Redox Grows: Recent Episodes
Redox Bio-Nutrients
Agriculture is the foundation of life. Keeping farmers productive translates into a more abundant, affordable food supply for all.Today’s farmers must navigate through an ever-changing and challenging landscape. Redox Grows takes a deep dive into key issues facing agriculture; providing solutions to ensure healthy soils, strong plants, a healthy environment and strong bottom line for growers. Located in Burley, Idaho, Redox Bio-Nutrients is an industry leader in products and technologies that build a strong foundation for growers across America and throughout the world.
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/.
Continuing to expand our technology for the betterment of farming is the driving force at Redox. It is passionate quest of our research team, headed by Dr. Gifford Gillette.
“It’s an incredibly challenging time in agriculture right now,” Gillette said. “We are doing our absolute best to provide answers and solutions for the challenges that growers face.”
Each summer, a group of talented interns helps this effort, and this year’s additions of Sheldyn Rogers, Dallas Cummins, Shianne Bair and Cyrus Taylor have made an immediate, positive impact with their work ethic and quick acclimation.
The company’s firm commitment to research is evidenced by a new state of the art laboratory, three PhD’s on staff and the recent addition of Jackeline Garza as Chief Technology Officer.
Traditional Fourth of July fireworks and festivities will feature a little extra this year, with America’s 250th birthday. It’s a good time to reflect on U.S. history and the foundations for our success.
“There’s so much to be proud of in our countries history” remarked Idaho State Historian, HannaLore Hein. “These different arenas include innovation, development of new technologies, opportunity that has existed in this country for individuals and for organizations , and just the growth and the progress that the country has led the world in deserves a moment of praise.”
Agriculture has long been a central part of America’s success, as productive farms have yielded abundant food and positive economic impacts.
The incredible service by our military has also been crucial, and many veterans are involved in farming.
“Patriotism is something that’s ingrained in a big part of our culture,” said Tommy McMurren of Five Patriots Farms in Illinois, whose family has had generations of military service. “I think it’s encoded in our genetics.”
While our nation faces challenges, optimism continues to many, including Tyler Adams, Vice President of Sales for Willard Agri-Service on the East Coast. Tyler carried out nine years of active duty in the U.S. Army, including in Afghanistan.
“The core of this country is the things I'm really the most optimistic about” Adams said. “It's the ones quietly coaching the kids' sports teams, the ones running the small business, the ones that are raising good kids and families and engaging their communities. They know what America is all about, and that's about working together as a team, building something that's real, showing up.”
Working along California’s Central Coast, Vishal Shinde excels at two different jobs in agriculture – growing food and helping other growers succeed.
Shinde is Research Director at Growers Research and Innovation Network (GRIN). He and his team work with many clients, including Redox, to garner valuable data, including product efficacy.
He also grows organic blueberries, which are in high demand and help major retailers including Costco maintain good supplies for their customers.
Shinde said new technology, including biostimulants, offers great promise for productive farming, providing proper research is carried out.
“Since I've grown up with this biological pest management, and so I minimize least amount of pesticides and this blueberry operation, I have not used any insecticides because I rely on those natural enemies of all kinds of pests,” he said. “That's helping us pretty well.’
Whatever the crop or region, growers prioritize the same things – yield and quality. Understanding the relationship of redox active molecules in maintaining plant charge balance provides a crucial pathway to achieving those goals.
“Energy is either building yield and quality or fixing problems” said Dr. Gifford Gillette, Redox lead researcher. “A redox active molecule enables the plant to do more with less.”
“What we are talking about is continuing with the fertilizer base that people have,” said Redox CEO Darin Moon. “In order to get better ROI, we have to wrap this inside of plant charge balance. The way you deal with plant charge balance is a redox active molecule, properly evaluated, fractionated and put into a product mix, that can literally affect the ability of a plant to absorb energy, create energy flow, improve nutrient efficiency, yield and quality.”
Redox RAM Technology is unrivaled in its ability to balance plants, helping growers do more with less and improving performance.
Combine the wisdom of a fifth-generation superintendent with a historic golf course in one of the most picturesque parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and you begin to understand the appeal of Blowing Rock Country Club.
This golf course dates back to 1915, and is impeccably maintained by Josh Costner and his team. It fits well into this scenic part of North Carolina’s High Country, which has a wide array of wildlife, and 160 species of birds, including Bald Eagles. Costner relies on Redox TurfRx products for their impressive playing conditions.
“We try to focus on playability a lot,” he said. “That’s how we got into Redox, was getting more into the fast, firm, yet healthy grass plants.”
Redox TurfRx® products utilized at Blowing Rock include K+, Linx™, XTraction™, Micro+, OxyCal®, CA, Supreme. Platinum and RDX-N®.
Find out more about Josh’s golf course at blowingrockcountryclub.com. It’s the only Seth Raynor-deigned golf course in North Carolina.
The challenges in agriculture are easy to name and experienced broadly. The opportunities are also there, and Sierra Pacific Farms is helping navigate successful farming for the longterm.
The Southern California-based company began in 1988 and is a professional farm management firm that helps growers with a wide variety of areas, including grove management, development, harvesting, consulting and pest management. Hayden McIntyre and Allisen Carmichael head their northern division, and utilize Redox products in the farms they work with.
Sierra Pacific specializes in citrus and avocados in high- value California agriculture. Ventura County farm ground exceeds $100,000 per acre, on average.
Learn more about Sierra Pacific Farms at spfarminc.com.
The classic proverb “fortune favors the bold” holds widespread truth, including in agriculture. Thoughtfully incorporating new technology can provide a boost to a grower’s bottom line, which is especially helpful during their current economic difficulties.
John Dunmore with the Biological Products Industry Alliance walks the halls of Congress to help provide raise the profile of biological products, which help crops perform better.
Key legislation currently being considered would provide a uniform federal definition of plant biostimulants, which would bolster grower confidence.
“These are innovative products,” Dunmore said. “They are great for soil health, the environment, and for agriculture as a whole.”
Find out more at bpia.org/.
Fortitude is very much a necessary part of the toolkit for successful farming. Those at Kimball Ranches- El Hogar know that as well as any. One of California’s most devastating natural disasters, the 2017 Thomas Fire wreaked havoc to their and many other farms in their region.
“You could be called crazy for being in partnership with Mother Nature, because as a farmer there are so many things outside of your control,” said Rachael Laenen, Director of Farming and Operations at Kimball Ranches in Ventura County, California. “But it just means that actually you can really focus on the things that are in your control and do better every day.”
This persevering attitude has led to a successful recovery and retooling of their operation, including their crop nutrition.
“We were really lucky to come across Redox,” she said. “They have fundamentally changed the way we farm here.”
Laenen said Rx Platinum™ has been a crucial part of their young tree establishment program, while Mainstay® Calcium and diKaP have provided major benefits to their older trees.
Laenen is the first female chair of the California Avocado Commission’s Board of Directors. She and her father, Gordon, carry on the family farming legacy.
Find out more about Kimball Ranches- El Hogar, including their retail sales, at https://www.kimballavocados.com.
Whether advancements in crops or livestock, upgrading mechanization or efficient use of resources, research carried out by universities has gone a long way to the abundance in agriculture that benefits us all. It’s a top priority for the University of Idaho, one of the top ag schools in the nation. Leslie Edgar, Dean of the University’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, recently visited Redox Headquarters to strengthen our partnership.
"Theory is amazing, but making sure that we can actually apply it so it works for producers is really important," Edgar said. "That's the blessing of being at a land-grant university that we get to do that. The value of us partnering with companies like Redox is that you have the innovation, and that we have the scientists and the students that can work with you and then partner at a really high level."
Golf is far more than a cherished pastime, it’s an immense economic engine, source of jobs and, perhaps surprisingly, an awesome way to learn about science, math and many other vital subjects.
The First Green program from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GSCAA) makes this all possible.
“I hear teachers saying things like ‘Hey guys, look at this. This is what I’m teaching you in class, but this is how you apply it in real life,” remarked Dave Phipps, former superintendent and one of the organization’s nine regional representatives.
Dave is part of a team passionately working in First Green; connecting students with many relevant topics and making them aware of future job opportunities. A growing area of focus is working with the more than one million FFA students in the U.S.
More growers are utilizing biological products on their crops—it’s an emerging category that includes biostimulants, biopesticides and biofertilizers. The global agricultural biologicals market is expected to more than double in value in the next decade. It’s promising technology to help with productivity and many other key areas.
“Globally, the biostimulant market is growing, and that market is going to explode here in the United States once we get a clear path to market,” remarked Keith Jones, Executive Director of the Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA) in Washington, D.C.
Jones said a key benefit would be a uniform federal definition on biostimulants, which is being considered by Congress this session.
The BPIA's mission is fostering continued improvements to the biological products regulatory process.
The industry's leading market research firm DunhamTrimmer expects the global non-microbial biostimulant market will reach nearly $8 billion by 2030.
FInd out more at BPIA.org and DunhamTrimmer.com.
Planting season is a time for renewal and labor, as the Midwest is home to some 180 million acres of corn and soybeans. There are hurdles every year, and 2026 is no different, with low crop prices coupled with high fertilizer costs.
Fourth generation grower Jared Brown in Central Illinois grows 2,000 acres of corn and soybeans. This is his second year working with RDX-N® for nitrogen optimization, and so far the results are encouraging.
“ We’re going to have RDX-N® across half of our acreage this year,” Brown said. “We’ll have really good data next year to say yes, it definitely paid us by cost savings number one, and number two if we can get a yield increase, it’s just icing on the cake.”
Brown was a top performer in nitrogen management trials with the National Corn Growers Association. He said more growers are intrigued with new technology like RDX-N® because low crop prices and high input costs have created more incentives to make efficiency gains.
Spring marks a time for heightened activity in fields and orchards across the nation. The nutrition choices a grower makes go a long way towards determining their outcome at harvest.
Redox RAM (Redox Active Molecule) technology helps keep plants in charge balance, so your crops can solely focus on yield and quality.
RDX-N® has been an excellent addition in California almond orchards, improving nitrogen use by up to 50 percent while maintaining or enhancing performance.
“It’s really exciting,” said Redox agronomist AJ Borges. “We want to take back a little bit of control and utilize a product that’s so powerful. RDX-N gives us the opportunity to take the reins back and utilize nitrogen more efficiently.”
Borges said he has seen excellent success with diKaP™ with California cherries, as it helps with unform color, improved quality and protection against abiotic stress events, including untimely rains or heat waves.
Additionally, he said OsmoFlow™ has been an excellent addition to improve salinity concerns and water efficiency for field corn grown in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Success in farming is hard-earned. For the Richardson family in White Marsh, Maryland, their farm involves many family members and has included tremendous labor and innovation for nearly a century.
Brian Richardson is the fifth generation of the family working at their farm and grocery store. They are known far and wide for their excellent quality vegetables, including kale, collard greens, tomatoes and sweet corn. Many Redox products help nourish their crops, including Rootex, Rx Platinum, diKaP, TriPlex Micro, Mainstay Calcium 2.0 and Mainstay Si.
He said he had great success with RDX-N with his winter kale crop and will be using more of this nitrogen optimization technology next season.
“I definitely plan to incorporate it more,” Richardson said, including his first sweet corn crop of the year, which he hopes “I can cut fertilizer usage even more and get the benefit of it.”
From greenskeeper to superintendent, Tanner Jacobs has made a steady climb in his young career. He’s in charge at Rocky Bayou Country Club in Niceville, Florida, and obsesses over every detail to provide his customers with the best golf experience. Keeping his turfgrass balanced and perfectly playable is a top priority.
“I don’t make a simple soil application without incorporating calcium and OsmoPro™ in my program,” he said. “I feel since we started using it, we’ve had a lot of success with health, with growth and just overall playability and how they look. For my program, it’s perfect.”
Rocky Bayou features 115 acres of championship play, incorporating rolling hills, sprawling oaks and stately pines, including 18 holes that they describe as “challenging play with wide fairways, perfectly managed greens, and five spring fed lakes.”
Among the watchouts from the Iran War is the supreme challenge of getting key inputs for growers through the Strait of Hormuz. This has caused price spikes and supply uncertainty during planting season- a crucial period of fertilizer use.
Josh Linville of StoneX has spent nearly a quarter century tracking the fertilizer market. He said the situation is terrible in terms of price, but there also have been some overly dramatic reporting. As with many big issues, the truth lies somewhere in between.
“Affordability and availability are two completely different terms,” said Josh Linville, Vice President of Fertilizer for StoneX, a prominent financial services network that began more than a century ago. “From an affordability standpoint yes, it’s terribly overpriced. But from an availability standpoint, based on what we think we need for imports to finish out this fertilizer year, based on what we know has come and we think has come through March, we only need about a million ton for April and May. But again, good can go to bad very quickly.”
Scientific advancement has been a hallmark characteristic of our company, but it needs to be rooted in practicality for the grower. Fortunately these two areas are seamlessly blending with Redox technology.
Dr's Gifford Gillette and Debatosh Das play crucial roles in research at Redox Bio-Nutrients. They collaborate and oversee scores of trials done in a variety of locations, including our research farm in Burley, Idaho, with contract research organizations and universities.
The success rate for these projects shows an extremely bright future, as RAM (redox active molecule) technology is a universal benefit to all growers, regardless of crop or region they are farmed.
Gillette and Das are both extremely positive about RDX-N®, which has undergone more than a decade of research and fieldwork, and provides up to 50 percent optimization of nitrogen without any performance loss.
The Iran War has impacted already volatile fertilizer markets. This has not gone unnoticed in Washington, D.C.
“We’re going to finish the war with Iran, and we will accommodate as best we can the American farmer with additional assistance for their increased input costs,” said Congressman Austin Scott, who is Vice Chair of the House Agriculture Committee. “I believe that additional assistance will come. Again, it will depend on what happens with regard to commodity prices at the end of the year.”
The eight term Georgia representative said farm security is national security, and a longer term goal is working to produce more critical agricultural inputs in the United States.
The conflict in Iran has added yet more uncertainty to fertilizer availability. This is concerning to many in agriculture, as significant input purchases still need to be made before peak planting season.
