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You know there are certainties in life. Death and taxes are the normal answer, but what about positives? The sun rises, the ocean is pulled by the tides, and plants are going to need fertilizer to reach their maximum potential. Let’s look at how Sure-K works.

Sure-K
Sure-K is a soluble potash that gives plants the nutrients they need during key reproductive stages. Potash, or potassium or a potassium compound, has been used in agriculture for ages, as well as during the infancy of our country. In fact, in 1790, George Washington signed the first patent issued in the United States – and it was to Samuel Hopkins for making potash.
However, there’s always room for improvement.

Why AgroLiquid Sure-K?
Sure-K plays an important role in a variety of ways:

• Yield
The right potassium levels contribute to increased crop yields. Sure-K supports the development of fruits, seeds, and tubers, helping plants achieve their full yield potential.

• Stress tolerance
Potassium helps plants cope with various environmental stresses, like drought, disease, and temperature fluctuations. It also helps the plant’s ability to resist and recover from stress conditions.

• Nutrient uptake
Potassium plays a role in regulating nutrient uptake by plant roots. It can improve the plant’s ability to absorb and utilize other essential nutrients, promoting balanced nutrition.

• Water management
Sure-K helps regulate water uptake and loss in plants, contributing to better water use efficiency. This can be particularly beneficial when rainfall doesn’t keep up with demand.

• Quality
The right potassium levels can improve the quality of harvested crops. This may include attributes such as color, taste, and nutritional content.

• Balanced nutrient ratios
Maintaining proper potassium levels contributes to balanced nutrient ratios in the soil, preventing nutrient deficiencies or imbalances that can negatively impact plant growth.

• Improved disease resistance
Potassium has been linked to improved disease resistance in plants. Strengthening cell walls and promoting overall plant vigor can make plants more resistant to certain diseases.

In addition, the Sure-K formula provides for the best use at lower concentrations, and it has no chlorides or hydroxides. As a result, it preserves soil health long-term and makes it a safe potassium solution for any cropping system. Sure-K makes it easy to maintain the right potassium levels or correct potassium deficiencies. It can be applied in many different ways and safely combined with other nutrients or crop protection products, so growers can make fewer trips across the field. As with many AgroLiquid offerings, Sure-K also takes advantage of Nutriq Technology, which provides slow-release nutrient delivery exactly when plants need it.

Research
AgroLiquid has been performing trials testing the effectiveness of Sure-K for many years on different crops, in various parts of the county, on a variety of crops. Check out our records on:

• Soybeans – For 24 years, Sure-K has proven to provide a yield and economic benefit when foliar applied on soybeans.
• Ryegrass seed
• Corn
• Navy beans

“The biggest benefit of Sure-K is it’s a very flexible product,” said AgroLiquid national agronomist Stephanie Zelinko. “There are a number of different ways you can apply it, including in-furrow, foliar, and side dress. It works well on a number of different application processes. Plus, it also has years of research to back it up – our first data point with it is in 1998.”

Conclusion
The benefits and the research are clear: Sure-K gets essential nutrients to plants when they need it, resulting in better yields. It’s effective in improving growth and productivity across a wide range of crops and regions. If you’re not getting the results you want…it’s time to look into a product with a little more certainty. Find out more!

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AgroLiquid has looked extensively at permanent plot trials at the North Central Research Station, where the same fertilizer programs are used on the same plots over a series of seasons. With this methodology, researchers can determine year over year changes. The question: Will AgroLiquid perform over time? The answer: Yes, and we’ve got the research to prove it.

Finding out the exact science of what works through trials helps our researchers, agronomists, and sales team make the best decisions for you and your crops. Other advantages of permanent plot research include:

• Long-term impact assessment

One of the strengths of permanent plot research is the ability to assess the long-term impacts. AgroLiquid research provides a reliable and consistent nutrient supply over the duration of these studies, so researchers can not only observe immediate effects, but also monitor nutrient management and results for a series of years.

• Soil health monitoring

Soil health is always a focus, and the precise application of liquid fertilizers helps maintain a balanced nutrient profile in the soil to help with a healthy microbial makeup. Over time, this contributes to improved soil structure, nutrient cycling, and overall soil health in permanent plots.

