“With all of the inconsistencies in crop production practices, there are certain absolutes that will affect the bottom line.”

Ross Nielson | Western U.S. Development

Western US agriculture offers almost unlimited opportunities to learn and observe crop production practices. In California alone, there are over 200 different crops grown annually. Each state offers different crops, with different production practices, different soil types, different weather patterns, and differences in available irrigation water.

Consistency Is Hard To Find 

It’s fair to say that consistency is hard to find when you look at the whole; that’s Ag production and Ag business every day.

However, with all the inconsistencies there are certain absolutes that will affect production practices and the bottom line, with the simplest to understand being water.

Any crop that receives the water it needs will surely thrive compared to the same crop that is deprived.  While the point of this article is not about water, it is arguably the most critical input needed by any plant to grow and function.

From what I’ve observed in the western U.S., no matter which state, or what soil type, there is a direct correlation between using AgriGro’s Prebiotic technology and increasing the grower’s bottom line. It’s as consistent as the benefits of supplying irrigation to a plant. 

Regardless of Environment, Crop Type or Region

No matter the environment, I have seen many times the immediate and residual effects of AgriGro’s Prebiotic technology.  Account managers, and growers alike, are taken back by the synergy between typical NPK applications and AgriGro PreBiotics that drive microbial action. 

Elevating microbial counts in biologically deficient soils will typically have a much greater impact on yield and quality than applying more fertilizer.

Fall Wheat – Residual Effect 

For example, I began working with a 12,000 acre grower in Montana two years ago.  He applied AgriGro’s Prebiotics to 2,000 acres in the spring. It was a drought year and there wasn’t much yield increase.  Nothing worked, including his normal fertility program. He said he wanted to back out.

Early the next spring, he called me out of the blue and said, “You need to come back by and convince me I need your stuff again, my fall wheat looks amazing where I put your stuff down last spring.”

I rearranged my schedule and flew down to meet him. After discussing the agronomics again and looking at his fields, he said he wanted to try another 100 acres. A couple hours later he put an order in for 5,000 acres.  

Even with little rainfall the previous season, the products had a residual effect.  His 2018 crops were outstanding and in the fall of 2018 he applied AgriGro’s prebiotics to his whole operation.

His 2019 crops are producing yields 40% to 50% greater in peas, barley and wheat than other farms next door. He has had 10 other growers in his area call me this year that I am working with currently, one of them being his agronomist, who also runs a farm.

Consistency, Education and Common Sense

There is nothing flashy about what this grower and other growers I work with do in getting higher yields. But they do understand the importance of fine tuning their agronomic practices and applying principles to their production systems to continually push yield and quality. Principles like consistency, education, and using common sense are a great foundation to being productive. 

I have been on a steep learning curve the past six years and what I can confidently say is, regardless of region, soil type, or crop, it doesn’t matter if you are rain fed, drip irrigation, or pivot, a biologically active soil is the key to getting more out of your fertilizer and other inputs. For decades, agriculture has focused primarily on fertilizer, seed, and chemicals, as far as innovation is concerned. They are obviously important.   However, there is a new focus on increasing soil microbial counts in production, and this untapped aspect of production provides huge benefits to those who are willing to apply this strategic methodology.

Begin building consistency this fall for a better start next spring.

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