Case Studies from the 2019 Growing Season
2019 & 2020 — Growing Season Challenges
The 2019 growing season was abnormally wet and cool with very few days of full sun early in the growing season. Beyond saturated soils, cool and cloudy days were more frequent than sunny days. Under these conditions, photosynthesis rates decline lowering yield potential. Although not as wet, 2020 has seen a stretch of cool, wet, cloudy weather causing similar issues. One of the focuses of Bio Ag Management is to understand and implement the use of biostimulants along with mineral nutrition to maximize plant health and mitigate plant stress. In 2019 Bio Ag Management ran trials that tested the response of biostimulants coupled with balanced mineral nutrition. The results are below.
Trial Results: 2019 Foliar Program
The image shows a trial we ran in 2019. The growing conditions up to application were cool and wet with minimal days of full sun. At V6 a blend of BioVante Micro-X balanced micronutrient fertilizer and BioVante BioMate, a mix of Nitrogen-fixing bacteria and Biostimulants were applied. The average increase across three checks in this field was 13 bu/acre giving a return of $32 per acre at $3.00 selling price and accounting for the cost of materials.
Trial Results: Biostimulant Application with UAN Y Drop
This is another example of the benefits of using biostimulants in conjunction with traditional fertilizer. Trial below was applied with 15-gallon UAN and 10 ounces of BioVante’s Biomate in the Northern half of the field. The southern half was applied with UAN only. Applications were made around tassle. Yield advantage on average was 15 bushel per acre with some areas having a 20+ bushel advantage. This is a great example of how small amounts of biostimulants applied can greatly increase the efficiency of traditional fertilizers. Not only can Biostimulant applications be beneficial they are also cost-effective. The total cost of 10 ounces of BioMate in this trial has a per-acre cost of $3 per acre. Giving this trial a $42 per acre revenue advantage after accounting for the cost of the product.