• Adaptability to crops and practices

In permanent plot research, where the goal is to understand the impact of changes on different crops, this adaptability matters. Researchers can customize nutrient management strategies based on the needs of each crop, allowing for a better understanding of agronomic practices.

• Data-driven use

The precision application of fertilizer minimizes runoff and leaching, which helps with the responsible farming practices that permanent plot research supports. AgroLiquid also helps with data-driven decision making. The consistent and precise application of fertilizers generates reliable data on the response of crops to specific nutrient use. This helps everyone involved make better decisions about resource use, to help with the best productivity.

What results did the data give?

The first plot trials ran from 1996 to 2005 on corn, comparing AgroLiquid Pro-Germinator, Sure-K, Micro 500, and High NRG-N use with conventional liquid, and conventional dry. 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.

Researchers performed tests over ten years of corn yields and ten years of soybean yields, all with four replications of treatments. Here are the results for the permanent plot corn yields 2011-2020.

What do you notice?

Yields were much higher than the 170 bu/A yield goal, even for the nitrogen only. The highest average yield was with AgroLiquid. The AgroLiquid yield was statistically higher than the conventional dry treatment, and the AgroLiquid yield was significantly higher than that of the “pound for pound” rate of conventional fertilizers.

That’s not all…this table shows the extra corn produced over 10 years compared to using only nitrogen. By using Pro-Germinator, Sure-K and Micro 500, an extra 219.3 bu/A was produced, which is like producing an entire extra year of corn.

With permanent plot research, AgroLiquid can help understand the effects with continuing monitoring and analysis, helping us refine our products and practices over time. Our goal is to give growers the best, evidence-based solutions for increased yields, better soil health, and a more positive agricultural future.

Our trials provide evidence that AgroLiquid not only performs consistently over time, but also beat conventional fertilizers in both yield and efficiency. The long-term impact assessments, soil health monitoring, adaptability to crops, and data-driven precision application highlight the advantages of this approach.

For all of our research, visit our site.

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Can you have it all? It’s difficult to have a good work-life balance. It’s hard to go on vacation and take care of everything at home. It’s hard to eat a lot and not gain weight.

But…sometimes it is possible to have it all. Sometimes, the timing is just right and everything blends perfectly.

One of those times is with Micro 500, which contains the essential micronutrients zinc, manganese, iron, copper, and boron.

Benefits
Micro 500 covers several nutrient requirements plants need. The micronutrients in Micro 500 work together to stimulate healthy growth, and improve chlorophyll production and photosynthesis. It also helps to prevent micronutrient deficiencies, which can stunt growth.

Additionally, Micro 500 supports:
– protein synthesis and enzyme production
– nitrogen fixation
– lignin formation
– strong cell growth

Application options
With a variety of application methods available, it’s easy to find the most efficient way to reach your crop. Plus, it’s easy and safe to apply with many other nutrition and crop protection products. By doing it as a combination, you reduce soil compaction and land use since you don’t have to make an extra trip just to apply a zinc, manganese, iron, copper and boron fertilizer. It’s all in one.

The Micro 500 formulation technology makes it easy for nutrients to enter two ways – through the roots or leaves of the plant. This also makes it an ideal micronutrient product for soil or foliar applications.

Nutrient uptake
Micro 500 supports long term nutrient uptake. AgroLiquid’s Nutriq Technology contained in Micro 500 helps fight deficiency and stimulate long-lasting growth.

How does it work? Nutriq Technology uses plant-derived chelates to prevent the micronutrients from binding with other elements in the soil, which can create bonds that plants can’t break, and then can’t use.

The chelates form a protective shell around the micronutrients which plants can still break down. This technology allows the micronutrients to release slowly, allowing the plant to use them throughout its growth cycle.

Deficiencies
Micronutrient deficiencies in soil can occur for a variety of reasons. For instance, it’s possible that higher yields and some technologies may remove some micronutrients from the soil. Any type of land preparation where several inches of topsoil are removed can result in a deficiency. High phosphorus levels can cause micronutrient deficiencies, and some micronutrients are no longer contained in high analysis fertilizers and fertilizer materials. As a result, adding micronutrients becomes important for a good yield.

