Tuesday April 27 Ag News

 Dairy farmer groups propose Class III Plus for better milk pricing

Four Midwestern dairy groups today announced a Federal Milk Marketing Orders proposal aimed at creating long-term stability in fluid milk pricing and reducing the likelihood of negative producer price differentials that cut into farmers’ revenue last year during the pandemic.

The proposal from the Dairy Business Association (DBA), Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative, Minnesota Milk and Nebraska State Dairy Association comes after the groups began studying options early this year. They said the proposal, which they’re calling “Class III Plus,” aims to build upon the current pricing system, recent proposals by dairy cooperatives, and dairy farmer petitions to define a better Class I pricing system.
 
“Our proposal looks to the future. It would make lasting changes to the milk pricing system that will limit negative PPDs in the future and the possible negative effects from future crises,” DBA President Amy Penterman, a Wisconsin dairy farmer, said.

The Class III Plus proposal would, among other things, tie the Class I (fluid) skim milk price to the Class III (cheese) skim milk price plus an adjuster and do away with advanced pricing, a cause of the negative PPDs last year. The proposal is also revenue-neutral, therefore more equitable among farmers, processors and customers.

The recent call by cooperatives within the National Milk Producers Federation for an emergency FMMO hearing includes a proposal that improves a few components of the current pricing structure, but largely focuses on the short term and revenue that farmers did not earn in 2020, the four groups said.
 
They said Class III Plus provides a way for farmers to recoup, over the next four years, some of the revenue they might have missed out on in 2020, and also creates stability going forward, including protection from negative PPDs and better risk management ability.
 
“Cooperatives in our area have long called for a focus on Class III issues,” Lucas Sjostrom, executive director of Minnesota Milk, said. “While those are unfortunately outside the scope of (NMPF’s) hearing request, keeping Class I milk the highest in most scenarios will keep Class III plants in the pool, and provide more orderly marketing for all FMMOs. This is a win for customers, a win for farmers and a win for processors.”

Kris Bousquet, executive director of the Nebraska State Dairy Association, said dairy farmers in his state are “extremely concerned” about the status of the Federal Milk Marketing Orders and how the current structure negatively impacts their milk price.

“The Nebraska State Dairy Association’s priorities while working on this proposal  were that we wanted the pricing structure to be fair to all, and to bring back the farmers’ ability to forward contract. Our joint proposal does just that and is the best path forward for the Nebraska dairy industry,” Bousquet said.

More about Class III Plus:
    Improves risk management and hedging for dairy farmers and processors
    Stops the disassociation of advanced pricing that can cause negative producer price differentials
    Does not increase prices to customers in the long term
    Focuses on being a long-term fix to several existing milk pricing problems, and not just correcting issues of the past 24 months
    Ties Class III (cheese) pricing to Class I (fluid) pricing, which would reduce the need for Class III plants to depool and the negative impact that can have on prices.
    Keeps PPDs positive more often in more marketing orders than the current pricing system
    Utilizes three years of data to annually update Class I skim milk price adjusters to limit any one-year shocks, but also takes into account the changing nature of milk processing

The groups also said NMPF’s proposal would likely result in requests for additional FMMO hearings and more changes just two years from now, causing further disruption and potentially jeopardizing the entire order system.

“We want to make sure that if a hearing is granted, the result will be lasting, beneficial changes to the pricing formula,” Edge President Brody Stapel, who farms in Wisconsin, said. “Federal Milk Marketing Orders need to be reformed, but an extremely limited hearing now, which NMPF is seeking, would destabilize the system rather than solve fundamental issues, which is our ultimate goal.”



 Senators Fischer, Klobuchar Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Advance Precision Ag Technology

U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, released the following statement after introducing legislation to support the advancement of Internet of Things (IoT) technology for precision agriculture:

“Precision agriculture systems gather important sensor data that can help ag producers do their jobs. However, unreliable signal connectivity or power can restrict Nebraska farmers and ranchers from reliably using this new technology. My new legislation will ensure that research and development consider the unique circumstances facing rural and ag communities,” said Senator Fischer.

“America’s economic well-being depends on the health of our farmlands. This legislation will support agricultural research and help develop new technologies related to farming and ranching. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan bill with Senator Fischer, and I will continue pushing for policies to strengthen rural communities nationwide,” said Senator Klobuchar.