“We still need to import about 25 percent of our spring need,” said Corey Rosenbusch, President and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute, which represents producers, wholesalers and retailers. “All it takes is one event like this to really mess things up. I’m very concerned.”
Rosenbusch said his four main watch outs from the situation in Iran involve the availability of natural gas, urea, nitrogen and sulfur.
On a more positive front, Rosenbusch said he’s encouraged about work to get a new farm bill in place, which he hopes will include a national definition of biostimulants. He said biostimulants offer great promise for growers and may be even more valuable in difficult times in agriculture like are currently being experienced.
Maintaining plant charge balance is crucial in all types of agriculture, including turfgrass. Longtime superintendent Dean Piller with Cordova Bay Golf Course includes Redox TurfRx technology in his turf care. A new product he has studied extensively is OsmoPro™, which provides incredible stress relief and is now a fixture on his course.
“At the time of the year that we should be shining, we should be five-star rating, that’s when we’re struggling the most with abiotic stress,” Piller said. “Having some tools now that I truly believe are going to help reduce that abiotic stress and give us a better chance to show our best colors in peak season. I’m really excited moving forward.”
Additional Redox TurfRx products at Cordova Bay include Rx Micro+, Platinum, Rx CA and Xtraction™.
Sometimes opportunity presents itself during challenging circumstances. The downturn in the agricultural economy may be one example.
Tom Haase with TN Ag works with growers on their crop nutrition, including Redox Bio-Nutrients technology. He also grows crops near Albion, Nebraska.
With crop prices struggling, input costs high and the likely future for basic fertilizer is only trending upward, Tom emphasizes improving soil health, doing more with less and reallocating dollars for the biggest benefit. Tell me your thoughts about how best to achieve this.
He recently visited Redox Bio-Nutrients headquarters in Burley, Idaho, for intensive meetings on how plant charge balance and RAM (Redox Active Molecule) technology are crucial for successful farming.
One product that has the attention of Tom and many is RDX-N®, which provides game-changing nitrogen optimization.
California is not only the largest agricultural state, but it’s also the most diverse, with several hundred crops grown. There may be a new major crop in the Golden State – agave.
Stuart Woolf heads a large family farm in Fresno County, and has seen excellent agronomic success growing 450 acres of agave. The crop uses a small fraction of the water when compared to many other crops, and it has intriguing market potential for spirits and as a sweetener.
This crop may turn into an excellent option especially for farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, who routinely face limited water supplies.
Woolf has extensively studied agave production in Mexico and is a licensed nurseryman that has sold tens of thousands of plants to other California growers. U.C. Davis has several years of ongoing research on agave viability, and industry influencers are looking into the feasibility of this fledgling crop being distilled into a high-quality spirit.
Growers looking to boost crop yield and quality can benefit from new technology - not more fertilizer. Understanding the power of RAM Technology and premium Redox bio-nutrients can help farmers do more with less through improved metabolism and utilization of nutrients.
“We are quantifying quality of result, not quantity of result,” remarked Redox Bio-Nutrients CEO, Darin Moon. “In the end, that leads to higher yield and quality every time,” he said.
Redox products are specifically designed to help crops achieve plant charge balance, which the single most important thing for successful harvests. He added that Redox products not only help growers do more with less, bolstering farm productivity and helping ensure high quality, healthy food for consumers.
“Food should become medicine,” Moon said. “You cannot do that by worrying about just loading up the plant on unmetabolized nutrients.”
The food we enjoy every day is a remarkable success story.
Growing the perfect peach is no easy feat. In California's San Joaquin Valley, John Johnston is carrying on a family farming legacy that started in 1919.
Johnson peaches are well known for their flavor and consistent high quality. John incorporates several products from Redox Bio-Nutrients to help maintain his impressive track record, including Supreme™, diKap™ and Banx®.
California grows about 70 percent of the U.S. peach crop.
Those in agriculture face daily challenges. In Central Oregon, grower Rob Galyen not only persevered through drought, he also fought and won against an insidious and unlikely foe for his age: fast moving cancer.
Through his family support, fortitude and an aggressive treatment program, Rob is now cancer free.
Rob said it his family was his anchor through grueling treatments, including 36 sessions of radiation.
“They’re the reason to my why, plain and simple” he said.
Galyen’s crop mix includes specialty seed crops, wheat and hay. His nutrition program includes Redox.
Quantification is crucial to successful farming. With The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) granting certification to Mainstay® Si, Redox Bio-Nutrients is the only company with two certified biostimulants.
Last fall, TFI certification was given to Mainstay® Calcium 2.0.
Redox Lead Agronomist John Kelly comments on the importance of the independent and rigorous certification, and the beneficial role Mainstay® Si plays for crops.
Americans eat more than 200 pounds of meat per person per year. One byproduct of meeting that demand is manure, as nearly 9 billion pounds of livestock manure is generated daily.
Transforming livestock waste into the most useful form of plant nutrition is the pursuit of people like Abe Sandquist. The former federal soil conservationist started Natural Fertilizer Services 18 years ago.
“We need to be constantly figuring out how are going to take these nutrients and recycle them,” he said, “You never buy them, you only rent them. Nutrients are harvested and replaced, and they have to be in circulation just like money. If money stops circulation, the economy fails. So does the soil.”
He’s bullish on continuing to find the best use of manure to grow crops, which ultimately benefit ranchers, growers, the environment and economy.
Sandquist is providing manure for field trials including Redox products at the XPRT Farm in Iowa.
How do you combat low returns? Be adaptive. Using Redox Bio-Nutrients technology affords the flexibility and specificity needed to succeed, even in a down economy.
In this episode, Redox agronomists Jeff Yoder and Bill Schwoerer outline growing strategies that allow for flexibility in the field, while still achieving strong yields and quality.
Their recommendations include RootRx® for crop establishment, optimizing nitrogen through RDX-N®, adding vital calcium nutrition through Mainstay® Calcium 2.0 and managing in-season stress with diKaP™.
Redox products are meticulously designed to achieve you farm’s yield potential through Redox Active Molecules (RAM™) and maintaining plant charge balance.
From his early days in Nepal on his families subsistence farm, Pramod Acharya has long valued the importance of farming and agricultural sustainability.
In his new capacity as Assistant Professor and Extension Forage Specialist with the University of Idaho’s Kimberly Research and Extension Center, he will be working to help Idaho dairy farms and forage producers, finding ways to enhance efficient forage production, storage and utilization.
Acharya said he will focus on sustainable practices rooted in economic practicality.
“Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability or capacity of future generations to meet the same needs,” he said.
Perseverance was a key for those in agriculture this past year, as lower crop prices and higher input costs dominated in 2025. Yet, many growers navigated their way to abundance and quality come harvest time.
Episode 150 covers highlights of the past year, including stories of passion, perseverance and even agricultural archeology. We hear from Redox President Colton Moon about key developments for our industry and company, including our patented nitrogen-optimization product, RDX-N®.
We wrap things up with a visit with Jaden Wenger from a California farming family, who has made an incredible comeback from cancer.
A new global study on biostimulants quantifies the increased interest growers have for these tools.
The study by DunhamTrimmer, a leading firm for biologicals market data and consulting, was carried out by Manel Cervera, while Vatren Jurin is the company authority on value-added fertilizers.
Redox Bio-Nutrients is identified as a top 20 company in the world in biostimulants. Biostimulants are a nearly $4.5 billion-dollar global market, with a compound annual growth rate just shy of 10 percent – which would put 2030 market value at nearly 8 billion dollars. While the United States remains the largest single market, tremendous growth is reported in several parts of the world, including Latin America, Asia and Europe.
Fruits and vegetables are most popular for biostimulants, while row crops and cereals are seen as the next major game changer.
Many of the challenges growers faced this year will carry into 2026. Their resiliency is being tested and wise agronomic decisions are even more vital.
Hundreds gathered at the Agricultural Retailers Association Conference and Trade Show in Salt Lake City for updates.
“Some of the challenges we have faced, while many of them are similar to the past, there are a few that are unique and new,” remarked Mike Twining of Willard Agri-Service, which partners with Redox. “A lot of those challenges deal with uncertainty, with changes ranging from local to global that are new and different.”
Twining said newer technology including biostimulants can help growers, and it’s important for agronomists to provide sound solutions.
Grower Grant Norwood of Tennessee is among those increasing his use of biostimulants. He participated in a panel discussion carried out by Farm Journal and EVOIA.
Vice President of Fertilizer at StoneX Josh Linville updated growers on the fertilizer outlook, which overall includes higher prices and more volatility. He was optimistic for improvement in the future. “High prices always cure high prices,” he said. “When you get there, supplies start to increase. New potash production is coming down the line. Hopefully new nitrogen production announcements are coming.”
ARA President and CEO Daren Coppock said the ag economy downturn has been a little longer than usual, but the cyclical nature of the industry indicates improvement is down the road.
Farmers have grown yields over the years through improved varieties, nutrition and equipment. An emerging frontier involves automation, including robotics and AI.
“We believe automation is going to be a whole revolution in farming,” remarked Adam Stager, founder of TRIC Robotics. “It’s really the next big thing to drive efficiency on these farms.”
One item TRIC has introduced automated, tractor-scale pest and disease control robotics using UV-C light, that was demonstrated at the recent Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Strawberry Field Day.
Also on display at the event was a prototype robotic strawberry harvester from L5 Automation.
“We’ve seen a lot of startups attempt this, and a lot of startups have failed,” said Dan Schneider, L5 Director of Software. “We want to make sure that we solve these problems correctly, so that we can harvest all season long. Then we will worry about making the process faster.”
Schneider said they expect to harvest trial beds next year, to refine the technology and scale it up to full commercial harvesting.
Stager and Schneider said they hope their emerging technologies will ultimately have application that extends to other crops, in addition to California strawberry fields.
The research community isn’t often in the primary spotlight, but it plays a major role in keeping farms productive and supermarkets well-stocked.
Georgia-based Dr. Renee Holland is part of the CRO community; independent, third-party researchers that provide validating data that helps companies, including Redox, in assessing product efficacy.
One of her areas of research is biostimulants, which are gaining popularity among growers.
“I think they’re a tool in the crop production toolbox,” she said. “There’s more to learn about them, but there’s definitely a lot of research that’s showing promise.”
She works on a variety of crops, including blueberries, strawberries, peanuts, pistachios and corn.
Holland has spent her career in agriculture, and said it’s the perfect profession.
“I was out in the field with someone, and I knelt down to the ground. I was feeling the soil and smelling the soil and, they said ‘You’re really in your element, aren’t you?’ I looked up and I said, ‘I sure am!’”
Golf popularity is on an upswing, and a crucial part of a positive experience is maintaining premium quality turfgrass.
The Redox TurfRx team works with superintendents throughout the U.S. and internationally, providing next generation technology for superior results.
New additions to the team will help secure still more positive collaborations.
“It all starts at the beginning with the technology we’re using and the philosophy of plant charge balance,” said Chris Toporski, Redox TurfRx Northeast Agronomist. “If we can get that plant moving in the right direction using those secondary metabolites to really make everything work efficiency, then we can reduce stress on the plant and on the playing surfaces, so the superintendents can take that time to focus on other things.”
TJ Winzeler, the Redox TurfRx Southwest Agronomist, is helping superintendents maintain courses with several challenges, most notably water.
“Down in the Southwest every drop of water that’s used is tracked,” he said. “Every drop of water that’s used is owned by someone and gets paid for by someone. It’s the number one limiting factor in being able to grow any sort of medium and being able to expand your business, in some cases.”
Commonalities between all golf regions, and all of agriculture, is finding the ability to do more with less. Redox TurfRx technology is backed by more than 30 years of research and proven results to do just that.
Low returns, high input costs and a murky trade environment have plagued many growers this year, but there’s at least one brighter spot for agriculture heading into 2026.
“Since September, we’ve seen some adjustments to the federal interest rate, and the downstream effects will impact farmers,” commented Redox Chief Financial Officer, Scott Moulton. “Right now, farmers are spending for their operating lines - getting funding for next year’s crop. Rates in recent years have been upwards of 8 percent. I can see that coming down with what the fed rate is doing. We should see some decreases coming in 2026, and equipment interest rates should soften as well.”
With volatile to higher prices for N, P and K, Moulton said many growers will seek ways to increase efficiency with inputs. Redox technology, including RDX-N®, is specially designed to help growers optimize inputs, while maintaining or enhancing yield and quality.
Born and raised in South Africa, Herman Els has covered a lot of ground before finding his ideal job. As Agronomy Manager at Limoneira, a large and historic farm in Southern California, Herman is overseeing a major cropping change.
They are switching hundreds of acres from lemons to avocados, and are in process of being America’s largest avocado grower.
Els said their new orchards are looking great, and Redox nutrition has been a big factor.
“It’s been really nice seeing these young orchards grow,” he said. “Our goal is to push them into production as soon as we can. I’m working hard on the root health, the soil health with products like H-85®, Rootex®, RootRx® and Rx Platinum®. They’re all amazing products and I’m seeing good responses. The trees are looking really good, and I’m getting lots of compliments on the vigor, the health of the flush and just the rate that these trees are growing.”
Sometimes in farming, more isn’t always better. Plant nutrition is a classic example where quality trumps quantity.
Plant charge balance is crucial to yield and quality. It’s not pounds per acre, but charge per acre that matters most. Redox Active Molecules (RAM) balance plant charge by donating or accepting electrons. RAM are part of every product at Redox Bio-Nutrients.
Our growing understanding of successful farming is evidenced by RDX-N, patented proven technology that replaces 50 percent of synthetic nitrogen, while maintaining yields and enhancing crop quality.
“We have a molecule or molecules in our extraction process of the botanical extracts that is more powerful than anything I have ever seen,” remarked Redox owner and CEO, Darin Moon.
Moon said his optimism for the company and technological advancements has never been greater.
South Carolina not only has hundreds of golf courses, it’s also where the first where American golf got it’s start.
Keeping turfgrass in great shape still is a major focus, especially considering the area sees extreme hold and cold conditions.