Better together
Because the micronutrients in Micro 500 work synergistically together, farmers get better uptake and response from a micronutrient in Micro 500 than if they apply an equal volume of that nutrient alone. In addition, this combination is helpful in sections of a field where a grower might not know it is lacking in a particular nutrient.

If you think micronutrient deficiencies are stunting your growth, or your soil simply isn’t supplying enough micronutrients for optimal yield, don’t let it hold you back. Micro 500 helps you solve these issues.

Over 20 years of research in multiple US locations shows that Micro 500 bolsters crop fertility programs and supports higher yields. When combined with macronutrient fertilizer programs, Micro 500 supports more flowering, fruiting, seed production, branch, and leaf growth.

So even though sometimes it is difficult to have it all…you really do get it with Micro 500.

See the research for yourself:
Corn:

Measuring Success with Micro 500 on Corn

Micro 500 Win Rate on Corn

Soybeans:

Micro 500 Win Rate Study on Soybeans

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The post Applying Nitrogen Fertilizer to Corn: Comparing Methods and Yields appeared first on AgroLiquid.

Since I have already lost the theme of this thread (being a tie with the beloved carol, The 12 Days of Christmas), I won’t try to draw a connection between four calling birds and potassium – although I’m sure I could if I tried hard enough.

Potassium in one of the primary plant nutrients. It is essential for the transport of sugars and the formation of starches and oils. Potassium helps to regulate the opening and closing of a leaf’s stoma which are important for the efficient use of water by the crop.

Potassium also promotes root growth, increases a plant’s resistance to disease and cold temperatures. It improves the size and quality of fruits, nuts and grains, and is essential in high-quality forage. Crops that produce large amounts of carbohydrates (sugars) require large amounts of potassium – sometimes even more th an nitrogen! Cotton, almonds, alfalfa, grapes, cherries, and peaches are all especially fond of potassium.

Common symptoms of potassium deficiency:

• Slow growth
• Tip and marginal leaf burning
• Burning of older leaves
• Weak stems and stalks causing lodging
• Low fruit sugar content and shriveled seeds

The post The 12 days of Crop Nutrients appeared first on AgroLiquid.

Welcome to our second day of the crop nutrients post. Hopefully you caught our first day – where we focused on phosphorus. In the traditional Christmas carol, the second day is two turtle doves. Since I don’t have any clever alliteration ideas for this one, I am going to talk about a secondary nutrient: calcium.

Calcium (Ca)

Calcium is a secondary plant nutrient that stimulates root and leaf development, activates several plant enzymes, and is required by nitrogen-fixing bacteria. In the soil, calcium indirectly influences yield by reducing soil acidity. It also helps improve root growth conditions, molybdenum availability, and uptake of other nutrients. In the soil, calcium indirectly influences yield by reducing soil acidity, which in turn lowers the solubility and toxicity of manganese, copper, and aluminum.

Calcium is the third most important element in a plant. And, calcium is the fifth most abundant element on the planet. It makes sense that traditionally, growers don’t apply much calcium, because they assume the plant will get what they need from the soil. But, soil calcium is usually found in a form that is not easily taken up by plants.

As an example, in an apple tree, the leaves, new shoots, and fruit all take calcium. The nutrient will be found in the tissues and the root, but the fruit cannot compete with the other parts of the plant. Hence why the fruit often doesn’t get enough calcium. That is why calcium deficiencies are evidenced on the fruit, rather than the rest of the tree. In apples, a calcium deficiency causes a disorder known as bitter pit. Bitter pit is a physiological breakdown of the cell walls in the fruit that occur below the skin of the fruit. For that reason, when scouting for calcium deficiencies in fruit trees, it is important to test the fruit, rather than relying solely on leaf or soil tests. Signs of calcium deficiency common in all crops include abnormal dark green foliage, premature shedding of blossoms and buds, and weakened stems.

