Keeping native soil bacteria, fungi happy

EUREKA, Ill. — Data from seven years of field trials that focus on improved soil and plant health while balancing fertility and whole-system efficiency was highlighted in a recent plot tour.

Trent Nicholson, owner of Yield/Profit Challenge and a Pro-Soil Ag Solutions dealer, recently hosted the event that included a tour of his on-farm corn and soybean trials.

The program provides plant nutrients that feeds native bacteria and fungi and unlocks nutrients to protect roots from diseases and pests.

“We’ve seen some pretty good yield responses with the estimates in the plots. There may be a 70-bushel difference in the corn and maybe a 14-, 15-bushel difference in the soybeans from the check. I think the soybeans may go as high as 85, 90 bushels per acre this year,” Nicholson said.

“Over seven years of trials, we’ve averaged about a 49-bushel increase in corn over the check plots. The high is 68 bushels per acre and the lowest was in 2019 when we had a lot of rain; it didn’t get planted until almost the end of June.

“The hybrid maybe wasn’t necessarily the best for that late of planting and there was only a 10-bushel increase over the check, but considering the conditions, that was probably pretty good.

“On soybeans, we’ve seen 7-, 14-bushel increase and averaged around 10 bushels per acre over seven years compared to the check. The soybeans took a little longer to get going.

“There wasn’t that much of a difference in the first and second years, but now they’re pretty consistent with a 14-bushel increase over the check plots.

“When I started, we were basically just on the end of Roundup only for traits. Through these seven years the markets have changed, bringing in different traits packages.

“Now we’re using Liberty on both corn and soybeans. That really wasn’t a thing when I was starting.”

The corn and soybean trials all begin with a base package of 120 pounds of monoammonium phosphate dry spread and a KQ 621 multi-nutrient starter in-furrow.

Additional natural soil nutrition and liquid plant food products are added in each strip separately or in combination to compare yield and input costs.

Products used include Sea 90, IPS 100, Micro Pac, Power Pro, Nutri-Shield, Liquid Sea Minerals and others from natural sources.

Nicholson was asked what programs have shown the best ROI on average over seven years of trials.

“Doing the full program on corn and using a market average over seven years, with $4.50 corn for a seven-year average, and it’s going to be $102 an acre ROI. So, after you paid for all of the products, that’s your profit per acre,” he said

“Our full program would be the four passes — pre with the sprayer, something on the planter in-furrow and then two foliar passes.

“If you could do one thing, the biggest ROI is going to be either Nutri-Shield in-furrow or the IPS 100 up front as a pre. Picking one of those and then swapping out your potash with Sea 90. Doing those two things will probably make biggest difference of anything we do.

“That’s what I call the core of any program. Pick one of the two, replace your potash with Sea 90. That will be the base program that I’m going to start with everybody. Beyond that, it’s going to be what fits. Does the Power Pro fit, does it not fit? Does a foliar make sense, does it not make sense? Does a fungicide make sense? It’s about what fits.”

Nicholson’s farm experienced a dry June and then received some rain to bolster the crops, but he said his program helps crops get through tougher times.

“I don’t know if I really suffer from rain issues quite as much because of the Sea 90. When you’re doing your normal traditional farming, what they’re really doing is hydroponically farming because they’re relying on the nutrients flowing into soil solution — the water flow of the soil,” he said.

“But what we’re doing is using the biology. So, having those minerals to feed the biology throughout the entire year, it doesn’t matter if it gets dry or not. You’re still going to see really good results.”

Core Mission

Lynn Hoover, Pro-Soil national field adviser and owner of Ocean Blue Agronomics, partnered with Nicholson to lead the plot tours and spoke of the core mission of the plant and soil health program.

“Our core mission under the Ocean Blue Agronomics flag, the Pro-Soil flag, if you will, and the Sea-90 is we’re here to help production farmers manage costs, manage fertilizer efficiency, gain yield potential, all to keep the family farm profitable and in business for another generation,” Hoover said.

“We also do some high yield contests. It’s fun for anyone that does it. It’s kind of like tractor pulling or racing, it’s fun, but we consider it a sport. Our main focus is to really drill down to help production agriculture folks of any size, of any class of farmer, to be profitable, feed the family and keep the farm in the family.

“Soil health will lead to plant health and the reason this matters in the big picture it all leads back to the sustainability of the family farm.

“How that’s going to happen is the crop is going to grow better, the fertilizer is going to be more efficient, the crop we’re harvesting is going to have better yields, better quality, provide a premium for any special classes you’re growing in, as well as the fertilizer dollars or on-farm fertility resources that we have are going to go further. Therefore, lowering the overall cost of production.”