Sam Adams is in charge of making Paris Mountain Country Club look its best, and he relies on a host of Redox TurfRx products to get the job done.
“For me, you can’t put a price on having healthy greens,” he said. “We definitely don’t want to skimp on quality on our greens.”
TurfRx products in use at Paris Mountain include OxyCal, Platinum, Supreme and Xtraction, which he said provide tremendous stress relief, especially during summer heatwaves.
Adams has been superintendent at Paris Mountain since 2014. The course debuted in 1938.
Nitrogen is the most used macronutrient and has long been crucial to abundant crops. New understandings indicate there are ways to reduce nitrogen use while maintaining yield and quality, as well as improving the environment.
Our patented new technology RDX-N® is changing this landscape in an unprecedented way. A small amount of RDX-N, added along with liquid nitrogen applications, replaces up to 50 percent of the nitrogen needed for yield and quality.
“The results are going to blow you away,” said Brett Meyer, fifth-generation grower and founder of Meyer Seeds in Torrington, Wyoming. Meyer produced a strong corn crop with less liquid nitrogen this season, thanks to including RDX-N.
Following the positive results, Meyer is comfortable in recommending RDX-N, which is already gaining ground among his network or growers.
“If it doesn’t work on our farm, we don’t talk to our customers about it,” Meyer said. “RDX-N is on a lot more acres out here than where we intended, because our tissue samples were coming back so positive that we had faith in it. Everybody that we’ve had include it is seeing the same results. “
One of every three U.S. potatoes is grown in Idaho, and the industry has a well-earned reputation of quality and abundance.
Miller Research is a 50-year-old family business that contributes to that success. Their work, combined with others in the scientific community, led to a near doubling of Russet Burbank potato yields over the last 50 years.
Terry Miller and his son, Jeff, have rich academic backgrounds, which help them carry out crucial research for growers and companies at their office and research farm in Idaho’s Minidoka County.
It’s a great industry,” remarked Jeff Miller, company President, CEO and Principal Field Investigator. “These are very down-to-earth people, men and women who are very passionate about what they do. They love what they do. It’s more than just a job."
Miller Research works in a wide variety of areas, including efficacy of crop protection materials.
Family is the heart of farming and has been for generations. Lindsay LaMora spent much of her early years following along with her father, Jeff Alicandro, a crop consultant with a legendary reputation in New York.
Following Jeff’s passing, Linsday decided to follow in his giant footsteps, and is now working in a similar capacity with growers, through her work at Ag BioTech.
Lindsay says getting the best results for growers requires being a lifelong learner.
“It is important to start learning and never stop learning,” she said. “Especially when it comes to fertility. My dad definitely had that mindset from the beginning.”
Apples cover well over 20,000 acres in Wayne County, making it the third largest for this crop in the U.S.
Lindsay says she’s seen great success with advanced nutrition from Redox and Ag BioTech. She says biostimulants provide substantial benefits to growers, including helping orchards thrive through cold spells and other abiotic stress events.
With lackluster crop prices, volatile trade markets and rising fertilizer costs, there’s a lot of pressure on grower profitability. One helpful step is better managing input costs without giving up performance, which can be done through Redox technology, powered by RAM.
RAM, Redox Active Molecules, is a scientific term that describes molecules that give or take a charge, helping plant charge balance even in times of stress.
The Redox Bio-Nutrients product line contains RAM technology, including patented and proven RDX-N®, which provides unrivaled nitrogen optimization.
“We know synthetic nitrogen use in agriculture is often inefficient,” said Aimee Burke, Agronomy and Business Development for the Redox Midwest. “RDX-N allows the plant to extract nutrients and utilize them more efficiently. The outcome of that is better plant growth and higher yields.”
Also packing a major nutritional punch is Rootex®, which stimulates root branching. It’s also an excellent source of phosphorus.
“I think growers are understanding the key to healthy roots, and how Rootex can benefit that,” said John Parrish of the Midwest agronomy team. “This is especially important with expensive phosphorus prices.”
The XPRT Farm in Missouri Valley, Iowa, provides more than 500 acres of corn and soybeans, where growers can see firsthand the power of Redox technology.
“We’re just getting started and are so excited,” Burke said. “One of the core values of our company is to tell the truth. We have been sharing from the fields. We wanted to ground truth RAM Technology in the Midwest, and that’s what the XPRT Farm allows us to do.”
Find out more at https://www.redoxgrows.com/midwest/, for regular updates as well as detailed product information.
Farming carries a $41 billion a year impact in North Dakota, although growers face their share of hurdles, including salt buildup.
Corn growers Tye Schneider and Chad Ottmar have found a successful crop nutrition program with technology from Redox.
“I’ve been doing side by side trials,” Schneider said. “The Redox always looks better. It looks greener and always seem to fill up a little faster on that side than it does on the other during harvest.”
Corn is grown on about four million acres in North Dakota and is second only to soybeans in the state’s most valuable crops.
There’s a crowded field of biostimulants, although precious few have the history, track record of success, and now certification that Redox has.
The Fertilizer Institute has certified Mainstay® Calcium 2.0 as a certified biostimulant, which speaks directly to how it delivers on three crucial parts of successful farming: efficacy, safety, and composition.
Certification is an excitement development in our companies history, which has and will continue to be fueled to find the most advanced agronomic solutions for yield and quality.
“It is absolutely a pleasure to be associated with great people, the diversity and variety of crops geographically, and to be constantly looking for opportunities to take budget dollars and resources and get higher performance from those resources,” remarked Redox Corporate Agronomist, John Kelly.
With 180 million acres of crops, the Midwest is an essential food producer, especially when it comes to corn and soybeans.
More growers are utilizing cutting edge products from Redox Bio-Nutrients to get the most from their fields.
Part of the education process includes the XPRT Farm in Missouri Valley, Iowa, with more than 500 acres of corn and soybeans in production. Here, growers see firsthand the difference Redox technology provides.
There was a large turnout for three field days at the farm this summer.
RDX-N® is among the most promising products. This patented, stable botanical extra biostimulant provides unrivaled nitrogen optimization in the plant itself.
“Anybody can grow a crop in a nearly perfect year, but that doesn’t exist, so educating ourselves on what we can do on those years when it’s not perfect or far from perfect is the difference between success and failure, or good and great, and that’s what we want to focus on,” remarked Kenton Mehlberg, Operations and Production Manager from TIP, Incorporated in Wisconsin. TIP works with Redox products and Kenton attended the recent field day.
A key goal of the Redox Midwest team is to make sure growers clearly understand the value of using premium products.
“It’s all about how we take this technology, put it into play, and make it easy,” said Redox Midwest team leader C.R. Scebold.
Dedicated, diligent and competitive are characteristics that will take you far, and they are part of what makes Ben Jauregui in demand among California berry growers.
Jauregui is a PCA with AG RX, a valued company that works with Redox products. He shepherds 2,000 acres of crops along California’s Central Coast, predominately strawberries. Part of his successful formula involves continuing his hunger to learn more about the best agronomy.
“Being able to compete against myself, compete against previous years is crucial,” he said. “If I end up producing still more fruit, I still think I can learn something more from that. Maybe there’s a certain fertilizer that they did that allowed the plant to manipulate more flowers, that allowed for better size, or just going back to that flavor profile.”
Ben was featured earlier on Episode 81, Meet Ben NPK.
The Great Basin region features diversity of crops and weather that can change remarkable fast. Redox Sales Agronomist Brett Reed works with many growers to ensure their crops are performing at their peak.
He said a crucial factor for success among any field is achieving plant charge balance, where the focus is on charge per acre, not pounds of material applied per acre.
Reed said bio-nutrition, combining carefully-sourced nutrients with biostimulants, provides an incredible synergy that brings out the best in yield and quality.
“That synergy is like a great marriage,” he said. “You can always rely on having that partner help the other one. It’s amazing. A one stop shop.”
Some of his favorite Redox technology includes RDX-N®, Rootex®, RootRx®, diKaP® and PeneCal®.
For five generations spanning nearly a century, Pennsylvania’s Pine Valley Farms has been the epitome of two hallmarks in farming- premium quality and maximum yield.
Grower Kegan Wright and his family devote significant hours on their farm and greenhouses, growing an A-Z list of produce. Their customer base is varied, including three retail outlets.
Prioritizing the most effective nutrition, including a host of Redox technology, has been a big part of their consistently strong yields and premium quality. Their bountiful and beautiful harvests help the family navigate through an all-too common situation of disappointing produce prices.
“If you’re not valuing healthy, fertile soil, strong roots and strong plants, you might as well give up in this environment,” Wright said.
Accurate data about meaningful technology is vitally important to productive farm fields.
The Redox Research Farm is not only comprised of two PhD’s, but significant work is also carried out by the balance of the farm team.
The group works cohesively to maintain the crops on the Research Farm, as well as collect data that helps prove out the breakthrough technology provided by Redox.
“In order for farming to survive, we have to change the way we’re doing things,” said Faith Talley, who in three years has risen from intern to significantly more responsibility in the field. “I feel that Redox is a perfect example of that. They’re always trying to change the future, and not only help farmers grow where they’re at, but also provide solutions for them.”
California grows 90 percent of the nation’s strawberries, and many people are devoted to ensuring continued success for this $3 billion industry.
The Cal Poly Strawberry Center has been a model for practical research, with continued innovations in pest and disease fighting, as well as technology advancements.
One of the more visually captivating new technologies is a robotic harvester. After years of trial and error, there’s renewed optimism it will one day be a commercial reality.
“There’s a possibility that within 10 years, 50 to 60 percent at least, if not more, of the strawberries picked will be done by robots,” said Alex Gutierrez, Founder and CEO of L5 Automation.
The Strawberry Center has made steady strides in providing practical, grower-focused solutions.
“It gives me a lot of satisfaction to work in this industry because we see the things we are doing actually come to fruition” remarked Center Director Gerald Holmes.
Providing growers with effective plant nutrition is a balancing act alongside regulation and consumer demands.
Independent Ag Retailers, including AG RX along California’s Central Coast, play a pivotal role.
AG RX CEO Brian Lish said their expertise and product flexibility help them provide the best solutions to growers.
“At times I eat at McDonalds and it’s going to be the same just about everywhere you go,” he said. “I don’t believe in a McDonalds approach to ag retail. Our 21 pest control advisors know their customer’s intimately. While we have over 2,000 skus that we carry in inventory, they have the ability to identify the products that work best for their grower in any condition. That’s critical for us.”
Products from Redox Bio-Nutrients have been part of the AG RX inventory for about 20 years.
Aptly known as America’s breadbasket, the U.S. Midwest is a powerhouse for corn and soybean production.
Growers with generations invested in the land often seek ways to stay competitive during frequently volatile times.
The Redox Midwest team has generated growing interested in our bio-nutrition technology, combining highly efficient, impeccably sourced plant nutrition with synergistic biostimulants.
A key tool to help showcase Redox technology is the XPRT Farm in Missouri Valley, Iowa, featuring hundreds of acres of corn and soybeans.
“We start with a systematic approach to set a good foundation based upon science and agronomy and work from there,” said Redox agronomist Zach Carlson. “Let’s look at what the microbes are telling us. Let’s look at what the soil is telling us, because the relationship between soil and the plant is the one thing that is the most important.”
Products that have garnered attention in the Midwest include RDX-N®, groundbreaking nitrogen optimization technology that came from a decade of research and development.
Midwest growers should mark their calendars for the August 20 XPRT Farm Field Day. Register now to attend.
The dairy industry is not only a massive part of agriculture, but also a critical part of the U.S. economy and our nation’s food security.
The University of Idaho’s CAFE Project will provide a major boost, as the nation’s largest research dairy is on track to be up and running next spring. This high-tech facility will comprehensively cover major facets of the dairy industry, to help quantify and ensure healthy, productive herds.
“From an environmental perspective, this facility is going to be critical,” remarked Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association. “This will demonstrate to the public that what we do in the U.S. and Idaho dairies industries is protective of the environment, and that we are good stewards of the land, air and water.”
The research dairy will also look at cow nutrition as well as analyzing and working with manure to make it more of a marketable crop input.
Mireille Chahine of the University of Idaho said research dairy will provide an incredible amount of data, with health and nutrition key focal points.
“This is where the fit bit or smart watch type of technology will be used in this facility,” she said. “Here, the cow will wear a kind of a smart watch to know how many steps she’s taking a day, whether she’s in heat, whether we need to inseminate her, whether she’s getting sick. We would have the capability of knowing that that cow will have symptoms in three to four days in the future, which is amazing because we can separate her, call the veterinarian, look at her ration, ensure she is well taken care of, because animal welfare is a priority for us.”
“We like to eat well and dairy is a big part of that,” said Redox CEO, Darin Moon. “We don’t want it to reduce or go away. We want it to become more efficient and more visible, so that people can actually see what a great and incredible industry this is.”
Redox is among a host of private and governmental organizations that have provided significant contributions to make the research dairy a reality.
Strong relationships and providing excellent service are hallmarks to successful business. They have been keys to success for Alan Tarp of Integrated Crop in the Salinas Valley.
Tarp has worked with growers on crop nutrition for nearly 50 years, and he’s a big believer in Redox technology.
“Redox has become very integral in what I do,” Tarp said. “What Redox brings to the table are solutions that work.”
Tarp said some of his favorite Redox products include H-85™, Rootex™ and RootRx™. He added RDX-N® is showing promise in trial work in celery fields.
Tarp recently traveled 800 miles from Salinas to Idaho, including a stop to visit with his close friends at Redox.
“You can’t enjoy life unless you have good relationships with people,” he said. “You can walk around by yourself, but if you have people that you can count on, can call, associate with and learn from, those are the things that make life worth living.”
The average U.S. grower is over 58 years of age. The number of family farms in America is shrinking. For health and the well-being of our country, we need a strong contribution from the next generation. Fortunately, there’s a growing number of talented younger people getting involved.
Allisen Carmichael, Director of Operations with Sierra Pacific Farms in Ventura County in Southern California oversees day to day operations of their management of citrus and avocado orchards.
She said they take a regenerative approach to farming, with an emphasis on healthy soil.
