Renewable Farming

Our first corn trial result of 2106 shows yield boost with AgriEnergy’s “EvenUP”

We’ve found only about one out of three “yield booster” treatments which are consistent performers, year in and year out.

The new AgriEnergy Resources in-furrow product, “EvenUP” shows significant promise in our first-season trial on corn. 

And as we’ve learned since 2008, using WakeUP formulations can enhance the performance of an already effective product.

Here’s the data from our strip trial in 2016 on corn.

The patch of ground we used for this trial is “in rehabilitation” after three decades of low fertility, mainly used as horse pasture. So the overall yield isn’t spectacular. Especially since the plots got only about 60 units of N broadcast as ammonium sulfate last spring.

Over the years, about a third of the yield-booster products such as specialty fertilizers and biologicals have shown consistent response in our corn and soybean strip trials.  That’s a reason why we run trials of promising products for in-furrow and foliar use.

What we can be confident about is this: If a foliar or in-furrow product improves yield consistently, adding WakeUP Spring or WakeUP Summer in the blend will almost surely add enough additional yield to pay for the WakeUP three or four times over.

 

 

We have known for many years that AgriEnergy’s SP-1, a biological blend, is one of the most consistent yield enhancers. Previous tests with SP-1 and WakeUP Spring, applied in-furrow, indicate that WakeUP helps mobilize the nutrients which organisms in SP-1 release from the soil to new roots.

The combination which AgriEnergy’s Ken Musselman asked us to test is EvenUP, which contains four trace elements, primarily zinc and magnesium.  Our non-GMO test corn responded well to this easily available in-furrow application of traces. Typically, traited GMO hybrids sprayed with Roundup are more responsive to added zinc, manganese and other traces because the applied trace elements help the crop recover from the metals-chelating effect of glyphosate. 

It looks like the combination of the SP-1 biological blend, rich in mycorrhiza, and the traces in-furrow are synergistic. 

When you add WakeUP Spring to enhance uptake by new roots, the mobilizing effect of WakeUP helps your crop build a strong foundation in the first four weeks.  We prefer WakeUP Spring for in-furrow and V2 application; it has a longer-lasting effect internally.  WakeUP Summer is the intended surfactant/carrier for foliar products. 

Ken Musselman visited our plots during the summer, dug roots and examined stalks. (Here’s the link to that report.) At that point he told us, “If we don’t see a yield response this fall, I’ll be surprised.”  We saw a yield response, all right.

If you’re keen on studying the actual plot data, you can download a PDF of the spreadsheet at this link.