Great information. Often times we don’t need the nitrogen we think we do. Need to break the habit and monitor/trust your ok without so much N. The less you apply the more biology has an opportunity to perform.
Results from our first autonomous nitrogen x seeding density trial at Cambria, IA.
This is evidence we can grow corn with less nitrogen with proper management (and help from weather), even in south-central Iowa.
Corn Silage chopping is underway. New non gmo hybrid from Bass Hybrids is looking good. Vanessa is a tall dark green plant with great health here end of season. @BioAgSolutions
They need to make more trucks like this. Half a million miles and still going strong. Been a great pickup here at bio ag solutions. @Ford 2015 power stroke @BioAgSolutions
The best 360 @insta360 reframe Timelapse known to man. Captures the full lifecycle of the Wallace/Wallfleet Nebraska tornado. 77 minutes of mind blowing footage condensed down to 1 minute. Streamed LIVE on the @RadarOmega app.
It’s pretty neat to see when we replace some of the commercial fertilizer with compost or manure and use compost tea at planting how many worms show back up in our soils. Small changes will change the system. @BioAgSolutions
A recent paper on the importance of earthworms states, “earthworms contribute to roughly 6.5% of global grain (maize, rice, wheat, barley) production and 2.3% of legume production, equivalent to over 140 million metric tons annually.”
The paper also states that, “less pronounced earthworm impacts in other regions are likely associated with low estimated earthworm abundance, higher rates of inorganic fertilizer use and/or soil properties that lessen the observed benefit of earthworm additions.”
Pretty fascinating stuff. It’s hard to ignore the earthworm’s importance as well as biology’s importance in the soil.
To see how these numbers were calculated, check out the paper in the comments.
A recent paper on the importance of earthworms states, “earthworms contribute to roughly 6.5% of global grain (maize, rice, wheat, barley) production and 2.3% of legume production, equivalent to over 140 million metric tons annually.”
The paper also states that, “less pronounced earthworm impacts in other regions are likely associated with low estimated earthworm abundance, higher rates of inorganic fertilizer use and/or soil properties that lessen the observed benefit of earthworm additions.”
Pretty fascinating stuff. It’s hard to ignore the earthworm’s importance as well as biology’s importance in the soil.
To see how these numbers were calculated, check out the paper in the comments.
You all... and industry will think it's nuts but perpetual corn production looks better and better the lower the price of soybeans ... and the higher the costs of NPK
The edge + 21 months of cover crop to grow a large % of N and biologically unlock soil fertility.
Also summer manure applications.
You can grow 80% the corn on 40% the footprint and portionalize all inputs to get more value out of... and graze it like a cowboy with more rain.
Thank you @BobGunzy for the infographic and the future research endeavors.
95% or more of a plant’s dry matter consists of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen. Next in line is Nitrogen at 1-5%. That’s part of the reason why there is such a focus on N in the ag industry. But, does a crop desire Nitrogen purely? Not so much.
80-85% of total N in green plant material is in the form of a protein. 10% is found as nucleic acids and 5% is found as amino acids. Rajendra Prasad notes that, “the term protein is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘of first importance’ in life. Truly speaking protein is the physical expression of life.” Proteins can be grouped up by their functions which are:
•Enzymes: responsible for moving all of life’s processes in plants and animals.
•Transport Proteins: carry things from one place to another inside of plants (think nutrition).
•Regulatory Proteins: control different parts of cellular function like reproduction and metabolism.
•Structural Proteins: makes up the outer covering of the plant. Also crucial part of DNA and RNA.
Source: Crop Nutrition, Prasad
One of the most important Nitrogen compounds in the plant are chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. This is what carries out photosynthesis in the plant and what ultimately creates more WEOC (Water Extractable Organic Carbon). Most everything in crop management should come back to those two things: photosynthesis and WEOC. They go hand in hand and have a ripple effect on the whole plant-soil system.
@ZoerbFarmsJr I was spreading a field with compost Friday and saw the same thing. Corn in 23, soybeans in 24, then drilled to wheat fall of 24. Can still see where 23 corn rows were. Corn was strip rolled with no fertilizer, nitrogen out back of planter with compost tea in furrow. 🤷♂️
New season of Stock Cropper content kicks off this morning. I've been pretty quiet about things over the last 6 months...this video catches folks up to what's been going on and why I'm juiced for 2025. Will be dropping videos on X, Facebook and YouTube every Saturday morning at 7 AM for the 2025 season. Check it out.
@blakeahadley What steps would you recommend to increase weoc? Healthy plant, more exudates but what applications or management can a guy do to increase faster?
@TZimmermanfarms It’s tough to do much volume if you’re not set up to handle dry. Might be easiest to buy it already made. I’ve got a source if you’re interested. Not sure where you are.
@EzFarmsRegen@bioag_solutions Yes. We see some yield improvement but biggest benefits are to the soil. Increased water infiltration, better soil structure, earth worm numbers increasing, organic matter raising. Much more efficient with our commercial fertilizer.
Inoculating compost for planting 2025. We’ll be making compost tea extract in a few months. Getting those bugs active and ready to go. Good heat in there. @bioag_solutions regenerative agriculture.