“The best thing we can do to combat Mother Nature is to be prepared for it,” she remarked. “If we have healthy trees, then we are put in a better position to avoid as much crop loss as possible.”
Carmichael said Redox products are part of their crop nutrition, adding “they are high quality and help us enhance our plant’s ability to uptake nutrients.”
Sunny, warm conditions are key to crop development, but how can growers protect their crops when the inevitable heatwave hits?
Fortunately, Redox provides great technology to keep plants strong. diKaP® includes a powerful biostimulant along with excellent phosphorus and potassium nutrition to maintain plant respiration during stress events. The end result often leads to more favorable yield and quality during harvest.
Redox Chief Agronomic Officer Jared Sannar said other key mid-season nutrition options include H-85®, Mainstay® Si and Supreme®.
He said it’s very satisfying to help reduce stress in crops and for growers, who have such a large investment at stake.
“Hitting the yield, hitting the quality at a budget is so important, and that’s one part that we can help with,” he remarked.
Long term success in agriculture greatly benefits from smart innovation. New technology is not only tractors and software, it also includes crop nutrition.
Christopher Hight at Bonipak Produce in Santa Maria, California, is constantly innovating. As lab manager of a large grower/packer/shipper, his job includes in house soil testing and on-site tank mixing. He’s a certified crop advisor and helps growers achieve nitrogen management plans.
His nutrition program includes Redox technology to grow several dozen crops, which ultimately end up with customers far and wide through outlets such as Costco and Safeway.
Christopher will soon achieve a PhD from UC Davis in Soil and Biogeochemistry.
Those savvy enough to continually evaluate data have an edge on keeping their business successful.
David Holden of Holden Research and Consulting in Ventura County California has for many years helped companies, including Redox, evaluate products for their effectiveness.
His research has included more than 750 biostimulant type trials in the last 20 years, and Holden said well-researched biostimulants can significantly help growers.
“Generally, biostimulants are going to make a grower money,” he said. “There’s going to be a return on investment. I see them as insurance policies.”
Holden said stress relief is one of the biggest biostimulant benefits. One research focus he hopes will be emphasized is the “why” behind how this technology works.
The movie character Indiana Jones is one of the most iconic and adventurous characters in history. While Harrison Ford carried out his impressive acting as Indy, Dr. Richard Hansen has carried out similar adventures in real life – with a few major differences.
“Before he crashed in the airplane, he always jumps out and saves himself. We stay on the airplanes until after they crash,” Hansen said. “Indiana Jones was out plundering archeological sites to get the famed treasure. Our objectives aren’t the artifacts. Our objective is to tell the story. The artifact is a consequence, not the objective.”
Hansen is a world-renowned archeologist who has mapped and excavated 56 ancient cities in Central America, as part of the Mirador Basin Project.
He has spent 42 years working in the jungle, with jaguars, poisonous snakes and drug runners nearby. The Idaho native also has a long farming history, and supports learning from past civilizations for brighter, more sustainable future for our food and natural resources.
There’s a way to further maximize farm production and do it sustainably. It involves understanding redox potential and how it helps plants focus on growth, health and quality.
Dr. Olivier Husson, a world-renowned expert in plant and soil health, has identified a revolutionary approach of analyzing the pH and Eh of plants, to ensure they are in proper balance.
He said this critical analysis means stronger plants, less insect and disease pressure and, ultimately, healthier food for consumers.
“If you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know what your practices are doing and where they bring you, there’s almost no way that you can be at the right, balanced position,” Husson said.
He said the good news is there is ample evidence that keeping the right pH/Eh balance in fields is achievable and bolstered by new technology including handheld devices from Senseen that provide immediate analysis of plant nutrients, pH and Eh.
Innovation is a cornerstone of successful farming, and no one knows that more than grower Glenn Noma.
After a long, successful career with the large California vegetable farm, Tanimura & Antle, he has a creative new endeavor in the Salinas Valley – hydroponic strawberries.
Growing them in this unusual way provides many benefits, including providing berries to consumers during times when conventional operations are unable to fulfill.
Noma said Redox Bio-Nutrients has long been a key to his success, with diKaP™, Mainstay™ Calcium 2.0 and Mainstay™ Si among his proven winners.
“In my overall fertilizer budget, I was actually spending less per acre per year and getting better and higher quality yields,” he said. “Now I’m using it for hydroponic strawberries, and it has worked extraordinarily well.”
Glenn is a third-generation produce grower, and his past innovation includes designing a solar powered harvester.
American farmers continue to set productivity records, although they face many impediments to success. Pam Lewison in Washington State knows those struggles personally, and she’s working to keep agriculture vital and viable.
Lewison is research director at the Washington Policy Center’s Center for Agriculture. Her mission includes making sure their elected officials understand how legislation and regulation impact those growing their food. She also works with the media, providing articles that educate the public about why agriculture matters.
“If we use our words and share them appropriately with the media, we have the opportunity to make sure that people see us as who we are,” Lewison said. “I think that’s probably the most powerful avenue that we have available to us.”
Lewison and her husband operate JP Ranch, a forage farm in Moses Lake. They have been Redox customers for the past five years, including helping combat salt buildup in their soil, as well as nutrition for their alfalfa crop. As for diKap™, Lewison said “It’s fantastic. We get some extra tonnage, and it makes for some really beautiful bales of hay. We have nothing but good things to say about it."
California avocados are a quintessential high value crop. They are beloved by consumers and a big part of Cinco de Mayo celebrations, with 80 million pounds of fruit sold.
Grower Jason Cole in Santa Paula, California, said quality and sizing are vital for success, and he spends great care in the nutrition he uses to achieve that.
“We run a lot of humics and fulvics,” Cole said. “We use a ton of H-85, plus Rx Platinum, diKaP and Rootex…. Anything I’ve found spending on nutrition, as long as that fruit keeps coming in above industry average, I think it’s money well spent.”
Cole is Chair of the California Avocado Commission and said the industry expects another abundant avocado crop weighing about 375 million pounds. Future crops could be even heavier with new plantings throughout the state.
Growers can be poised for abundant crops, only to see their production take a major hit due to a stress event like a heatwave or cold spell.
Abiotic stress can be detrimental to any crop. A weakened plant can also be more susceptible to biotic stresses like pests and disease.
Redox Corporate Agronomist John Kelly said stress losses can be lessened when fields and orchards have proper nutrition that encourages strong plants, soil health, root growth and abiotic stress defense. He said diKaP™ has long proven itself as a tremendous boost in this area.
“It’s a powerful biostimulant that also includes phosphorus and potassium nutrition,” he said. “diKaP™ stimulates the plant for better respiration. With better respiration, there’s more energy ultimately coming into the plant, which means that plant now has resources to withstand stress.”
He said advancements in Redox technology can help growers succeed.
“I’ve never been more enthusiastic,” Kelly said. “Where there’s a motivation for change. Where there’s motivation to improve for higher crop performance, that’s where the opportunity is for Redox, to help identify what can be done to improve the bottom line.
Sustainable growing methods are garnering more attention and application in agriculture. Increased emphasis in Washington, D.C. on healthy eating could spur even more growth.
Amy Bruch of Cyclone Farms in Nebraska is helping interested growers shift from conventional to organic farming. Named Organic Farmer of the Year by a leading trade organization, Bruch runs AgriSecure, a consulting company to assist farmers.
“Our farm has adopted a lot of technology and a really interesting take on how to grow organic crops,” she said. “ We do it with a high level of management, agronomic focus, and marrying a nostalgic way of organic production with the latest and greatest in technology. That’s our bread and butter – helping others adopt some of those interesting techniques, and it has really been exciting for us.”
Since 2000, certified U.S. acreage for growing or livestock has nearly tripled. Organic sales account for about 3 percent of U.S. farm receipts, on less than one percent of the farmland.
Vernon Jones saw firsthand the power of Redox TurfRx® technology as a superintendent before his current position as an agronomist and account consultant for Plant Health Solutions.
As superintendent of The Polo Club in Boca Raton, Florida, he saw amazing results from a trial program on a struggling fairway. He expanded his use of TurfRx® products and has become a huge fan of the results.
He now helps superintendents save heartache and labor by helping their courses stay pristine, even when battling rain, insects, disease, cold spells and oxidative stress pressure.
“When you’re dealing with something that’s your livelihood, the way you put food on your table, you really can’t put a dollar amount on that,” he said. “The greens need to come first, regardless. If you can grow a healthier plant, it’s just a no brainer. It’s definitely worth the investment- it’s just shifting that mindset and those dollars to focusing on nutrition, instead of medicines.”
Florida golf is an $11 billion industry., with nearly 48 million rounds played each year.
Fifth-generation grower Brandon Hunnicutt is passionate about making a positive impact well beyond his farm in Giltner, Nebraska.
Hunnicutt is involved in leadership of many organizations, as he tries to best understand new technology and how he and other growers can improve in areas like synthetic nitrogen use, which has caused concern over impacts on groundwater and community health.
He said a key is for growers to understand and adopt new technology that helps both farm environment, providing it makes economic sense.
“If we start mixing certain tools together, we can maybe not get all of the answers, but we will start unlocking some things that will really change what we can do in production agriculture,” Hunnicutt said.
Hunnicutt serves as chair of the Nebraska Corn Board, is a board member of the National Corn Growers Association and the U.S. Grains Council. Additionally, he’s chair of Field to Market, works with the USDA on greenhouse gas studies and is helping African farmers better feed their population.
When near the nation’s capital, Richardson Farms is a must stop for many. This family owned and operated farm in White Marsh, Maryland is well known for its fantastic produce and amazing meals in their market.
The foundation of the business remains several hundred acres of vegetables, and Redox Bio-Nutrients is a big part of their quality harvests.
“Awesome track record,” said Brian Richardson, who manages their farm with his two uncles. “Our tomatoes and our melons – the dry fertilizer that we broadcast underneath the plastic culture has been reduced by 40 to 50 percent. I feed all of that with Redox products, and we’ve never had better results and better fruit than what we’re getting now.”
This fifth-generation grower said growing premium quality is mandatory for their success.
“In the vegetable and produce industry, quality sits at the top of the list above anything else,” he said.
Richardson Farms started in 1930. Find out more at: https://www.richardsonfarms.net.
Restoring our environment is as major focal point throughout the country, with billions of dollars spent each year. Soil reclamation projects are on the rise, including promising work being done in North Dakota with the help of Cody Hatzenbuhler of Pan Ag.
These projects involve restoring soil health in areas where degradation has occurred from numerous of factors, including excessive salt build up.
“For the state of North Dakota, it’s costing them probably $15-18 million per site to clean up,” Hatzenbuhler said. A dump and haul of the ailing soil is the usual tactic, which is costly and doesn’t allow for the virgin soil to remain.
Hatzenbuhler is using Redox Bio-Nutrients products Soilex and Mainstay ™ Calcium 2.0, along with an additional product from his home state that helps consume excessive salt. He said this combination is having a very positive impact, not only in reducing salt levels but making progress without massive dirt removal.
Agriculture has changed a lot over the generations. From the Industrial and Green Revolution to the use of digital technology, farming continues to evolve to stay competitive and meet customer needs.
The next revolution in agriculture may well involve farming for health –sophisticated inputs that have more profound impacts on plant yield and quality, leading to tastier, more nutritious food.
“We have to look to maximum output with minimum input,” said Redox CEO Darin Moon. “Not only is that the future from an environmental or world standpoint, it is the future from a human health standpoint, as well. That is, because we are doing that, we are growing healthier crops.”
Moon said there has never been a more exciting time for scientific discovery into plant nutrition. He said as growers understand and implement plant charge balance in their fields, the results will be positive for agriculture, our environment and consumers.
Robert Masson had an unusual path to Yuma, Arizona, and growers in the desert southwest are glad he made it.
After time in the U.S. Navy, as a researcher for a Midwest popcorn company and soybean breeding technician in North Carolina, Masson has been an agricultural extension agent for the University of Arizona in Yuma since 2019.
Masson works in several ways to help growers succeed, including contract field research with companies including ours, covering soil health, efficient nutrient uptake and water use efficiency.
He said occasional failure is an important part of putting maximum effort into research.
“Setbacks are essential,” Masson said. “That’s one thing that defines the American culture. … You get wiser after a failure. If you’re not failing, you should probably be dreaming a little bigger, as long as you can get the recovery.”
The Commodity Classic is one of the final shows in a very busy winter meeting season for growers.
This year’s activities in Denver once again attracted thousands of growers and industry officials, with hundreds of exhibitors and many educational sessions. The kickoff session featured a packed house to watch Redox CEO Darin Moon outline how growers can optimize their nitrogen use.
His message was well received by many, including Nebraska corn grower Brett Meyer.
“Darin is talking about doing things with less product with more efficiency,” Meyer said. “That’s where we’re going. Agriculture is heading that direction whether we like it or not, and Darin seems to be on the forefront of it.
Business of Agriculture host Damian Mason was among those who watched the Redox speech.
“There’s an openness to this information,” Mason said. “…these people understand this is the future and they’re embracing it.”
New USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins also attended the event. Her comments to the media included optimism to increase export opportunities for U.S. growers.
“I hope to begin making trade trips very soon across the world,” she said. “I’ve already begun conversations with several key, significant trading partners that I think will make a huge difference to our farmers and ranchers back home.”
Business of Agriculture host Damian Mason puts in extraordinary air miles during the winter meeting season, and he made time to visit our headquarters in Burley for the second straight year.
He toured the Redox research farm greenhouse and met with our head of research, Dr, Gifford Gillette. He also interviewed company president, Colton Moon.
Recently named as Top Ag Influencer at the FarmCon Conference in Kansas City, Mason said he was impressed with the cutting-edge technology at Redox.
“There are two things that you guys are at the front of the pack on and it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “You have products that can allow producers to reduce applications of synthetic nitrogen and phosphorus, and that is absolutely where the future is going. The fact is I’m surprised the future is not here more rapidly than it is.”
Mason said he expects there will be greater emphasis on healthier eating in the coming years. He said growers for a long time have frequently prioritized bigger harvests, but he thinks food as health care with a higher protein content and nutrient density will gain momentum – especially if growers see incentives for more nutritious crops.
