The farming industry is seeing an explosion of new input products claiming to enhance yield. Many of these new products contain biologicals and/or micronutrients. The following is a review of some of these products along with Beck’s Practical Farm Research (PFR)® experiences using them.

Iowa PFR nitrogen fixation study, plant growth promoting bacteria and stabilized soil inoculant, TerraMax Liquid™ on soybeans after 10 years of continuous corn.

Biological substances in farming range from growth-enhancing chemicals to strains of bacteria or fungi that form symbiotic, yield-enhancing relationships with the crop. The most common biologically-derived chemicals available to farmers are humic acids. There are many articles in peer reviewed science publications that illustrate the benefit of humic acids on crops. As the name implies, humic acids are the component of soil humus that binds soil aggregates together to improve tilth. At low rates, humic acids have been shown to improve crop yields. especially under stress conditions.

The problem with products containing humic acid is that there is no clear way to compare and understand its concentration in a product. Unlike fertilizer where you have a clear analysis of ingredient percentage, humic acid concentration is not regulated and is very difficult to measure in a lab. Just because a product lists humic acid on its label does not mean that the form of humic acid is active on crop plants or in sufficient concentration to optimize yield. Each product must be measured separately.

One product containing humic acid is called Start Right from AgBio Logic, LLC. Start Right has shown a consistent benefit in Beck’s PFR studies. When applied 2x2 at 1 qt./A., Start Right increased yield over the starter-only control in all four years of the study. To view the four-year Start Right fertilizer additive data, click here. Beck’s PFR also tested ExcelAg, Corp’s product, Evergreen™, which achieved a three-year average return on investment of $21.79/A. Evergreen contains 22 nutritional elements, vitamins, kelp and humic acid.

Another class of biological products are called plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Like humic acids, there are many articles on plant growth promoting bacteria indicating that they have activity on crop plants.

The problem with plant growth bacteria products is similar to that of humic acids. There is no clear way to understand the concentration or type of bacteria in a product, so each product must be tested separately. The soybean photo above is an example of the potential benefits of a plant growth promoting bacteria in soybeans. This product, TerraMax Liquid™, was applied in furrow and demonstrated significantly greater early growth. Keep a lookout for Beck’s 2016 PFR book to find out if this early growth enhancement led to higher yields.

Farmer testimonials on the yield benefits from foliar feeding have shown mixed results. However, Beck’s PFR has seen significant yield benefit with the use of some micronutrient products. For example, Versa Max™ Soybean is a foliar applied fertilizer that contains chelated zinc, manganese, and iron in addition to nitrogen and sulfur. View our four-year Versa Max study here. Beck’s PFR will increase focus on understanding why some products work sometimes and not others, in an effort to provide farmers with information to make better informed decisions.

Utilize Beck’s PFR as a resource to help understand which biologicals and micronutrient products may be profitable on your farm and why.

Practical Farm Research (PFR)® is a registered trademark of Beck’s Superior Hybrids, Inc. Evergreen™ is a trademark of ExcelAg Corp. USA. TerraMax Liquid™ is a trademark of TerraMax, Inc. Versa Max™ is a trademark of Midtech R&D, Inc. (Manufactured for: Rosen's, Inc.).