“CropX is very happy to support this effort to advance the adoption of IoT for rural America, including programs to assist rural students pursuing STEM degrees through distance learning. We know from public and private research that adoption of advanced sensor technology in agriculture is lagging behind other industries, affecting not only growers’ ability to compete globally, but also efforts by growers to improve soil health and produce crops in the most sustainable way possible. We commend Senator Fischer’s work to promote advanced technology for on-farm use and are very happy to support this bill,” said John Vikupitz, President of CropX.

“Precision technologies will play an increasingly important role in the continued success of Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. Increased federal investments in research that will advance precision agriculture is good for our farmers and ranchers and good for Nebraska, where one in four jobs is tied to agriculture. I commend Sen. Fischer for introducing this important legislation,” said Mike Boehm, NU vice president and Harlan Vice Chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UNL.

“I am excited to support Senator Fisher’s bill to promote R&D efforts in precision agriculture technologies. Reducing barriers for technologies to enter rural areas is an important objective to allow innovation to grow in America’s farms and livestock industries. Initiatives such as this help to expedite the development of new technologies that will improve productivity and create a more sustainable future,” said Brian Schupbach, Cofounder of Quantified Ag; Merck Animal Health Intelligence.

“Lindsay supports further investment to support our rural farmers who rely on connected technology to improve efficiency and productivity. Water is a precious resource, and we should take every opportunity to implement the tools needed to improve data reliability in rural areas, supporting increased yields and water conservation,” said Randy Wood, Lindsay Corporation’s President and CEO.

More information about the legislation:
The bill would encourage National Science Foundation (NSF) support for research on advanced sensing systems for rural and agricultural areas, specifically taking into account rural and agricultural environments where there often is unreliable signal connectivity or power. This can affect how connected Internet of Things technologies operate in these settings.

Additionally, this legislation:
    Expands the definition of “advanced technology” for NSF’s Advanced Technical Education (ATE) Program to ensure the inclusion of agriculture-related technology.

    Updates language in NSF’s associate degree programs in STEM fields to consider applications that incorporate distance learning into the curriculum. This would provide additional flexibility for students in rural areas or those who work on a farm or ranch.

    Directs the Government Accountability Office to produce a report that provides a technology assessment of precision agriculture innovations, as well as reviews all existing federal programs that support precision agriculture.

Senator Fischer has been a leader on advancing IoT technology. Last year, the Senate passed her bipartisan DIGIT Act, which became law. That legislation convenes a working group of federal entities and private sector experts to facilitate the growth of IoT, particularly in key sectors such as agriculture, transportation, and health care.



Irrigation Innovation Consortium Funds Three Water for Food Faculty Fellow Projects

The Irrigation Innovation Consortium (IIC) recently announced funding for seven research projects in 2021, three of which are led by Faculty Fellows of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI). The IIC is a university and industry collaboration that accelerates the development and adoption of water- and energy-efficient irrigation technology. DWFI and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln jointly are a founding member of the consortium and DWFI Director of Research Christopher Neale serves on its Executive Committee.
 
“The IIC brings together university and industry partners to accelerate the development and adoption of new irrigation technologies,” said Neale. “The IIC is a great partner in helping DWFI achieve its mission of global food security without compromising the use of water to meet other vital needs.”
 
Projects selected include:
 
Towards Pivot Automation with Proximal Sensing for Maize and Soybean in the Great Plains
    Goal: Developing thresholds that trigger irrigation events configured for the sub-humid climate of the eastern Great Plains, evaluating an existing patented system, evaluating the accuracy of irrigation sensors and comparing crop health and water stress of maize and soybean.
    Principal Investigator: Derek Heeren, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL)
    Co-Principal Investigators: Christopher M. U. Neale, Director of Research, DWFI; Yufeng Ge, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor, UNL; Geng Bai, Research Assistant Professor, UNL
    Collaborators: Nate Dorsey, Manager of Agriculture Technology, Valmont Industries; Susan O’Shaughnessy, Research Agricultural Engineer, USDA ARS; Wayne E. Woldt, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor, UNL; John A. Kastl, Senior Director of Innovation and Intellectual Property, Valmont Industries; Daran Rudnick, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Assistant Professor, UNL; Steven R. Evett, Research Soil Scientist, USDA ARS; Trenton Franz, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor, UNL; Sandeep Bhatti, Ph.D. Student, UNL; Steve R. Melvin, Extension Educator, Nebraska Extension; Troy Ingram, Assistant Extension Educator, Nebraska Extension
    Industry Partner: Valmont
    Location: Nebraska
    Budget: $50,061.00 (Total investment, with match: $113,355.00)
    Cash Match: $57,994.00
    In-Kind Match: $5,300.00
 
