Field trials find program advantages

EUREKA, Ill. — On-farm trial results from Yield/Profit Challenge’s plots were rolled out during the recent Midwest Ag Expo.

Trent Nicholson, Yield/Profit Challenge owner and a Pro-Soil Ag Solutions dealer, has eight years of data from his on-farm trials comparing yields and return-on-investment between control strips and a full program of products.

The full program includes Sea-90 mineral nutrients, IPS-100 soil conditioner, Nutri-Shield seed treatment, Power Pro-Soil nutrient enhancer and natural nitrogen stabilizer, and 178C slow release nitrogen with chloride.

Adjacent control strips are treated with potash and fungicide. All plots received a standard 120 pounds of MAP.

“Our whole program had a 48-bushel increase over the check plots and $110 ROI over the control strips,” said Nicholson of the 2024 trials.

In other 2024 trials, Nicholson compared corn and soybeans treated with either Sea-90 or potash. All of the plots received a standard 120 pounds of MAP in addition to the products.

Sea-90 had a 10-bushel per acre and $45 per acre ROI advantage in corn over potash. In soybeans, Sea-90 yielded 3.8 bushels per acre and had an ROI of $45.60 higher than the potash treated field.

“It’s the same program except all of the potash is replaced by the Sea-90. When Nutri-Shield and IPS-100 were added, it went to 15 bushels on corn and 4 bushels on soybeans,” Nicholson said.

Products, Services

Nicholson is testing some new products on his farm.

“We have new fungicide product from Sea-90. It is a mineral-based fungicide replacement. It shows really good results controlling tar spot and it seems to help increase yield a little bit. There also may be a new Power Pro version coming out soon,” he said.

Dan Esker, of Louisville in Clay County, joined Yield/Profit Challenge as southern Illinois sales manager in late 2024. Esker has a retail background and worked for a Growmark affiliate the past nine years.