Humic and fulvic acid are gaining popularity on the farm, and new scientific understandings should lead to an even brighter future.
“I think of humics and fulvics in agriculture as one of the greatest areas of opportunity for a farmer to bring biology into his system,” remarked Dr. Gifford Gillette, head researcher at Redox. “They really meet the needs placed upon us in agriculture right now from an efficiency standpoint.”
The two most documented benefits from these substances are an increase in root biomass and a boost in nitrogen uptake, but there are more than 60 different impacts that a humic substance can have on a crop.
Gillette said growers interested in humics and fulvics should look beyond a product label and ask questions to better understand benefits. Redox technology undergoes careful extraction and fractionation, so it provides consistent and highly targeted benefits.
The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) provides the biggest and what many feel is the best show of its kind in the world. This year’s events in San Diego attracted some 10,000 industry professionals from all over the world.
“I love seeing the new products that are coming out and being able to network with friends and other superintendents,” said James Rauhuff, Superintendent of Hawk’s Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Georgia, which utilizes Redox TurfRx™ technology. “This helps me make sure we’re staying at the forefront of our industry.”
The golf industry has been on a growth clip in recent years, and there are positive feelings that this trend will continue. In fact, Jeff White, immediate past president of the GCSAA described the industries current growth streak as “rocket fuel,” with many booms in recent memory.
The GCSAA event wrapped up with a stirring account from industry leader Rhett Evans on his climbing Mt. Everest and baseball legend Ozzie Smith, known as “The Wizard of Oz” for his incredible defensive skill at shortstop, receiving the Old Tom Morris award for his work to help propel golf to even greater heights in the future.
More than 10,000 turfgrass professionals are meeting in San Diego this week, for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Conference and Trade Show, the largest event of its kind.
The GCSAA show has been a staple for Dean Piller, longtime superintendent of Cordova Bay Golf Course in Victoria, British Columbia.
“Well, I think to be successful in anything you do in your life, you need to have connections and build strong relationships with friends,” he said. “People and companies that you can rely on. I’ve built those relationships coming to this show for 35 years, and I look forward to it every year.”
New technology is of interest of many attendees. Piller has long utilized Redox TurfRx™ products, and recently added TurfRx™ OsmoPro, which generated excellent results.
Longtime industry agronomist Scott Poynot attended along with two superintendents he works with in Louisiana – Kiwi Robinson of Pelican Point Golf Course and Scott LeBouef with Farm d’Allie Golf Club.
Like many superintendents in their region, Robinson and LeBouef needed quick action to deal with a rare heavy snowstorm early this year. They said the Redox TurfRx products they employed helped their greens come through the cold and snowy conditions without any significant issues.
Weather can be friend or foe to farmers, and two hurricanes since 2023 have been disastrous for many growers in the southern US.
Two years after Hurricane Idalia wreaked havoc, Hurricane Helene packed an even more powerful punch.
Pecan grower Buck Paulk of Shiloh Farms lost 19,000 trees during Idalia, and 23,000 more with Helene. Georgia is the nation’s largest pecan-growing state, and their growers suffered nearly $700 million in crop losses from the latest hurricane.
“I have orchards that I planted when I was a young man, they’re gone,” Paulk said. He said it may take a generation for his region to fully recover. A week after the disaster, President Biden toured Paulk’s farm to see the damage firsthand.
Photo Credit: Georgia Pecan Growers Association
Thanks to a program by The Fertilizer Institute, members of Congress are learning more about the essential elements to growing crops.
Allen Spray of Willard Agri Service and grower Bryant Lowe of Lakeside Farms in Delaware recently walked the halls of Congress, meeting with elected officials, their staff and Non-Governmental Organizations, to outline the importance of having sufficient tools to grow crops. They emphasized the Four R Program for fertilizer use – the right rate, source, placement and timing.
“It takes us as average everyday citizens to make the country what you want it to be, you have to get involved,” Spray said.
Both Spray and Lowe said the trip was worthwhile, with excellent dialogue. They mentioned following up with all parties in Washington, D.C. and being a future information source for them are critically important.
Nitrogen has long been the engine that has propelled agriculture to productive new heights. It sparked an agricultural revolution, benefitting farmers and helping feed the world.
While nitrogen has many positives, concerns have been raised regarding overreliance and in environmental areas.
Dr. Hugh Gorman of Michigan Tech is among those closely watching this situation.
Gorman said the process of producing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen is one of the great advancements in American history. He said he’s optimistic rewarding sustainable practices will help alleviate current areas of concern.
Gorman authored the book, “The Story of N: A Social History of the Nitrogen Cycle and the Challenge of Sustainability.”
New technologies, including those at Redox, are poised to help growers optimize nitrogen use in the future.
For many growers, crop nutrition has advanced beyond the traditional NPK strategy of old.
ValleyAg Consulting Services owner Tracy Miller works with farmers in California’s San Joaquin Valley to get the best results through the latest nutrition choices.
Miller said some of the most promising crop nutrition includes micronutrients like boron, cobalt and molybdenum.
He’s also a big proponent of bio-stimulants, including from Redox Bio-Nutrients.
“They’re almost mainstream already,” he remarked. “There’s a lot of use of them, at least with the growers I work with. I think that there is a real role that they are going to continue to provide versus traditional inputs. We’re probably going to have less chemical controls going forward, and we’re going to have to have tools that can boost the plant’s metabolism and immune system. This will enable us to overcome some of the pest challenges we have right now, specifically disease issues.”
As owner of ValleyAg Consulting Services since 2010, Tracy Miller works with growers in California’s San Joaquin Valley. His agricultural pedigree is long and impressive.
Although he grew up on a family farm and helped his father’s cling peach operation at a young age, his future career course wasn’t cemented until he helped his mother tend to their family garden.
“Every morning, I would wake up and run out to the garden, to check to see if anything happened,” Miller said. “It was probably about a week later that you would start to see the ground break and the plant would start to push up. That was so fascinating to me, that here’s this little seed that appeared dead and dry. There was life in it, and it burst forth…It was a real opportunity to see a crop from start to finish… it began to make me fascinated with how plants grow. It’s really a miracle of life.”
Miller is a proponent of growing strategies that improve soil health, provide strong plants and improved returns for growers. He’s bullish on new technology, including micronutrients and bio-stimulants, to help get there.
Trey Bouler fulfilled a longtime dream when he was named superintendent of a golf course. No doubt, work was needed at the Beau Pre Country Club in Natchez, Mississippi, although he has been more than up to the task.
The Beau Pre course is a beautiful one, but it struggled with multiple issues, including algae, encroachment and nematodes.
Enter Redox TurfRx™, including OxyCal™ to bolster calcium, NatureCur™ for root development, Supreme™ to help turf growth and K+™ for summer stress.
“I was very excited how fast I started seeing turnaround, which drew me in even more to Redox,” Bouler said. “It has been awesome.”
He said his TurfRx™ experience confirms his approach to not skimp on fertilizer expenses.
“We make our money in the golf course industry on our greens,” Bouler said. “That is not a place to skimp, at all. I’m a firm believer in the best nutrients possible for my budget. If I have to back off on something else, something else is going to be backed off on. I will not compromise on nutrition for my putting surfaces.”
Resilience is part of the DNA in agriculture, but there’s a massive difference when the adversity being faced is away from the farm and involves a loved one.
Grower James Rickert and his wife Casey faced such adversity when their young daughter Emersyn contracted Hemolytic-uremic syndrome caused by E.coli.
Earlier this year, Emersyn battled through a multi system shutdown, kidney failure, coma, seizures, neurological complications, a collapsed lung and multiple infections.
After 10 weeks in the hospital, Emersyn is home and vastly improved. She started her first day in kindergarten and even had a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus.
The Rickert family hopes Emersyn’s courage will inspire others facing huge life challenges.
“She’s my hero, and I don’t know how she does what she does every day,” Casey said. “She’s still processing the trauma in her own way. Nothing phases this kid. She is defying the odds after what she went through.”
“I look at life differently,” James said. “I realize that every day with my family is special. I have never appreciated it as much as I do today.”
Emersyn continues her recovery and recently made a Gingerbread house with a horse on top. She also put her Christmas request in to Santa Claus for a tiny dog.
The rural-urban divide in our country continues to widen. Mike Twining of Willard Agri-Service, one of our great ag retailers, is working hard to help bridge the gap between farmers and consumers.
Twining was among the speakers at TedX Talks in Arizona and Philadelphia. His speeches presented a compelling case for smarter food buying decisions and a continuation of sustainable agriculture, meaning doing more with less.
He said his work in this area has been very encouraging.
“It has been really exciting to see the engagement I’ve had,” Twining remarked. “It’s such a neat opportunity to get outside of my normal obit and talk to people, who are sometimes two or three plus generations removed from the farm. ... It has been really gratifying to see how excited they get to actually learn about it and talk with someone still involved in agriculture. I think the vast majority of people are genuinely curious and generally think positively about farmers and agriculture. That has certainly been my experience.”
Find out more about Mike’s talks on the TedX YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/user/TEDxTalks
More from Mike:
Saving the Planet With Your Food
Eating Our Way to a Cleaner Planet
The start of summer 2025 will mark the end of Michael Parrella’s near decade as dean of the University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Parrella also spent nearly 30 years as a key agricultural figure in California at UC Davis and UC Riverside.
As retirement nears, Parrella said he’s optimistic that research at the university level and through Redox and others in the private sector will help growers do more with less.
“Ultimately what we really want to do is grow a healthy plant and use less traditional fertilizer,” Parrella said. “Less nitrogen and less potassium. I think the work with micronutrients is going to enable us to do that. That’s a huge part of dealing with sustainability of agriculture and healthy soils moving forward.”
He said he’d like his time at the University of Idaho to be remembered for two primary areas: hiring the best early career faculty possible, supporting the existing faculty and having updated facilities for them to carry out effective work.
As their farm entered a rough patch, fourth generation orchardist Kaitlyn Thornton in Tonasket, Washington, ventured into social media to reach a larger audience.
Her engaging approach has elevated her into a popular agricultural influencer, who now regularly reaches millions of people with photos and videos of their apple and pear harvests, cultural practices and everyday farm life.
As the average farm operator continues to get older, Thornton said there are many opportunities for Gen Z to contribute. She said her generation has the knowledge and interest in helping, but many lack self-confidence and need a boost from the older generations.
You can follow Kaitlyn at Apple Girl Kait on Instagram and TikTok and Kaitlyn Thornton on LinkedIn.
Potassium is one of the most used crop inputs. Redox Lead Agronomist John Kelly says it also represents a key opportunity for growers to improve their bottom line.
“I often feel like of all of the macronutrients, potassium is the one nutrient that represents opportunities in crops,” he said. “In other words, better potassium nutrition can enhance yield and quality.”
Potassium regulates water and nutrient uptake, and movement within the plant. It also plays a key role in plant charge balance. The plant must balance itself electrically, with an equal amount of negatively and positively charged elements. Potassium is responsible for about 80 percent of the positive charge. When it’s out of balance, the plant must allocate excessive resources, excessive energy in getting back into balance. In the process of doing that, yield and quality potential are diminished.
Kelly said applying more potassium isn’t always the best solution in growing crops.
Early season crop growth, during the cell wall formation stage, an oversupply of potassium can effectively block other positively charged elements, from being taken up in the plant, harming crop quality.
Kelly said improving soil health is a crucial ingredient in crop performance, and inputs and practices can improve it very quickly.
He said more growers are taking positive steps in this direction.
“We’re seeing less about just throwing pounds out without any regard for timing or input, and targeting input and performance,” Kelly said. “When it comes to potassium, you can really up the performance potential of those crops.”
N, P and K are standard inputs on farms across the U.S., but new scientific understandings can make a huge difference their efficient use.
Phosphorus is fundamental to everything in the plant. It facilitates the transfer of sunlight energy to chemical energy that leads to plant growth.
A lot of phosphorus applied in fields gets tied up and never makes it to the plant. This inefficiency is a growing concern on efficiency and environmental fronts.
Redox Lead Agronomist John Kelly said Rootex™ provides an excellent source of phosphorus with biostimulants. The combination stimulates lateral root branching and increases specialized proteins in the root system, which promote drought stress tolerance.
Kelly said Redox technology brings efficiency and helps farm profitability.
“While it’s great to understand the technology, the thing that gets me most excited is the consistency of these benefits across crops and professional turf grass,” he said. “The efficiency is there, and the consistency of performance is there.”
Many growers seeking success for the long term continually look for the best technology, including plant nutrition. Bio-stimulants are a promising frontier for many, and greater scientific understanding of what they can do is helping the process.
Distinguished professor Dr. Patrick Brown of UC Davis is one of the world’s foremost bio-stimulant experts. He’s the chair of this year’s Biostimulants World Congress, and said greater understanding of specific biostimulant benefits is crucial to their adoption. He said many bio-stimulant products have been sold with broad statements, which won’t be sufficient moving forward.
“I think there’s an innate recognition and interest amongst farmers that a more biological approach would be useful, and at least a hope, if not yet a belief, that bio-stimulants might be part of that solution,” Brown said.
Used advanced data for agronomic decisions continues to gain ground, especially as margins tighten for many crops.
Vice President of Product Trials for Total Acre, Brian Mattix, facilitates trials with participating growers to determine the best path to increasing their return on investment.
He said analytics can be a huge component to maximizing a grower’s returns.
“Data is invaluable if it is accurate and it focuses on fixing the right problems,” Mattix said. “You’re not going to fix all of the problems, so you’ve just got to work on fixing the right problems and having a good plan to address those problems.”
Redox has more than a dozen trials with Midwest growers with our pathway sequential program, including Mainstay Si™, RDX-N™ and Banx™.
Mattix said too much data analysis may lead to fixing the symptoms, instead of trying to put plans together by studying good trend analysis and getting in front of the problem moving forward.
Agriculture will play a fundamental role to help ensure good health for future generations. Scientific advancements are key to more nutritious food that is grown in an environmentally and economically sustainable way.