Improved irrigation scheduling combining soil water supply and atmospheric evaporative demand
    Goal: Quantify and compare the water efficiency (i.e. yield per applied irrigation) of the SDD algorithm vs. other common irrigation practices at two study sites in Nebraska using randomized trial with three replicates
    Principal Investigator: Trenton Franz, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor, UNL
    Industry Partners: Aspiring Universe Corporation, Arable Labs, Inc., HydroInnova LLC, Corteva, PlanetLabs Inc., UNL, Biological Systems Engineering and School of Natural Resources
    Project Team Co-Investigators: Derek Heeren, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor, UNL; Daran Rudnick, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Assistant Professor, UNL
    Team Members: Sibo Wang, Chief Research Officer, Aspiring Universe Corporation; Loreli Carranza, Field Scientist, Arable Labs, Inc; Darin Desilets, Owner, HydroInnova LLC; Justin Gibson, Data Scientist, Corteva; Rasmus Houborg, Principal Geospatial Fusion Engineer/Scientist, PlanetLabs Inc; Olufemi Abimbola, Postdoctoral Associate, UNL
    Subcontractor: Aspiring Universe Corporation
    Advisor: Kaiyu Guan, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
    Location: Nebraska
    Budget: $83,333.33 (Total investment, with match: $257,777.33)

Connecting Field-Scale Performance to Watershed Health: The Added Power of Sharing Data
    Goal: Improving algorithms that estimate water delivery through the growing season using electrical power consumption data for systems that experience static or dynamic aquifer levels through the growing season and communicating the results to irrigators and water managers. The information generated from this research is providing irrigators and watershed managers knowledge of real-time water use to support optimal data-based management decisions.
    Principal Investigator: Dayle McDermitt, DWFI Faculty Fellow, Adjunct Professor, UNL, Nebraska Water Balance Alliance (NEWBA)
    Project Team Members: Billy Tiller, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, GiSC; Mark Cox, Chief Technical Officer, GiSC; Amy Harsch, Project Facilitator, NEWBA; Jim Schneider, Senior Scientist/Groundwater, Olsson; Erin Haacker, Assistant Professor of Hydrology, UNL; Bradley Dowell, Graduate Student, UNL.
    Industry Partners: Grower Information Services Cooperative (GiSC), NEWBA, Olsson, Midwest Electric, Dawson Public Power, Paulman Farms, Twin Platte Natural Resource District, UNL, Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
    Location: Nebraska
    Budget: $113,083.33 (Total investment, with match: $256,983.51)
    Cash Match: $102,950.18
    In-Kind Match: $40,950.00
 
Launched in 2018 with a $5 million contribution from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), the IIC leverages public-private partnerships to maximize impacts from investment in irrigation research. By 2023, with matching support for every FFAR dollar, an investment of at least $10 million will have supported IIC-related projects and activities. This year, the consortium awarded a total of $533,126 in FFAR funding to selected projects. Through collaboration with partnering institutions and industry, these teams are bringing an additional $979,424 in match to support their innovative research and outreach efforts.
 
As freshwater resources become ever more precious globally, research in irrigation technology is critically needed to optimize systems and maximize efficiency. Water use efficiency is necessary to ensure resiliency in agricultural and landscape systems. Through the consortium, industry and the public sector co-develop, test, prototype and improve equipment, technology and decision-support systems. IIC-funded research is equipping today’s turf managers, farmers, and water district managers with cutting-edge, more user-friendly tools and technologies that have the potential to transform how water is used and managed in the future.
 
“We believe that a growing network and increased collaboration is necessary for innovation,” said Tim Martin, Executive Director of IIC.
 
Projects were selected through a competitive review process that weighed and prioritized projects according to their innovation, scientific merit, inter-institutional collaboration, outreach plans, and potential for impact.  



SPRING TURN-OUT TO PASTURES
– Jerry Volesky, NE Extension
 
The time for turn-out to our primary summer pastures is coming soon.  A couple of important questions are what date to turn-out, and which pastures should be first?
 
