What's your #1 profit limiting factor?

How Do You Know?

For the past fifty years or so, we've stuck to the same methods—and they've served us well. There is no denying the Green Revolution's positive effects on humanity. Recently, however, we're beginning to see diminishing returns: more pesticides and fertilizers leading to less efficient results.

Some argue that today's higher yields mean we're managing things just fine. But we believe improved genetics, not management, are driving these increases. Fertility recommendations based solely on nutrient removal rates benefit fertilizer companies more than growers. Less than 25% of farms conduct annual soil testing, which is concerning, given that fertilizer prices are volatile and expensive. With an efficiency of only around 30%, why would you apply it blindly? And, further, why are most soil tests limited to chemistry alone, when most often the greatest limiting factor is the soil structure? When industry groups, influenced by vested interests, recommend "best practices," it's no wonder things seem off.

Today, the external pressures on farm profitability are greater than ever since the 1930s. With rising input costs and falling commodity prices, farmers must grow large enough to leverage economies of scale or diversify to remain successful.

Our approach blends traditional with modern agronomic practices, finding a balanced path that uses every available tool while preserving and rewarding sustainable methods backed by the latest scientific understandings. We focus on the entire system to rethink crop production and exploit emerging opportunities for greater profitability.

Plants and engines make a great analogy. Think of crops like tractors: tractors need water, air, spark, oil, and fuel to run efficiently, just as plants need water infiltration, soil gas exchange, sunlight, carbon, and minerals. Success depends on finding the right balance—too much or too little of any factor limits growth. Like a machine, the whole system suffers when individual things go wrong. Efficient crop growth is about doing the right thing at the right time from a systems approach.

Just as a weak spark causes an engine to misfire, cloudy days reduce a plant's energy intake and lower nutrient demands. Applying a year's worth of nitrogen to seedlings in early spring—when there's likely more water and less sun—floods the system. This overload delays microbial symbiosis causing luxury consumption of nutrients and limiting root exploration—vital to summer drought tolerance. Over-tilling creates conditions similar to using low-viscosity oil; it "thins out" the soil's carbon reserves. Recent insights reveal that excessive tillage destroys aggregate stability, showing that reduced tillage can be beneficial. Using only synthetic fertilizers is akin to running an engine at 7,000 RPM—it might perform well in the short term but accelerates wear and reduces longevity. Plants and soil work together like an engine's components, creating something greater than the sum of their parts. So, wouldn't it make sense to think and manage them that way?

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Fertilizers are effective, and crop protection is important—after all, weeds can reduce yields. However, the devil truly lies in the details. Understanding that applying high rates of soluble fertilizer at planting can hinder soil microbes' ability to colonize roots—which affects your crop's drought and disease tolerance—is crucial when making a plan. Small plants don't need a lot of fertilizer, so applying the entire year's supply at once only feeds the weeds, leading to increased herbicide use. Soil microbes also produce substances that improve soil structure, enhancing water infiltration and gas exchange, creating a positive feedback loop. So let's consider limiting how much soluble fertilizer we use at once and adopt a split application approach with soil and foliar applications during the season at critical plant growth stages when they need it most. When we look at this from a systems approach, it just makes sense, doesn't it?

Organically chelated or complexed synthetic fertilizers, applied to leaves, can correct in-season deficiencies more effectively than organic forms alone. Let's use efficient chemistry where and when it's needed rather than blindly following a holistic ideology. Shouldn't we use science and follow the truth?

Our Biological Method combines old and new practices to build resilient soils for tomorrow while growing productive crops today.

We Know Change Isn't Easy

Reimagining ourselves as microbe farmers and applying minerals a bit more thoughtfully with a little less a bit more often can be the first steps toward regenerative practices and sustainable profitability. But we'll shoot you straight. This will take effort. Physical and mental. Nothing in a jug is magically gonna do this for you. But just know the thing we hear most is that growing this way makes farming fun again. You can decide what that's worth.

Our Biological Method is a three-pronged approach:

1. Improve the physical properties of the soil to set the stage.

2. Farm microbes that unlock and mine nutrients while suppressing disease.

3. Boost these biological processes with the right nutrients, in the right place, at the right time.

Launch Pad to Learning

Explore these summary articles in our 'Launch Pad to Learning' filled with links to expand your knowledge base. Here you'll find easy-to-digest topic overviews about implementing sustainable agriculture, investing for future profits with soil health, possibilities around direct marketing, and the 'HOW' of Regenerative Agriculture. We're always adding to the list, so be sure to come back and check out the latest developments in Crop Growth Sciences.

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