Increasing Nutrient Use Efficiency

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

The more efficiently crops take up nutrients, the better yield farmers get during harvest. Ross Bender, director of new product development with the Mosaic Company, says the goal is to put the plant in the best position to successfully recover as many nutrients as possible.

Bender… “At a high level, nutrient use efficiency means maximizing the impact of our investment in fertilizer. At a macro level, our goal is to maximize that impact and have that plant recover as many of those nutrients as possible. That puts the plant in a position to be successful. That plant is developing the foundation for that growing season. There are different ways to tackle it. One of the best tried-and-true approaches to tackling it is through something called the four R's. Right source, right rate, right time, and right place. Mosaic is a company that makes and operates in the crop nutrition space, aka fertilizer, so we have a particularly vested interest in the source, one of the four Rs.”

Bender says Mosaic has ways to help farmers get more out of their fertilizer applications.

Bender… “Everything that we know about the cycling of nutrients and the availability of nutrients is influenced by the biology of the soil. So, we are particularly focused on advancing crop nutrition, mainly through the lens of ‘how can we develop best-in-class biological tools to complement granular crop nutrition.’ We've launched some new technologies recently, one of which is Bio-Path. It is a fantastic technology with a consortium of micro bacteria that enhance the efficiency of our crop nutrients. It can be used on or before planting or during the growing season, particularly as a tool to enhance nutrient use efficiency in corn.”

Talk to your local retailer to learn more.