For mixed cool- and warm-season native grass pastures, it is important to allow the cool-season grasses to reach at least a 3-leaf stage.  Initial grass growth in the spring comes from energy reserves stored in the roots and crowns of the grass plant. Grazing too soon could cause a depletion of those reserves and reduce production because there was not enough leaf area present to adequately begin producing energy from photosynthesis.
 
We must also remember that the amount of growth at a specific date can vary each year based on spring temperatures and precipitation.  When the potential for drought is present, delaying turn-out and continuing to feed hay is recommended.  This will allow the grass plants to maximize growth given the current soil moisture conditions, and result in greater season-long production.
 
When grazing multiple native grass pastures in a rotation, it is beneficial to change the sequence or order of grazing for the set of pastures. This change in the time of grazing each year benefits the overall health and vigor of the grasses. For producers that have both native range and introduced grass pasture such as smooth bromegrass or crested wheatgrass, grazing the introduced grass pastures first is a great approach to use that resource and allows for a later turn-out on the native pastures.



As lawmakers debate bills, Center offers recommendations to strengthen food access

Across the country, states have been increasingly innovative in finding ways to integrate the goals of eliminating hunger and strengthening local food systems, according to a white paper released today by the Center for Rural Affairs.

“Hunger and the Local Economy: Integrated State-Level Approaches to Food Access,” authored by Nathan Beacom, senior policy associate for the Center, explores the role of local grocery stores, gives examples of state policies designed to make food more accessible, and offers recommendations to lawmakers on ways to address the broader causes of food access and food insecurity in rural areas.

“Food access policy can also be an economic development policy; these goals work hand in hand,” Beacom said. “A strong local food system means more employment, better jobs, a stronger economy, and more access. This kind of win-win policy addresses the immediate needs, as well as the underlying causes of food insecurity.”

The paper’s release comes as the Nebraska Legislature prepares for second-round debate on Legislative Bill (LB) 108, which could come as early as tomorrow, Wednesday, April 28. The bill, introduced by Sen. John McCollister, seeks to fix a flaw known as the “cliff effect” in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“More and more we find that when a SNAP recipient gets a raise at work, that increased income is not enough to offset their loss in SNAP benefits,” Beacom said. “LB 108 allows people to taper off their benefits until they make enough to replace them.. This bill is especially important to rural communities, where food insecurity is higher than urban areas, and where grocers and farmers markets rely on SNAP income.”

Two other bills addressing improvements to the state’s food system are also being debated this session.

LB 324 would provide small meat lockers with resources to grow their businesses and make it easier for people to get meat directly from a farmer, and LB 396 would establish a statewide network to support the growth of farm to school programs. Both bills were introduced by Sen. Tom Brandt.

The white paper is available at cfra.org/publications.



Statement by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the Intent to Nominate Jennifer Lester Moffitt to Serve as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs

“Jenny Moffitt’s nomination to serve as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs demonstrates that USDA is committed to putting the perspective of our producers at the heart of what we do. Jenny currently serves as the Undersecretary at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and previously served as Deputy Secretary for the agency. Prior to her time with CDFA, Jenny spent 10 years as Managing Director at Dixon Ridge Farms, her family’s organic walnut farm and processing operation in Solano County, California. Jenny says that growing up and working on the farm solidified the importance of taking care of the land and the people who farm it. If confirmed, Jenny will join a mission area that is focused on facilitating the domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products, ensuring the health and care of animals and plants, and setting national and international standards – all tasks that she is well suited to take on. With her guidance and leadership, USDA will help to build more robust and resilient local and regional food systems that support new, fairer market opportunities for American producers and food companies. She will be a welcomed addition to a growing USDA team.”



USDA Dairy Products 2020 Production Summary

Total number of dairy product production plants, all types
Nebraska ......:             7 (2019)  -  7 (2020)   
Iowa .............:            23 (2019) - 26 (2020)   
United States.:      1,270 (2019)  - 1,242 (2020)

Total cheese production in 2020, excluding cottage cheeses, was 13.3 billion pounds, 0.9 percent above 2019 production. Wisconsin was the leading State with 25.6 percent of the production.

Iowa cheese production
2020 - 355,222,000 lbs. from 14 processing plants
2019 - 333,932,000 lbs. from 11 processing plants

Italian varieties, with 5.63 billion pounds was 0.8 percent below 2019 production and accounted for 42.4 percent of total cheese in 2020. Mozzarella accounted for 79.1 percent of the Italian production followed by Parmesan with 7.4 percent and Provolone with 6.5 percent. Wisconsin was the leading State in Italian cheese production with 29.3 percent of the production.

