers using Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers have chosen the best pos-sible liquid fertilizer on the market. No one matches our efficiency and quality.”

Dave looks forward to meeting new people and helping his sales-account managers provide quality customer service.

Who’s Who at Agro-CultureBy albert Bancroft,LIQUID Managing Editor

Dave Brewster

Farming and ranching is a sustainable American indus-try employing many people in various careers. As our business expands, it allows us to employ more people

in a wide range of career opportunities that all circle back to American agriculture.

For another year, we’re pleased to be partnered with Fur-niture Row companies supporting Farm American.

Farm American is a platform to bring awareness to the fact that our agricultural industry is vulnerable. If we don’t openly talk about the issues that threaten agriculture, we may wake up one day and be importing our food. It’s every-one’s responsibility to educate, and be educated, about all of the different aspects of agriculture and the people involved in getting food to our tables.

Barney Visser, the founder of Furniture Row and owner of Furniture Row Racing, decided this year that we need to make a stronger stand. He’s committed to adding the Farm American logo to the race car for the ma-jority of the season. The logo will be located in front of the rear tires and will be incorporated throughout his company, as well as ours.

As the program garners stronger support, it will allow for more opportunities to get out into local communities and tell our story. Find out how you can get involved at www.farmamerican.com

Farm American…Grow it Here.

More Support Makes ‘Farm american’ Program StrongerBy albert Bancroft, LIQUID Managing Editor

Spring | 2012 11

To eke out every bushel they can from their fields, growers have many things to consider when prepar-ing for the next season’s crops. A lot of what worked

on farms in 2011 may or may not work in 2012, and I always suggest growers thoroughly review last year’s out-comes.

With farm expenses to consider, and commodity prices at high levels, it’s more important than ever that growers get it right, and that starts with building on what did work this past season.

I do meetings and field visits across the country and get to learn and listen to growers in many different locales. Many tell me that fertilizer is one of the inputs that return them the most money for the dollars spent.

So in creating a nutrient-management plan, growers need to start with a soil analysis. There are many labs available, and I recommend finding one that gives you a complete analysis, with secondary and micros, and then developing a plan to periodically sample all the different fields.

Growers must also consider all the aspects of their soil, down to little details like micronutrients, and then build a nutrient program that matches up with it — filling in the gaps when there are nutrient deficiencies, or sometimes using nutrients to compensate for high-than-necessary or unhealthy levels of nutrients.

An example would be a grower who’s wasting money by applying too much nitrogen as they try to fix poor-yielding areas. Instead, the grower can take some of that money and shift it to other nutrients like potassium, sulfur and micro-nutrients that are needed by the plants, maximizing yields over the whole field.

One of the things we do at Agro-Cul-ture’s Agronomy Department is work with sellers and growers to do local Product Field Experience (PFE) plots. Below is an example of using a PFE plot to demonstrate a soil analysis.

In this plot, we took a field with low pH that was also low in phosphorus, po-tassium, calcium, sulfur, zinc and boron — and somewhat high in iron — and developed blends to determine the best return for the dollar invested.

The conventional program for this field was 52 gallons per acre of 28%, and 10 gallons per acre of 10-34-0, giving a three-replication yield of 193.3.

Then we compared to three different rates of Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers blends, developed off of the soil analysis,

to determine the best rate to maximize yields.As you can see, when we address the needs of the soil we

can increase yields because we’re applying the nutrients that will give the biggest response. A grower must look at every angle when developing his nutrient programs, but study-ing plots like the one above allows them to make the right choices to optimize yields.

Take time to study the Research and Agronomy Plots on the Agro-Culture Liquid Web site, www.agroliquid.com, to help you determine the right liquid-fertilizer rates for your fields.

Know What’s Happening In Your FieldsBy Cory Schurman, Senior Agronomy Manager

BE A SCOUT. Examining crops in season provides farmers opportuni-ties to resolve nutrient deficiencies in their fields.

12 www.agroliquid.com•800.678.9029

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If you’d like to learn more about high-quality Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers, contact the sales account manager in your region:

PRSRT STDU.S. PoSTage

PaIDMilwaukee, WIPermit No. 496

Dave BrewsterSoutheast RegionalSales Manager (440)0189dave .brewster@

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