2 min read
Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 is Pivot Bio’s newest commercial product designed to replace up to 40 pounds per acre of synthetic nitrogen. Although it was announced just recently, I have been monitoring corn grown with this newest product all season and have seen it thrive across diverse soil types and weather conditions throughout my region in Indiana and Michigan.
Although visual differences may be subtle, I have seen slight increases in above and below ground biomass in several demonstration locations. My fellow agronomists and I are doing different tests to assess how the plants treated with Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 compare to plants grown using standard nitrogen practices. In one experiment near Purdue University, our agronomy intern, Grace, takes whole-plant samples each week to monitor performance throughout the growing season. In another experiment near Fort Wayne, IN, we are testing Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 microbes applied with a precision in-furrow application, instead of a typical continuous band application.
Throughout these experiments and demo fields, corn grown with Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 has consistently shown a 4% to 6% increase in plant biomass. Where synthetic nitrogen has been removed from the grower’s standard nutrient program, crops grown with Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 are at parity or slightly better than the control.
What really excites me about Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 is that these promising results have been seen consistently in crops grown in entirely different conditions. The region I cover includes a diverse soil taxonomy, historic rainfall totals, and varied growing practices, all of which pose unique challenges. Nitrogen produced by Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 is not lost to the environment when the weather is unforgiving.
In soils with a high organic content, where mineralization can be high, growers might only apply nitrogen one or two times. In those areas, Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 fills in the gaps so plants aren’t starved of nitrogen and makes up for years when mineralization rates are low. Conversely, in sandy, irrigated soils where nitrogen applications are needed more frequently, Pivot Bio PROVEN® 40 is showing its value as a reliable source of nitrogen that remains firmly colonized at the root of the plant throughout the growing season and can potentially reduce the number of passes through the field.
Pivot Bio is holding field demos across the country in the month of August. My team will be at the events in Indiana and Michigan, and we would be happy to show you the results we’ve seen this growing season and answer any questions you may have. For more information on our field days, check out our Events page.
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