American type cheese production was 5.34 billion pounds, 2.0 percent above 2019 and accounted for 40.3 percent of total cheese in 2020. Wisconsin was the leading State in American type cheese production with 19.9 percent of the production.

Butter production in the United States during 2020 totaled 2.15 billion pounds, 7.6 percent above 2019. California was the leading state in Butter production with 31.1 percent of the production.

Butter Production, Central States: (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin)
2020 - 833,801,000 lbs. in 35 production plants
2019 - 772,745,000 lbs. in 33 production plants

Dry milk powders (2020 United States production, comparisons in percentage with 2019)
Nonfat dry milk, human - 1.99 billion pounds, up 7.6 percent.
Skim milk powders - 695 million pounds, up 21.4 percent.

Whey products (2020 United States production, comparisons in percentage with 2019)
Dry whey, total - 951 million pounds, down 2.7 percent.
Lactose, human and animal - 1.10 billion pounds, down 10.1 percent.
Whey protein concentrate, total - 478 million pounds, down 2.7 percent.

Frozen products (2020 United States production, comparisons in percentage with 2019)
Ice cream, Regular (total) - 914 million gallons, up 3.9 percent.
Ice cream, Lowfat (total) - 482 million gallons, up 1.8 percent.
Sherbet (total) - 37.6 million gallons, down 15.4 percent.
Frozen Yogurt (total) - 35.5 million gallons, down 37.7 percent. 



FFAR Grant Examines Carbon Farming Effect on Soil Health

Agriculture is often seen as a climate change contributor; however, it can also be a natural climate change solution. Employing carbon farming techniques, a broad set of agricultural practices that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for long periods of time in soil, can reduce carbon emissions from agriculture. The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) awarded a $616,178 Seeding Solutions grant to Point Blue Conservation Science (Point Blue) to develop a multifaceted project that optimizes soil health management practices on rangelands in California. Mad Agriculture and Colorado State University both provided matching funds for a $1,281,584 total investment.

Common agricultural practices like driving a tractor, tilling the soil, and using fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides result in the release of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. However, through sustainable farming techniques, carbon can be stored long term in the soil, a process referred to as carbon sequestration. Employing carbon farm practices can further improve soil health and environmental health by increasing carbon sequestration.

Knowledge gaps about commonly recommended management practices make it difficult to quantify how the carbon farm process affects carbon levels. Providing additional information about this process will help resource managers and policymakers prioritize programs and funding.

“Carbon farming provides significant benefits to the ecosystem; however, we don’t know enough about how to most efficiently implement it,” said FFAR Executive Director Dr. Sally Rockey. “This research is providing much-needed knowledge on the best soil management practices to pull more carbon from the atmosphere.”

Point Blue researchers, led by Dr. Chelsea Carey, are developing standardized protocols that can be used with existing soil health programs to track how soil health and carbon sequestration change in response to carbon farming practices over time.

Along with collaborators at Colorado State University and Mad Agriculture, Dr. Carey and her team are generating data from carbon farm planning practices and building an evidence base to establish carbon farming as a proven and scalable model for advancing climate action. Researchers are measuring how above and below ground carbon changes over a 15-to-20-year period when carbon farming practices are used on rangelands. This data will then be used to evaluate predictive models that support planning tools, such as COMET-Planner, which helps farmers and ranchers estimate carbon sequestration.

According to Dr. Carey, “The team will be asking questions like: how much carbon is sequestered with these practices, and how fast does this occur? Is the carbon likely to stay in the soil long enough to make a difference for climate change mitigation? And what are the associated benefits to soil fertility?”

“We see a lot of opportunity with the current momentum in California around natural and working lands stewardship,” said Carey. “We’re excited to support these efforts by engaging our network of partners including ranchers, other scientists and agency staff to conduct science and support ecological monitoring that’s both relevant and impactful.”  



USDA Agency and Company Partner to Explore Personal Care Products from Hemp

Expanding the market for hemp seed oil is the goal of a new cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) involving Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and the Midwest Bioprocessing Center (MBC), a Peoria, Illinois-based firm specializing in organic chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

At the heart of the 24-month agreement is a patented process that a team of chemists with the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria developed, called “bio-catalysis.” In short, it involves using enzymes and heat rather than harsh chemicals and solvents to catalyze reactions that bind natural antioxidants like ferulic acid to lipids in soybean and other vegetable oils.