Dr. Debatosh Das recently joined the Redox team, and he is diving deeper into helping unlock the full potential of our premium plant nutrition and carefully sourced biostimulants. He said plant charge balance, or Redox Homeostasis, is at the very foundation of productive farms.
“Balancing the charge in plants helps them avoid expending energy on maintaining charge homeostasis,” Das stated. “When nutrients are supplied in the correct ratios, the plant doesn’t need to divert energy to correct charge imbalances. Instead, that energy can be used more efficiently for growth, development, and ultimately increasing yield.”
Redox products are specially formulated to help with plant charge balance.
Das said new, more exciting discoveries appear on the horizon, as he continues to help Redox Bio-Nutrients fulfill its vision of being the catalyst for change, by redefining agronomic standards with the best verified solutions.
As harvest season largely winds down, it’s time to give strong consideration to steps that will aid your crops next year.
Proper nutrition is a great way to add carbohydrates to your trees and vines, which provide many benefits.
"A lot of the reproductive growth for next year occurred during those stressful months,” remarked Redox lead agronomist John Kelly. “There’s a high probability that many of the orchards did not have the energy necessary for adequate bud differentiation. What that means is that many of the orchards did not have the energy necessary for adequate bud differentiation. What that means is it’s all that much more important that we give that plant a lot of stored energy for next spring to protect what it will produce, because there’s a probability that the heat from this summer means lower set next spring. We need as much energy as possible to maintain that crop.”
Kelly and Redox Sales Manager Jared Sanner agree Banx™ is an excellent choice to boost trees and vines following harvest, as it provides an effective nutrition boost from potassium, phosphorus, zinc and boron, as well as excellent abiotic stress defense.
Potatoes are in the upper echelon in importance to the world’s diet, yet many have little idea of what it takes to get them from farm to French fry.
Dustin Begovich intends to change that.
The Idaho Studio filmmaker is nearly complete capturing two years’ worth of footage, and he soon shift to editing the interviews and activity. The documentary film, SPUDS, should have its first airings in 2025, and Redox is a sponsor.
“It is important that I’m reaching the consumer at their level and walking alongside them,” he said. “I want to bring them into agriculture and farming and help them understand it from more of a layperson’s perspective. … As much as this is a large project for the industry to make sure that their story is out there, it’s coming from a perspective of your average person that’s never thought ‘where the heck did that potato come from?’
Find out more about Dustin’s film and follow how it progresses at https://spudsmovie.com.
Farmers are the key link in keeping bountiful, affordable food to feed the world. There are many others that help growers do their work, including ag retailers.
“If you just look at the top 100 ag retailers, as far as the biggest ones in the country, the last couple of years, it has been over $40 billion worth of products and services that have been provided to farmers,” remarked Daren Coppock, CEO of the Agricultural Retailers Association. “It’s a significant contribution, and essential to raising the food that we need in the country and around the world.”
Coppock has led the ARA since 2009, and said every aspect of agriculture, including retailers, continues to evolve and become more complex. New areas include artificial intelligence and the rise of biological products, including biostimulants.
He said the ag retail industry has a lot of optimism for the future, although areas to watch incudes impacts the interest rate environment and a lack of sufficient labor.
American agriculture not only has a wide range of crops and growing methods, there are also a wide variety of backgrounds among the farming community.
One case in point is Tommy McMurren of Five Patriots Farms in Illinois, a farmer, veteran, crop consultant and ag history afficionado whose Instagram page, tattooed agronomist, reflects another of his passions.
A common thread among those in agriculture is a dedication to getting the best results in the field, by growing their knowledge of new technologies, including in crop nutrition.
“We have evolved,” McMurren said. “When I first started working with clients, it was the very basics. Here’s our chemical program. Here’s our fertility program. Working with companies like Redox, I do have people that are more open to looking outside the box, that we need to be doing something different. We have stagnated. Even if it’s not a monetary thing, it’s more of just a preservation of the farm.”
Third party research is crucial to making sure agricultural inputs work as advertised, and David Holden has been a trusted evaluator for many companies, including ours.
Holden Research and Consulting in Ventura County has worked with more than 100 crops, ranging from avocados to zucchini.
Holden has carried out at least 750 biostimulant-type trials in the last 20 years. He said biostmulants hold promise in fighting abiotic stress, in particular.
“I have quite often seen a reduction in the effect of various diseases, mites and insects when you use some of these products,” he said. “In other words, healthier plants are happier plants, and they live under stress situations better.”
Holden said his research helps show how biostimulants work, but growers would be interested in knowing why they are working. He said better answers to those questions would entice more farmers to try this newer technology.
Thirty years in business is no easy feat. It was in 1994 that Redox started in business and speaker, podcaster and author Damian Mason branched out with independent work.
Damian travels across the U.S. for keynote addresses to agricultural groups and hosts three podcasts, including The Business of Agriculture. He provides insight and commentary on critical subjects in a way that few others can.
He said he expects an increasing call for reducing overall synthetic nitrogen in agriculture, a reduction in acreage in future years based on which ground is best suited for farming, more of a premium paid for better-tasting food and the likelihood of reduced food demand from China based on expectations their population will plummet within the next years.
As for any anxiety over a potential drop in farm income, he pointed out that the recent track record for growers has been excellent.
“I think the mode is a little doomy and gloomy that perhaps is warranted,” he remarked. “Here we are in the first year of a downturn. It’s good to keep in mind that the three years prior to this were the highest agricultural income years in the history of the United States of America.”
Find out more about Damian at DamianMason.com.
Growing up on a farm helped Ben Jauregui form his deep appreciation for agriculture, and it shows in his work.
As a Pest Control Advisor working at AgRx, one of our ag retailers, Ben guides decisions for about 1,800 acres of crops on California’s Central Coast, with strawberries commanding the greatest acreage.
“The most important thing is trust,” he said. “Carrying that relationship with the growers to where they can trust you, especially with the decisions that we’re making every week. There’s a lot of money at stake.”
Every weekday, Ben starts his day at 6:30 am. With the help of a co-worker, they walk every acre, every week. They write recommendations, and after a spray or if they find an area of concern, they will return and review that crop within three to four days.
Ben is active on social media, as he wants to show off crops and many longtime farmers. He’s on Instagram and LinkedIn at #BenNPK.
From the small town of Pauanui, New Zealand, to Gonzales, Louisiana, is 8,000 air miles and a world of difference. That’s the trek Mike “Kiwi” Robinson made as a young adult, and he’s now running the highly regarded Pelican Point Golf Club in the Bayou State.
Louisiana summers usually come with heat and tremendous humidity, so Mike has countered with well thought out plant nutrition from the Redox TurfRx™ line, with a variety of products as stables, including K+, NatureCur, C-85, Supreme™, and CA.
He said Redox not only helps keep his course in great shape, it has taken a significant amount of his stress away.
“Apart from having healthy turf, the biggest thing I get from using Redox is my stress levels are down,” he remarked.
California is a world leader in strawberry production, growing $3 billion of the fruit annually. Getting the most out of the crop was the focus of the annual Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Strawberry Center Field Day.
Areas covered included non-chemical pest and disease solutions such as bug vacuums and the use of UV-C light for disease suppression. A myriad of other issues were addressed, including workplace efficiency and safety, as well as mechanical ag plastic removal and recycling.
“The thing that impresses me the most is the variety of innovative products,” remarked Leo Stoeckle, a longtime strawberry industry official. “Everything from fertility products to ag chemicals to disease control to strawberry genetic resistance. We get the whole gamut here.”
The Cal Poly Strawberry Center recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and is operated in partnership with the California Strawberry Commission.
Agricultural research is the cornerstone of productive farms and abundant food. The investment Redox Bio-Nutrients has made continues to grow and pay dividends.
“The is really a banner year for Redox,” said Head of Research, Dr. Gifford Gillette. He said the addition of Dr. Debatosh Das to the team and a second year for Faith Talley, who started as an intern and now works with the research team on carrying over protocols and adding new ones.
The understanding of and benefits from biostimulants continue to grow, leading to rising optimism about the ability for this technology to help growers.
“Dr. Das has put together a 56 biostimulant mode of action checklist,” Gillette said. “We probably never will measure all 56 of the modes of action, but they’re all on our radar. This matches well with what we know about the science of biostimulants in agriculture and what they do for crops.”
The global biostimulant market has seen rapid growth, with estimates that the value of sales may triple within the next decade.
Margins for farmers are tight, so there’s more emphasis than ever on finding innovative new ways to innovate and stay in the black.
Dave Handsaker is with AGNETWORX in Iowa, which helps efficiently connect farmers to new technology and better understand its effectiveness.
He said, with corn and soybean prices down, growers are especially interested in increased efficiencies and maximizing production wherever possible.
Matt Rohlik with ARVA Intelligence helps boost revenue for growers, by making them aware of incentives available from consumer-packaged goods companies to help sustainability through agronomic practices, including reducing commercial or synthetic inputs, split applying nitrogen, foliar feeding, tillage, cover crops and biologicals.
Shane Forney with Sentinel Fertigation helps growers maximize efficiency by leveraging satellite imagery to help growers improve nitrogen recommendations throughout the growing season, all done without a negative impact on yields.
Handsaker, Rohlik, and Forney were among the speakers at the Farmer Innovation Forum in Omaha, presented by Redox.
Hawk’s Ridge Golf Course in Ball Ground, Georgia, has many rave reviews, and for good reason. However, maintaining the course isn’t easy.
The hot, humid climate is a challenge, but course superintendent James Rauhuff and his team do excellent work. Rauhuff credits Redox TurfRx™ as a key part of his success. In fact, his course greens actually aged in reverse since improvements were made to their nutrition program.
“I firmly believe one of the main reasons was due to the Redox line of products,” Rauhuff said. “The way those products perform is superior to anything else that I have used. Combining Redox products, optimum soil chemistry, root growth and health, and an ideal air to water relationship has provided the soil microorganisms a conducive growing environment which I believe has helped reverse the aging of our greens.”
The par 72 course was designed by Bob Cupp and has plenty of beautiful features, including a centerpiece waterfall on hole 15.
If you play a round at Hawk’s Ridge, keep an eye out for Ziva and Duke, James’s German Shepherds that are so loved that members now carry treats in their golf bags to give to them as they’re on the course.
The Midwest is a powerhouse in food production, with more than 127 million acres of crops. Corn and soybeans are by far the largest acreage in the region.
Buoyed by our 30-year track record in other larger agricultural regions, we have expanded our reach into America’s Heartland, providing flagship and new technology to help corn and soybean crops thrive.
The first new growers introduced to Redox are enthusiastic about this promising technology.
“I’m really excited looking ahead, of gaining a greater relationship and partnership,” said Kurt Grimm of Precision Farms and NutraDrip Irrigation in Kansas. “This will help us better understand where the products fit, how to use them, and ultimately how we can do things better for our growers – not only for our own farm, but for the growers we work with. Understanding that it’s not about pounds per acre, it’s about the balance and the energy of getting the nutrients into the plant.”
In addition to introducing Banx™ and Mainstay™ Si to a broader audience, the Midwest Pathway™ Program includes our exciting new nitrogen optimization product, RDX-N.
Agriculture is fundamental to all, yet precious few understand all that it takes to get food from farm to fork.
Dustin Begovich is on a mission to boost ag literacy in an engaging way. As head of Idaho Studio, he has embarked on a year-long project to make a full-length documentary movie. SPUDS will chronicle the 2024 potato season, from planting through harvest, covering many aspects of the industry.
Begovich said, in order to have an effective movie, it needs to entertain as well as inform.
“I’m doing anything to make it entertaining,” he said. “Luckily, this is a very conversational type of interview film, so people do bring out their personalities, and I’m finding unique ways to show how the industry works without making it drone on. Fun is the goal.”
Redox is excited to be the exclusive fertilizer sponsor of SPUDS, and we keep you posted on progress. Grower Blake Matthews of Oakley, Idaho, whose farm is powered by Redox, will be featured in the movie.
Find out more at spudsmovie.com.
The West is in the middle of a record-shattering hot spell, fueling concern that crops and turfgrass could be harmed.
Fortunately, there are ways growers and golf course superintendents can help this situation.
Redox Bio-Nutrients has an array of technology to help plants through abiotic stress events such as excessive heat.
Redox Chief Agronomic Officer Jared Sannar says products that can help plants better withstand prolonged hot spells include diKaP, Oxycom Calcium and H-85. This technology aids abiotic stress defense, keeps the plant hydrated, aids in water retention in the soil profile and stimulates root growth.
Redox Turf Rx Sales Manager Todd Scott says K+ is a popular and effective choice by superintendents to help combat heat impacts on their courses.
Scott says it’s helpful to understand the basic agronomic principal of achieving Redox homeostasis, or plant charge balance, which is a foundational part of keeping plants at their productive best.
From humble beginnings on a Georgia farm, Donnie Cochran has soared to heights few have experienced.
Cochran broke historic barriers as the first African American pilot in the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, as well as the first African-Americana Commanding Officer and Squadron Leader.
The Blue Angels showcase patriotism and incredible skill as they perform shows far and wide. Their coordinated maneuvers reached speeds of more than 400 miles per hour, with as little as 18 inches between each aircraft.
Aviation and farming are his two passions, and he’s heartily pursuing the later through building up the farm he grew up as one of 12 children. Cochran is working with Ag Nutrients, powered by Redox Bio-Nutrients, for nutrition for his young pecan orchard.
He said he learned many important lessons while serving America and said three critical attributes for success in life are ACE, attitude, character, and enthusiasm.
Cochran’s book, Glad to Be Here, chronicles his amazing journey, as well as inspirational insight into making the most of your life. Glad to Be Here represents the motto of the Blue Angels and is available at Amazon.com.
California is a powerhouse for strawberry production, growing about 85 percent of the U.S. crop. Berries are susceptible to insect and disease pressure, and that’s where the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Strawberry Center comes into play.
“Pathology, entomology, and innovation – those are the three areas of emphasis for us,” said Gerald Holmes, who has served as center director since its inception in 2014.
