Manure is a key fertilizer source on millions of acres of crops in the Midwest. While it’s an affordable, nutrient-rich source, it’s not perfect.

OsmoFlow® from Redox has been a great addition to many Midwest farms, which helps with several aspects, including relief from multiple stresses to plants.

“One of them that comes to mind is just the salt load that comes with it,” said John Parrish, Agronomist and Consultant with Ag Nutrients, who works closely with the Redox Midwest Agronomy Team. “When I say salt, I don't mean sodium specifically. A lot of times that's what it is, but just the concentration or the amount of nutrients. So it's not a uniform source. It does have quite a bit of variability in it and that's where we get that salt load. So now you start to get an elevated level of that nutrient and we start to see plant stresses from it.”

Parrish said OsmoFlow has been a key factor in minimizing stress, keeping plants in balance, and maximizing yield and quality.

“OsmoFlow is a biostimulant surfactant designed to help with three different stresses,” he said. “When you apply it soil based, you're looking at trying to, I'm going to say inactivate or reduce that charge, that positive charge most of the time in the soil and help flush it out. And now we're going to start to build soil structure. There's some other properties that are going to help us build that soil structure and that's going to help us start to, release that water easier for that plant to get. The neat part about it is it also works in the plant with the RAM technology that's in there. Now we can start to balance that charge in the plant and that plant can actually help us through this stressor.”

Find out more about how OsmoFlow can help your farm, here: https://www.redoxgrows.com/product/osmoflow/.

The Midwest has long been a farming powerhouse, including productive corn and soybean fields as far as the eye can see.

At the second annual XPRT Farm Field Day in Missouri Valley, Iowa, growers and industry members gathered to see crops powered by Redox and hear about the decades of science that backs this successful agronomy.

“The difference that Redox is making in the Midwest is absolutely tremendous,” said Redox Agronomist Zach Carlson. “It has absolutely been adopted very, very quickly.”

One attendee was Tom Haase with TN Ag in Nebraska, a grower, crop advisor and distributor. A top priority is increasing efficiency with nitrogen. “The more money we can save the farmer, the more return on investment he has on the field.”

A key component to better optimizing nitrogen, which has multiple benefits, is the breakthrough product, RDX-N®, a patented and potent biostimulant that took years to perfect.

Grower Chris Duffy in New York also attended the field day. He said he has significantly increased his use of Redox products, and the results to date have been very promising.

“Soil health starts with having a healthy plant,” remarked Kelly Roder of Green Key Ag in Iowa. Roder and Noah Fedders from Green Key were also on hand. “A healthier plant means the less fertilizer used, because we are mineralizing better. It’s a spiral up verses a spiral down.”

Find out more about the 500-acre XPRT Farm at redoxgrows.com/xprt/.

Mel Machado, Chief Agricultural Officer at Blue Diamond Growers, has seen a lot of change in his nearly 35 years working for the cooperative. Since he started, the statewide crop has more than tripled in acreage, and has grown into California’s second biggest ag commodity.

Harvest is underway, and Machado spends virtually every day, traveling throughout the Central Valley visiting with their 3,000 growers and checking crop progress. The current forecast is for 2.7 billion pounds shelled, which would be very close to the 2025 harvest.

While harvest is all encompassing, the almond industry has made steady progress in sustainability, refining crucial areas like water use efficiency, habitat management and getting the most from crop nutrition.

Machado said this is his dream job.

“I get to work with an amazing group of people around the valley,” he said. “The best decision I ever made was to come to Blue Diamond.”

Find out more at bluediamondgrowers.com.

Idaho’s Palouse Region is off the beaten path for many, but it’s where a significant impact is made to help keep farmers productive and consumers well-fed.

With a storied history dating back to the 19th century, the University is Idaho is one of the nation’s premier public research institutions.

Redox was provided a campus tour, including the Soil Stewards Farm and Deep Soil Ecotron.

"Collectively together we have the opportunity to really lean in and make sure that we're providing as your land grant university the research that's needed to help our producers be successful," remarked Leslie Edgar, J.R. Simplot Endowed Dean of the University of Idaho's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Find out more about the University of Idaho and how it helps farm productivity at uidaho.edu/cals.

Specialty crop growers on the California Coast operate with elevated risk. Many facets of farming are out of a grower’s control.

Chris Oliva is Key Accounts and Southern Sales Manager for AgRx, a leading independent supplier of traditional and organic crop protection and nutrient products, including Redox Bio-Nutrients technology.

He said coastal growers face stringent regulation, high land prices and volatile markets, so sound agronomic decisions are a necessity.

"I've known these families all my life," Oliva said. "There is a special bond. When we come to them with a product, they trust that this product is going to get them the results that they want."

Find out more at AgRx.com.

Just like the industry it is serving, the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Strawberry Center has grown a lot in the last decade.

This year’s 10th annual field day attracted more than 600 growers, scientists and industry members. While the California strawberry crop value has increased markedly to $3.5 billion last year, work at Cal Poly has intensified.

“The three main areas we cover are entomology, plant pathology and automation,” said founding director, Gerald Holmes. “Part of our mission statement is that the research and education that we do addresses grower’s needs. If we’re not doing that, we’re not doing our job.”

Automation is a top industry focus because about 60 percent of a grower’s expenses come from labor. Innovations of interest include robotic harvesters, a double-barreled bug vacuum and an autonomous pest and disease control using ultraviolet light.

Find out more about the strawberry center at strawberry.calpoly.edu.

As it turns out, dreams do come true. For Wayne Cawley, it took a broken truck and not so subtle reminders from a preacher and social media to realize his dream to become a farm owner.

Today, Redemption Farms in Maryland is a highly successful, 38-acre U-pick farm, featuring a plethora of produce items, such as strawberries, tree fruit, potatoes and pumpkins.

Cawley credits his strong faith for providing him the right mental frame and fortitude for success.

“The more that I started to lean towards my faith, I wouldn’t say things got better, but the better I got with things,” he said.

Cawley utilizes Redox technology on his farm, including diKaP™, Mainstay® Si and Mainstay® Calcium 2.0.

Modern farming has seen many changes over the generations. Understanding the latest technology, including biostimulants and biofertilizers, can be powerful tools to maximizing productivity.

DunhamTrimmer Chief Technology Officer Vatren Jurin provides thoughtful insight into this subject with The Reckoning, his Substack of scientific writing rooted in practicality in finding positive outcomes for growers.

“Be accountable to what you said to the grower,” he said. “not for one season, but for 35 or 40, because that’s the last span of decision making that our clients have.”

Jurin said he wants to see more grower input in new product development, better use of updated agronomic tools and more specialists guiding growers.

Find out more at https://dunhamtrimmer.com and https://vatrenjurin.substack.com/.