In prior research, the team used the process to create a class of compounds called feruloyl soy glycerides (FSGs) from soybean oil. These were subsequently licensed and commercialized for use as ingredients in skin- and personal-care products because of the ultraviolet (UV) absorbance and antioxidant properties that they offered.

Now, under the cooperative agreement with MBC, the team will explore creating similar ferulic-acid-based ingredients from bio-catalyzed hemp seed oil, potentially broadening the market for this commodity from an estimated 90,000 U.S. acres of industrial hemp, a type of Cannabis sativa that was legalized under the Farm Bill of 2018.

Hemp seed oil today is popularly used in cannabidiol-containing products for perceived health benefits. However, like soy or corn oil, hemp oil also contains a variety of nutrients, fatty acids (including omega-3 fatty acids) and bioactive compounds that can be transformed into specialty chemicals offering useful new properties.

Toward that end, the ARS-MBC team will focus on bio-catalyzing hemp oil to make “cosmeceuticals”—skin-care ingredients that perform specific functions, like protecting skin from UV light, retaining moisture, or stabilizing other active ingredients used in skin-care formulations.

“Collaborating with industry partners like MBC, which has expertise in enzymology and the infrastructure for scale-up, is critical to exploring expanded uses for our original technology,” said Compton, with the ARS center’s Renewable Technologies Research Unit in Peoria.

The research unit is one of seven comprising the NCAUR that collectively specialize in researching value-added uses for agricultural commodities as well as the byproducts of their manufacture into other processed goods.   

The NCAUR has also played a lead role in devising sustainable approaches to processing these commodities with an eye towards expanding economic opportunities for growers of both established crops like corn, wheat and soybean, as well as emerging ones, like cuphea and industrial hemp.

In addition to opening the door to the cosmetics and personal care markets, NCAUR scientists are researching ways to better process hemp into fuels, lubricants and adhesives, as well as functional food ingredients and fiber products.



Loveland Products C2 Technology Plays Critical Role in Nutrient Management

As the prices of key crop production nutrients continues to rise, Loveland Products’ C2 Technology products, a proprietary product line of Nutrien Ag Solutions,  are playing a critical role in helping producers manage nutrients while getting the most out of nutritional inputs.

Nutritional solutions powered by C2 Technology from Loveland Products unlock the power of a grower’s soil, and are an effective way to maximize the benefit of nutritional applications. C2 Technology is a unique nutrient management platform that drives nutrient-use efficiency and, at the same time, improves soil health. It is a library of substances containing various carbon compounds, including carbohydrates, which boost biological activity in the soil. In addition, those compounds improve the soil’s ability to hold both water and nutrients.

“We have seen  the prices for key nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen rise significantly over the past six months,” reports Joe Vaillancourt, Product Marketing Manager with Loveland Products. “Maximizing  the efficacy of these nutrients to make sure they are available for plant uptake is important both from an economic and environmental perspective. Choosing fertilizers that are powered by C2 Technology ensures plants will get the optimum benefit from those nutrients.”

How C2 Technology Works
•    Unique carbon components in C2 technology drive chemical and biological activity in the soil and promote better soil structure.
•    Proprietary extraction methods produce customized extractions of carbon-based compounds that meet the specific needs of each nutrient with which they are combined.
•    The carbohydrates in C2 Technology act as a food source for beneficial soil microbes.
•    These carbohydrates also assist in complexing nutrients, so they are more available to plants.
•     Nutrients in the various products powered by C2 Technology are combined with carbon and carbohydrates to form protected nutrients. This process results in increased fertilizer efficiency and reduced soil tie-up.
•    This complexing of nutrients also enables flexibility in application.

Loveland Products produces a wide array of fertilizer products powered by C2 Technology, which are available only at Nutrien Ag Solutions retail locations across the U.S.

No matter what challenges a grower faces in the field, Loveland Products makes a fertilizer powered by C2 Technology that can effectively deliver nutrition and improve the health of their soil. Research shows that use of C2 Technology leads to improved soil health and productivity. By using products built with C2 Technology, growers will leave the soil healthier than when they began farming it.