The Strawberry Center is a partnership between Cal Poly and the California Strawberry Commission, with the goal of increasing the sustainability of the industry through research and education.
The Center’s annual field day will be held August 8, when hundreds will gather to get the latest on research projects, including the battle against harmful insects and soil-borne pathogens.
You can find more information on the center at strawberry.calpoly.edu
The best sustained success in agriculture happens with a healthy growing environment. The University of Idaho’s new Center for Plant and Soil Health in Parma is a welcome addition to the landscape.
“The new center is a much-needed advancement,” remarked Margie Watson of J.C. Watson, an onion grower-packer shipper with more than a century in business. She also served as the mayor of Parma. “This brand new, wonderful facility is going to take us to another level. We have to have researchers in agriculture, with this changing world, and they have to have facilities to go and do the research.”
“I see evidence that the work we do really does impact the industry,” said Mike Thornton, Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of Idaho. “I see it on a small level with individual growers, but also on a larger scale. For example, our onion industry has adopted drip irrigation over the last decade and a half. … To see that rapid adoption tells me that we’re really making an impact.”
“The key part is that my knowledge helps the grower and all of our producers reduce the impact of crop diseases on their bottom line,” Juliet Marshall, Plant Sciences Department Head, Professor and Plant Pathologist at the University of Idaho. “{It’s an economic and a food safety issue.”
Thornton and Marshall said research conducted in Idaho can also assist growers elsewhere in the U.S.
The $12.1 million dollar facility encompasses 9,600 square feet and is a welcome addition to the small town of Parma, where the University of Idaho has had a research presence since 1922.
Georgia is far and away the nation’s leading peanut producer, with annual production greater than the next six states combined.
One of their leading voices is Tyron Spearman, who has been working in a variety of different jobs in the peanut industry for more than 50 years. His resume includes a decade as Executive Director of the Georgia Peanut Commission, President of the American Peanut Council, heading up the Peanut Farm Market News publication, and manager of the National Peanut Buying Points Association. Interestingly, the association’s founder was peanut farmer, America’s 39th President, and Nobel Prize winner, Jimmy Carter.
Spearman said the industry continues to explore new uses for peanuts, including using peanut oil for future jet fuel and to help bolster nutrition of eggs and chicken meat.
Georgia produces about three billion pounds of peanuts a year, more than half of the U.S. crop.
Spearman has single-handedly grilled countless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches over the decades as an ambassador for the industry.
While much in agriculture and the science behind crop nutrition have changed since Redox Bio-Nutrients started business in 1994, our company’s founding principles have not.
Integrity, sound agronomic knowledge, and the continual quest for scientific advancements have defined Redox since the first days Darin and Val Moon started operations with John Kelly.
Today, Redox technology helps growers succeed throughout the U.S. and internationally, covering a wide variety of crops, both conventional and organic.
Owner, founder and CEO Darin Moon said with greater scientific understanding and growth in sustainable farming, the future for Redox is bright.
“I’ve been fascinated with it for years and I’m even more fascinated now, with the ability of plants to grow and how we manage that, to get the most nutrition per acre with the least amount of input and damage to the environment,” Moon said. ““I’m more excited today than the day I started the company.”
Our technology helps create long term farming success through Redox Homeostasis, a 50-50 balance between positive and negative electrical charges during nutrient uptake. The less plants need to work to achieve Redox Homeostasis, the more they will spend ensuring positive outcomes, including yield and crop quality.
The Southern California Coast maintains a strong agricultural industry despite a host of challenges, including ever-marching urbanization.
A sometimes-overlooked key to productive farming is the role agronomists play in guiding positive outcomes.
Working in the Oxnard area, Fernando Mendez of Buttonwillow Warehouse Company is among those working to get the most out of every acre planted. He is a PCA, CCA, and California Nitrogen Management Specialist who works to ensure that vital nutrition is utilized for strong plants, abundant crops, and sustainable farming.
He works with growers of a wide variety of crops, including avocados, citrus, cut flowers and a variety of berries, including strawberries.
“I’m always looking for the best for the growers,” he said. “That includes sustainability, with good results, and helping the grower to make money.”
Oxnard is an important region for berries and is often mentioned as strawberry capital of the world.
The California Coast is where a significant amount of the nation’s vegetables is grown, but that bounty doesn’t always come easily.
Frankie Orozco grows for Dole Fresh Vegetables in the Oxnard area, working with his team to grow crops including celery and romaine lettuce.
He works with Redox Bio-Nutrients to provide nutrition for his crops and said the newer technology has yielded favorable results.
“There’s a lot of positive things I have seen using biostimulants,” he said. “Just itself, being able to reduce inputs, whether it be fertilizers or pesticides, and just starting to be more friendly to our soil. Starting to give back slowly, being more sustainable and leaving something good for the next generation to come.”
California produces about 75 percent of the U.S. celery crop, and about 80 percent of the nation’s romaine lettuce.
Farmers far and wide face challenges in growing crops, but growers in highly-urbanized Southern California navigate through a rather-unique set.
Home to more than three million people and stunning real estate value, Orange County farmers continue to grow a variety of high value crops.
Mark Lopez, Vice President of Orange County Land Management Services, has successfully grown crops in creative places for a quarter century. He said the expensive conditions mandate he does his job right every time out.
“We can’t afford to make mistakes,” he remarked. “Between the pH in the soil and in the water, we’re trying to make it optimally so we can grow. Those that don’t do what we do, you won’t be as fortunate.”
One of the most unusual places Lopez grows crops is the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.
Lopez and his team utilize Redox Bio-Nutrients products in their inputs to grow a variety of crops, including strawberries, carrots and green beans.
California supplies 95 percent of the U.S. avocado crop, although growers don’t always have an easy path to success.
In Ventura County, grower Jason Cole continues their family avocado heritage that his grandfather started more than 50 years ago. He credits a new nutrition program as part of their successful farming formula.
“We keep breaking our own records,” he said. “2020 was just a tremendous year for our ranch. Again in 2022, we broke our records on total yield and per ranch yield/per acre return on volume and pounds. Now in 2024, we’re only about 10 percent harvested right now, but the ranches we’ve picked are way ahead; just breaking all of the yield records for those particular sites.
A big part of their nutrition upgrade involves Redox Bio-Nutrients technology, as Cole employs several Redox products.
“After college graduation in 2009, I came right home and went to work,” he said. “We probably do nothing the same agronomically today that we were doing back then.”
California avocados are a huge part of Cinco de Mayo, which corresponds well with the industries harvest and marketing season.
Brian Bonlender has found a great formula for running a successful golf course. As longtime superintendent at the historic West Bend Country Club in Wisconsin, he overseas an experienced staff and keeps the course in great shape through a strong nutrition program of Redox TurfRx products.
“The healthier the plant, the easier your job becomes,” he said. “It’s all about health. It’s all keeping the best conditions possible on a daily basis. It’s consistency.”
Brian began at an entry level job at the country club 25 years ago. Since the early days, he graduated with a horticultural degree and has risen to the superintendent’s role. His tenure, tenacity, and continual tinkering to provide the best nutrition to his turfgrass have served West Bend well.
Keeping the course in great shape takes careful planning, as the country club is within 30 miles of Lake Michigan, so temperatures can stay low for much of the year.
“The joke is ‘keep your winter jacket in your car until the Fourth of July, take it out, hang it up, and on the fifth put it back in’,” he remarked. “We’ve seen snow in May. We’ve seen 85 degrees in May. It really keeps you on your toes.”
No subject in technology garners more interest than artificial intelligence. The days of AI as futuristic science fiction are in the past. The use of AI in farming is growing, and it holds a lot of promise, according to UC Davis Professor, Isaya Kisekka.
“AI has been applied to a lot of aspects in agriculture,” Kisekka said. “For example, it’s being applied in plant breeding, robotic fruit harvesting, we apply it in irrigation and nutrient management, precision weed control, and all these things.”
Kisekka said he understands why some people have reservations with this technology, but it continues to improve and will offer a wide range of applications for growers.
“My dream would be, one day for us to have an autonomous irrigation system – an irrigation system that knows what to do, how to do it, and it can learn from what is has done.”
Federal Ag policy is complicated and crucial for growers across the country. Fortunately, there are analysts like Jim Wiesemeyer to help clarify and contextualize action from the nation’s capital.
Wiesemeyer works at Pro Farmer and has served as one of the top ag policy analysts for decades – all the way back to the Reagan and Carter Administrations. He is still going strong, providing regular updates, and speaking to growers and agricultural groups across the country.
While the Farm Bill, trade, labor, and the Presidential race command a lot of energy, Wiesemeyer said sustainability is also a key issue that’s gaining momentum.
“Agriculture is rebranding right now to be a participant at that sustainability table,” he said. “They’ve learned some lessons. I think it’s a good sign. But agriculture wants farmer sustainability, that’s called income sustainability, and I think there’s enough to go around.”
You can follow Wiesemeyer’s work at ProFarmer.Com.
U.S. growers have benefitted from better machinery, improved varieties, and hi-tech advancements. Biostimulants are an emerging frontier in growing healthy, abundant crops.
While plant biostimulants have yielded many positives, additional effort is needed to add clarity and consistency to their definition and regulation.
“We really feel confident in a lot of these products moving forward, that growers are going to have an array of new options to deal with things like drought, or challenges that they have continuing to increase their yields, and doing it cost effectively” remarked Nick Young, Environmental Program Manager at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. “It’s an exciting time. There hasn’t been a time like this in 50 years at least, where there is so much innovation happening that can benefit this industry.”
Young is among those working at the state and federal levels, including with the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials (AAPFCO), for uniform fertilizer regulation, protecting growers and consumers, and fostering environmental stewardship. One goal is standardized, easy to understand fertilizer labels.
At the federal level, Congress is working on a bill that would bring a more consistent regulatory approach and clear definition for plant biostimulants, which would help farmers, consumers, and regulators. The bill is currently part of the Farm Bill package, which is sweeping legislation to help American agriculture and consumers.
As work continues to bring a more consistent definition and approach to plant biostimulants, those who utilize this technology see tangible benefits in healthy, sustainable food production.
“It’s much more of a systems approach to management to achieve consistent, sustainable and profitable gains in crop production,” said Mike Twining, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Willard Agri-Service, a longtime ag retailer working with Redox Bio-Nutrients. “That’s really where Redox shines, is having a systematic approach to help growers.”
“I believe we will look back 10 years from now and we will say the biological movement, however you want to define that, with companies like Redox and I hope Willard Agri-Service, it’s going to be like hybrid seed corn, in terms of how it transforms what we’re thinking and doing about crop production, the way we’re growing crops, and our ability to utilize plant nutrition to produce profitable yields,” Twining said.
Georgia row crop farmer Winston Rentz has a busy and productive life. The third-generation grower farms peanuts, cotton, blueberries and cattle. He and his wife, Beth, also raise three young children.
Farming is a balancing act, but Winston said he benefits from many positives- a supportive wife, hard-working father, solid labor force, and strong nutrition program for his crops, including from Redox Bio-Nutrients.
“Nutrition for our crops is definitely number one on the list,” he said. “If you don’t have good nutrition, you won’t have a good crop.”
Winston works with Ag Nutrients agronomist Clay Kolbie, and he had exceptional results with Redox products on his blueberries and peanuts.
Walter Pritchett has done exemplary work at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky, elevating their golf course from unranked status to the top echelon of Golf Digest’s state rankings.
One of his keys to success has been a winning nutrition program for his turfgrass through Redox TurfRx technology.
“I don’t think I would still be a superintendent, if it wasn’t for the Redox programs that we’re on, and the way we’ve been able to evolve our program,” he said.
Prichett said Redox has improved everything from their soil health and root growth to less mowing and improved water use efficiency.
As leader of a highly successful business, Prichett said he’s rewarded every time his members and staff have a positive experience with his course. He said their turfgrass nutrition program is a significant part of a successful formula.
“It’s just a fertilizer right, but it has been life-changing for me,” he added.
The largest single pollination event on Earth is underway in California’s Central Valley, with billions of bees pollinating billions of almond blossoms.
It’s a critical stage for almond growing, with sunny skies and light winds beneficial to success.
“A week ago, I would have told you there was a little bit of concern, because of the wet weather we were having,” said John Rodriguez, grower rep for Mariani Nut Company. “Now that we’re on the other side of it, things are shaping up and looking pretty good.”
“This is going to be a prolonged bloom, which is good during bad weather events,” remarked Ryan Warren, farm manager at JJB Farms. “It gives the bees more opportunities to have good days. And the bud set looks good, so the amount of flowers that are going to be out there looks good too. All in all, it should be good, but it’s Mother Nature that we’re dealing with, so we’ll see.”
California has 1.6 million acres of almond orchards and produces 80 percent of the world’s supply.
Author, speaker, farm owner, and podcaster Damian Mason logs extensive air miles, speaking to audiences across the country. A recent stop in Burley afforded him time to tour the Redox Bio-Nutrients Headquarters and research farm.
Mason came away with positive impressions after he visited with Redox CEO Darin Moon, grower Blake Matthews, and Rocky Mountain Agronomist Jared Cook.
“I like what I saw here today,” Mason said. “I like learning, and I liked seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff that happens. It’s not just sticking stuff in a jug. There’s actually the science that goes into it, which is pretty cool."
Mason said he was impressed with seeing firsthand greenhouse research projects, including exciting nitrogen efficiency breakthroughs with corn. He also was brought up to speed on turf research and scientific study of an apple orchard on company grounds.
Mason’s trip to Burley included speaking to hundreds at a Salute to Agriculture luncheon, carried out by the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce, with support from several local businesses.
Every year, thousands who work hard to make sure golf experience is the best it can be get together for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Show. For the first time in nearly 40 years, the event was held in Phoenix, with thousands from throughout the U.S. and overseas on hand.
The conference and show are a great opportunity for those in the industry to ensure the industry remains strong, including making the superintendent’s job easier.
“Our members they’re on the front line” remarked GCSAA CEO, Rhett Evans. “They certainly know that, without the golf course, there is no business or game of golf. It begins with them. The pressure to be able to be more sustainable, to manage costs, and to meet the expectations of golfers is extremely high.”
