Here at Renewable Farming, we’ve field-trialed many in-furrow fertility products since 2008. Visual crop response is usually so subtle it’s hard to see. Growth differences tend to fade as the season progresses. It usually takes a trial with four or five random replications to confirm a yield gain of 4 to 6 bushels.
June 28, 2018 — But this season’s field observations of in-furrow Environoc 401 reveal clear-cut response with larger early rooting. Now we’re seeing definite gains for above-ground growth — and the differences are accelerating as corn and beans grow taller.
In fall 2017, farmers sent us combine monitor maps showing higher yields where they had applied in-furrow Environoc 401. Last winter, our greenhouse trials with corn rooting showed more vigorous roots where 401 was applied over the seed.
This spring, growers from Iowa through Indiana are sending us photos of healthier roots and more vigorous top growth where they applied Environoc 401 in-furrow for both corn and soybeans.
We had to test it ourselves to be sure. Here are photos taken today showing replicated strip trials of soybeans, conducted in cooperation with ACRES, our nearby custom research farm, and Biodyne USA. Our first report on this field trial was on May 29.
Today, walking past the ends of strips with different treatments showed a contrast in soybean size and leaf color. What we were looking for was how rows treated with a tank mix of in-furrow Environoc 401 and WakeUP Spring compare with untreated rows. Such difference are always more subtle in a photo than when you’re personally looking down the row. But below, you can probably see how beans on the right side of the yellow line are taller and have greener leaves. If you were able to look closely at the lower nodes, you could also see that the treated beans are starting to bloom.
Treated beans also have deeper roots, with more nodules. The difference in plant height is easier to see with the beans laid out between 30-inch rows, shown in the photo below and right. The in-furrow rate of Environoc 401 was at the labeled rate of 16 ounces per acre. WakeUP Spring was applied at 3 ounces per acre. Plant population, 140,000 seeds per acre.
We will monitor these strips all season, and get yields next fall.
Several of our clients added a third ingredient to their in-furrow mix this season, along with Environoc 401 and WakeUP Spring. It’s Vitazyme from Vital Earth Resources in Texas. It’s a biostimulant. That “trifecta” mix gives you an array of beneficial bacteria in the Environoc 401, biostimulant enzymes with the Vitazyme, and WakeUP Spring to intensify nutrient uptake through the roots.
Below, we’re presenting several photos sent to us earlier this week by farmers and Biodyne reps, showing results from across the Corn Belt from in-furrow Environoc 401. They represent a continuation of previous root photos showing results with younger roots and shoots.
Larger diameter stalk, taller corn —
and especially notable is the proliferation of root hairs,
with lots of dirt clinging to roots.l
