by Andrew McCrea
Farmer/rancher and Farm Journal TV and radio personality and A Master Storyteller
As a farmer, I have certain agronomic practices that I use year after year. Those ways of farming bring value to us on a consistent basis. We also pride ourselves, however, on keeping our minds open to emerging technology and new, more efficient ways to grow crops and raise livestock.
One item that has been of interest to me over the last year is the use of nitrogen-producing microbes in corn. We use a corn-soybean rotation in a no-till system on our acres in northwest Missouri. We, like almost every corn farmer, are always looking for ways to economically get the corn crop the nitrogen it needs throughout the season.
I’ve found two challenges, however, in accomplishing that goal. First, applying nitrogen throughout the season is not practical. We use anhydrous ammonia in the fall or spring and then top-dress nitrogen over the crop in the late spring or early summer. Ideally, I’d like some way to consistently deliver nitrogen to the crop throughout the growing season.
Weather conditions present the other challenge. Although we do everything possible to prevent nitrogen loss, we cannot prevent some losses each year. That costs me part of my initial input investment, but also results in diminished potential in the field at the end of the season.
These factors led to my interest in Pivot Bio PROVEN™, which you apply with starter fertilizer at the time of planting. The microbes in Pivot Bio PROVEN™ attach to the roots of the corn plant and turn atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia for the crop to use throughout the season. Because the microbes attach directly to the corn’s roots, weather conditions do not affect it.
I decided to plant a Pivot Bio PROVEN™ test plot this year. Our operation, however, does not currently use starter fertilizer, so lack of the necessary equipment on our planter to apply Pivot Bio PROVEN™ became one hurdle we needed to address. So, to do this product evaluation, I asked my neighbor, who has starter-fertilizer tanks on his planter, to come and put in our plot.
Our test plot contains three sets of trial conditions to watch, one of which includes Pivot Bio PROVEN™. The entire test plot (all three trial conditions) received 125 pounds of anhydrous ammonia last fall. For the first trial, we planted corn with no other inputs. Second, we planted corn with seven gallons per acre of 10-34-0 starter fertilizer, in-furrow (which our neighbor planted for us). Finally, we have the third trial using Pivot Bio PROVEN™, which was applied in-furrow with the 10-34-0 starter fertilizer.
We planted the corn in the test plot on May 9th. The Pivot Bio PROVEN™ slogan — “The nitrogen that stays put, weather or not.” — was put to the test six days after planting when we received 3 1/2 inches of rain in a two-hour period. Root digs and aerial imagery from a drone will assist our in-season decision-making. I am eager to see how Pivot Bio PROVEN™ performs alongside our other corn.
Some have asked for my early evaluation of using Pivot Bio PROVEN™. At this point, my observations only include product application, but I can share a few important points that I have already learned. First, those who do not have a way to apply starter fertilizer will need to install the equipment on their planters. You can use Pivot Bio PROVEN™ without using starter fertilizer, but application requires that equipment. Pivot Bio has a new NLighten system that is custom designed to apply Pivot Bio PROVEN™. The NLighten system is a special-purpose tank that can be mounted on the existing equipment a grower uses in their operation. You can read more about it here.
And second, the product is very easy to handle and use. Rates call for around 15 ounces per acre depending on corn-seeding populations. So, you don’t need a lot of Pivot Bio PROVEN™ to cover many acres. Just pour Pivot Bio PROVEN™ into your liquid nitrogen tanks.
I plan to observe plant health throughout the growing cycle. We can’t irrigate our fields, so we often encounter periods of weather stress during the season. Will the plants in the Pivot Bio PROVEN™ plot show better color and growth because of the steady supply of nitrogen provided by the microbes on the corn’s roots? We’ll evaluate this visually, by drone imagery and also by doing a root dig. We will monitor yields at harvest, as well.
Some corn growers who used Pivot Bio PROVEN™ in previous years reduced the amount of synthetic fertilizer used on their crops, allowing them to achieve the same or better yields while reducing the cost of nitrogen. Some others used Pivot Bio PROVEN™ in addition to the nitrogen they already applied and found a yield increase that more than paid for the product. We’ll also evaluate these decisions during the growing season.
This type of technology provides exciting opportunities for my operation. The nitrogen-producing microbes in Pivot Bio PROVEN™ offer us a way to assure the delivery of nutrients to our corn throughout the season without fear of loss due to weather. If you have an interest in following our trial, I post notes about our test plot on the Farming the Countryside page on Facebook, where you can see photos and updates.