Further problems with the calcium levels in the plant, and therefore in the fruit, are often caused by changes in the weather. In high temperature, low humidity conditions, for example, transpiration will increase dramatically, causing the plant to use more water. In irrigated crops, if watering has not been well scheduled, even soils with good levels of calcium can have problems in the fruit caused by calcium deficiency, such as blossom-end rot in tomatoes. This is the time when we need a fast calcium fertilizer that can be applied by foliar.

Common symptoms of calcium deficiency:

• Death of growing points
• Abnormal dark green foliage

  

• Premature shedding of blossoms and buds
• Weakened stems
• Tip burn of young leaves (primarily in vegetable crops)

  

• Water soaked, discolored areas on fruits

  

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Clearly, phosphorus is important for growing crops. It is involved in many functions within a plant like energy storage and transfer (ATP/ADP), protein synthesis, photosynthesis, nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) synthesis, nutrient movement through cell walls and many more processes. Therefore, it pays to make sure phosphorus does not become deficient in plants.

However, applying phosphorus as a crop nutrient can be tricky. Like all nutrients, phosphorus must be managed. In other words, just because phosphorus was applied to the soil does not mean that it is doing what you want it to do: feed the plant!  AgroLiquid founder, Douglas Cook, was known to say that all applied fertilizer is available, but not all applied fertilizer is usable. Sounds funny, but it’s true. What’s the difference? All fertilizer is available to plants — it’s right there for the taking. But it may not be usable.

In order for a nutrient to be usable, it must be close to the roots and it must be in a form that the plant can absorb. Nutrients like nitrogen can be lost to leaching or volatility before absorption. Potassium can be strongly held by clay in the soil and not able to be taken up by roots since it is not in the soil solution. Phosphorus too can become unusable. Phosphate is negatively charged and can react with, or be fixed, by positively charged elements in the soil (cations). Plants cannot take up these compounds of calcium phosphate, aluminum phosphate or iron phosphate. Estimates are that the crop will utilize only around 20% of applied phosphate fertilizer during the season after application, and in following years, the amount becomes progressively less as it reverts to mineral forms. Again, the nutrients are there and available, but they are not always usable.

This may not be a concern to growers because you cannot actually see the fate of phosphate molecules in the soil. If only a small percentage of your planted seed came up, you would probably be mad because you can see that loss. Similarly, only a small percentage of the applied phosphate is usable. However, you cannot see this, so it is not a concern.  But it should be.

Phosphate fertilizer works best if it is placed close to the seed at planting. In the picture at the left, it is apparent that phosphate fertilizer placement is affecting growth. Five rows of the plot had 5 gal/A of Pro-Germinator applied through the planter, and the sixth row had no planter fertilizer. The rows with the In-furrow placement are tasseling, whereas the 2×2 placement has yet to tassel. Close inspection shows that the corn with the 2×2 placement is taller than the row with no fertilizer, but it is behind the rows with the in-furrow placement. This shows that phosphorus placement for earliest root access affects plant growth and yield. Additional testing at the North Central Research Station has shown that in furrow placement can out-yield 2×2 placement by almost 5 bu/A.

Pro-Germinator has carbon encapsulation for protection against fixation losses that affect other forms of phosphate fertilizer. This is the  Nutriq Technology that AgroLiquid developed to prevent fixation losses and enable extended nutrient release into the growing season. This also increases crop safety and can be effective at lower rates than those of conventional fertilizer like 10-34-0. In this experiment from the North Central Research Station, the lower rate of Pro-Germinator enabled a higher corn yield than that with the higher rate of 10-34-0. Closer inspection shows larger ear size and the darker yellow corn indicates advanced maturity.

In order for phosphorus fertilizer to be most effective, it needs to be usable. Usability is increased by placement close to the seed row and protection from fixation losses. Pro-Germinator is the only fertilizer that does both.

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 The corn is in the silking stage now.  Here is a plot that received a preplant application of dry fertilizer (9-23-30).

 And right next to it is a plot that instead received a planter application of Pro-Germinator + Micro 500.  Notice that the silks are turning brown indicating that it is farther along in maturity.

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And it was!  I got this pic right back from them showing the amount of growth overnight.  Pretty phenomenal.  Of course this corn had the advantage of using AgroLiquid.  But I’m pretty sure corn with other fertilizer would grow at least some in the same test.  Maybe.

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