This show provided an excellent opportunity for the Redox TurfRx team to meet with current and prospective customers, as well as our network of retailers.
There’s a positive feeling for the year, with a surge in golf popularity, due in part to people seeking outdoor alternatives during Covid outbreaks.
Superintendents also have plenty of success stories regarding Redox technology.
“It took me 22 years before I found Redox, so I struggled with challenges from day one,” said Dean Piller, longtime Superintendent of the Cordova Bay Golf Course in Victoria, British Columbia. “I started with a very simple program with Redox, using their Fairway product, which is a really great soluble carbon source. Then I added some PeneCal, and that really helped reduce the amount of heat stress, the soil started to work better for me, we cut back on the nitrogen so there’s much less clippings, so the whole system became easier to maintain.”
Piller said after more than a dozen years, based on the results he has seen, “we are fully committed to Redox in all of our fertility programs.”
“Once I started using Redox, it changed the dynamics of my soil greatly,” Scott Dulina, Director of Golf Course Maintenance at Champion Turf Club at St. James in Port St. Lucie, Florida. “I had poor infiltration prior to using Redox, and it has greatly helped me in my spray programs- not only in my greens, but I was able to take my greens program and expand it into further areas."
Additional attendees at the show featured in this podcast are Mory Ogata with Axxion in Japan, a key partner with Redox, and Frank LaVardera with Audubon International, who is working with golf courses far and wide to help them be as environmentally friendly as possible.
U.S. farmers have made dramatic productivity gains over the generations, which is in large part due to advancements in research.
Dr. Gifford Gillette, lead researcher at Redox Bio-Nutrients, said he expects even more scientific advancements to help growers in the coming years.
“I couldn’t be more excited for the agricultural community, in general, with the work that we’re doing,” he remarked. “I’m grateful that we have a situation at Redox that values science and puts the resources necessary to do it in a quality fashion."
2023 was a monumental year for Redox research, including 44 off site field trials, with 21 different crops in 15 states, as well as 78 trials on the research farm, greenhouse and grow in boxes, covering 24 crops.
Gillette said priorities for 2024 include more study in the promising area of improving nitrogen efficiency, as well as water use efficiency in agriculture.
Already faced with many risks that come with working in agriculture, Jake Wenger was confronted with a massive challenge. In 2021 his son, Jaden, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
The same resilience that has sustained their longtime farm family was key to Jaden’s recovery.
“Resilience is bred in who we are as farmers,” Jake said. “So many times, we take health for granted. That was one for our family that changed in a hurry.”
Only 12 years old at the time, Jaden successfully emerged from this nightmare and has resumed normal activity. To get there, he had to endure 224 days in the hospital, 219 doses of chemotherapy, 166 blood transfusions, multiple bacterial infections, and fungal pneumonia.
Family members credit perseverance, prayer, and expert medical care for this priceless gift.
After graduation, Jaden hopes to attend Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where his father and grandfather, Paul, graduated. Following college, he wants to return to the family farm and continue their farming legacy.
In the meantime, Jaden said he hopes to be an inspiration to those who are suffering and in despair.
“I think I can tell my story and help people get through their challenges, and to show that there really is daylight at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
As Redox re-entered direct sales to assist the turfgrass industry, a major positive development involved getting a team with incredible knowledge and passion.
That hurdle was cleared with the hiring of Tom Breiner and Jeep Hogue, who have a combined 80 years in the industry.
While Hogue will work with customers in the Southeast, Breiner has the Northeast territory covered. The latter said he’s excited for this opportunity, and the benefits of the TurfRx product line tie in well with keeping golf courses healthy, thus lowering some of the major concerns felt by superintendents.
“Sound agronomy is always a big challenge, and it relates to labor,” Breiner said. “Plants that are optimally grown with proper nutrition require less daytime watering, which is a real labor eater. A sound approach to dealing with agronomic issues can have lasting benefits."
Breiner has more than 50 years of experience in the golf turf industry, including 20 years at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club, New Jersey’s largest golf facility. He played a significant role in this course becoming the state’s first Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.
He said interest in sustainability is finally taking off in the turf industry.
“It’s becoming a more accepted concept, because it works,” Breiner said.
Farmers are a critical link to food production, but many others are also needed to keep farms producing at their best.
Allan James of Mid Valley Ag has helped farmers for decades, and recently won Certified Crop Advisor of the Year for the Western Region.
He said while many changes have been seen with mechanization and fertilization, there are still many more advancements to come.
“Changes in the fertility are coming,” James said. “We’re going to see new products. We’re going to see different combinations of products, and the biostimulant type of products are going to be part of that, because they complement fertilizer and fertilizer complements them. We hope to be able to provide the grower with even better crops and less need for fertilizer, by using biostimulants."
James works in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, which is a remarkably productive area. San Joaquin County has more than $3 billion in crop value each year, with top crops including almonds, walnuts, cherries, and wine grapes.
Georgia is widely known as the Peach State, but blueberries have risen to become their most valuable fruit crop.
Despite being grown and harvested in a fairly short window, the crop needs year-round attention to get the best results.
With some of his crop struggling, Michael Taft at Mixon Farms in Waresboro sought out a solution. Through trials of Redox Bio-Nutrients products, he saw significant gains in brix and yield. Sugar levels in the trial fields nearly doubled compared to other blocks of the same variety. Additionally, yields increased by about a ton per acre when compared to his conventionally-grown blueberries.
As a result, Taft said he’s shifting solely to Redox products for his 900-acres of blueberries in 2024.
“As long as I’m the farm, we will always have Redox on it,” Taft said.
Blueberries are grown in many parts of the U.S. Georgia is one of the leading states, as well as Washington, Michigan, and Oregon.
Modern Agriculture is as much about business acumen as it is about tending to fields and orchards. That’s where Damian Mason comes in. Mason hosts the wildly popular podcast, The Business of Agriculture, which provides a lively, in-depth look at fundamental farm issues that often don’t get a lot of attention.
Mason uses comedy and a self-described acerbic approach to handle issues like farm succession, soil health, ag real estate and regenerative ranching.
Mason believes the relative affluence of the American consumer provides a huge opportunity for those in Ag, if producers understand what the public wants and how to get it to them.
“We still have a commodity mindset, because we produce commodities,” he remarked. “The consumers aren’t necessarily commodity minded. They’re not thinking ‘how cheap can I get this gallon of milk for’? They’re thinking ‘how can I get milk that makes me feel good’? There’s opportunity in this industry to get more margin.”
A Purdue University graduate, Mason left his sales job with a Fortune 500 company to branch out on his own to put his creativity to better use. He’s a published author, keynote speaker and carries out a weekly podcast, among other enterprises.
Redox Bio-Nutrients will be a sponsor of Mason’s The Business of Agriculture Podcast in 2024.
Golf can be learned quickly, but improvements continue many years after your first drive, chip, and putt.
A big part of the experience involves the quality of turf, and that’s where the highly efficient, carbon-based technology from Redox TurfRx comes into play.
“Carbon-based nutrition, in combination with a mineral fertility, is just a more efficient way than doing mineral fertility alone,” remarked Jeep Hogue, Southeast Agronomist for Redox TurfRx. “We grow healthier plants this way, and even in a more responsible manner.”
Hogue is the newest member to the Redox TurfRx team. He brings nearly 30 years’ experience in golf and sports turf, including as superintendent of three different golf courses in the Southeast: Brookhaven, Cane Brake, and Shadow Ridge.
“I’m super passionate about this,” Hogue said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing the developments in technologies being utilized, moving forward.”
Solid planning and passion are important elements in farming, and for more than a decade, Jose Ramirez has helped guide many success stories.
Ramirez works as a Cropping Systems Agronomist at Buttonwillow Warehouse Company, an ag retailer working with Redox Bio-nutrients. He provides agronomic help to growers in the Monterey and Watsonville areas of California, as well as in Mexico.
He said biostimulants should continue to grow in importance, as they provide growers an efficient method to ensure positive healthy, productive crops.
“As farmers continue to witness that the practices from 10 years ago are no longer being effective today, they’re going to start welcoming the use of these biostimulants,” Ramirez said. “As these biostimulants get better, get more complex, and we weed away the non-efficacious ones, I believe the farmer is going to gain stronger confidence in them and is going to adapt them in their farming operation.”
Strawberries are a billion-dollar crop along California’s Central Coast and one of the crops Ramirez works with the most. He said this fruit offers a lot of positives.
“I love them and could eat them all day in every way and form,” he remarked. “Strawberries are really important. I see in places like Costco, that kids get super excited when they see the red of the berries. … That makes my heart smile, because we’re creating jobs and taking care of the Earth. The farmer has always been a sustainable individual, If not, we wouldn’t exist.”
Pecans are one of the most popular foods grown and consumed in the Southern U.S., but the road to success is not always easy. Growers, including Buck Paulk of Shiloh Pecan Farms, are reeling from the effects of Hurricane Idalia.
Paulk is orchestrating his crews through harvest this fall, while finishing removal of 19,000 pecan trees he lost during the late summer disaster.
This is the only job Paulk has ever had or ever wanted, and he said his trees are far more than his profession.
“It’s a real personal relationship,” he said. “When I look at a field, in my mind’s eye, it comes off as ‘I remember when I was planting that. I remember what grade I was in, or I remember that’s the year I was married, or that’s the year this child of mind was born.’ There’s always a personal tie to just about everything that I look at. It’s not just an orchard, but it’s an orchard that’s dated in my to some particular season in my life or an event in my life.”
Georgia is the nation’s leading producer of pecans, which is the only tree nut native to North America.
Berries can provide a handsome return to growers, but they are tricky to grow.
Doing the job right requires expertise like that displayed by agronomist Tomas Aguayo, who works in California’s Central Coast. Tomas has worked in many countries with many crops, and he said there is one foundational part of getting the highest quality and best yield.
“Once of the thing I have learned is, no matter where you are or what crop you’re working for, it’s all about nutrition, always,” he said.
Aguayo’s current work primarily centers on blackberries and strawberries. Farming these crops has a tremendous number of variables, as they are sensitive to soil-borne disease, excessive water, lack of water and salinity, among other factors.
“I’m always looking to keep the crop as healthy as possible,” Aguayo said. “Producing yield and quality is the number one priority for this industry.”
He said the critical link between soil microbiology and soil nutrition is one key to improving efficiency on the farm, which would have widespread benefits.
Workdays are long and complex, but there are ample rewards with bountiful, premium quality harvests.
“That’s the biggest prize for me,” he said. “It’s amazing to see the crop response and to see happiness on the face of the ranch manager!”
Few foods are as iconic as the Idaho potato, and, considering the consistent quality and production levels, the top echelon reputation of these spuds is well-earned. Idaho is the nation’s largest potato producer.
The combination of rich soil and optimal weather provide a great environment for growing potatoes, but the task is not always an easy one.
“Potatoes are very susceptible to certain diseases,” remarked Blake Matthews, a potato grower from Oakley, Idaho. “Early blight, late blight, and a lot of insect pressure. Some of the ways we’ve dealt with those are a lot of Redox products. For instance, Mainstay Si helps to create a barrier on the leaves that sucking and biting insects can’t get through. We’ve been able to step away from fungicides because of our use of Mainstay Si in our program, to be able to make those plants almost impervious to those types of insects.
Matthews is a fifth-generation grower who hopes his next generation will continue the tradition. To do so, he continually strives for a healthy, productive growing environment.
“I think the keys to harvesting a good potato are, you’ve got to maintain plant health throughout the season,” he said. “That starts with soil health. You’ve got to keep that plant happy. If you can do that throughout the season and give it what it needs according to the plant samples that we pull, then we will eventually harvest a good potato.”
Idaho growers produce about one-third of the U.S. potato crop. That’s more than 10 billion pounds of spuds every year on about 300,000 acres.
Honeybees are among the hardest working and most vital of all of the Earth’s creatures. Beekeepers help guide these mighty insects through several vital tasks, including pollinating California’s 1.6-million-acre almond crop every spring.
But there’s much more to bees than one season of work.
Joel Smith and Ryan Razee own and operate Belliston Brothers Apiaries in Burley, Idaho, which began in the 1940s. Their bees not only help pollinate nut orchards in California’s Central Valley, but they are also used for further pollination, honey and beeswax production.
“It takes them a long time to make all this honey,” Ryan remarked during their late summer extraction process. “It’s awesome to see all of it coming in. We always wish there was more, but we take it as we get it.”
It’s estimated that honeybees provide a contribution of more than $15 billion to our economy, in keeping fruits, nuts and vegetables on our tables.
“Really, it’s a domino effect all around,” Smith said. “Bees pollinate a third or better of all of our crops - the food we eat on our plate. It really effects the world in a huge way, if we don’t have honeybees.”
Rice has been part of the foundation of California’s Sacramento Valley for more than a century, providing $5 billion a year to the state’s economy and virtually all of America’s sushi rice. The industry suffered through a devastating drought in 2022, and, thanks to a wet winter, returned to normal acreage, and is in the midst of a promising harvest.
“There’s rice everywhere and water to irrigate that rice,” said Kurt Richter, Vice President of Richter AG in Colusa. “All of the wildlife activity is restored. Whereas this time a year ago, it was tens of thousands of acres that were bone dry growing dryland weeds. It was just a desolate place. Now it has become the vibrant rice country that we’re all familiar with.”
The estimated 511,000 acres of California rice is more than double the 2022 total. More rice grown has widespread benefits that extend well beyond the farm.
“This year is vastly improved from last year,“ remarked Nicole Montna Van Vleck, President and CEO of Montna Farms, a family farm near Yuba City. “It’s really a welcome event for everyone across the eight counties that we grow rice in in California. To see a full crop and wall to wall rice across the valley, brings about lots of jobs, lots of economic activity to these small towns throughout the Sacramento Valley.”
In addition to provide a staple food, Northern California rice fields are home to nearly 230 wildlife species, including millions of migrating ducks and geese every fall and winter.
Growers and all involved in agriculture continually strive to grow the best quality food with the highest yields.
Success, including at Betteravia Farms in Santa Maria, California, comes from dedication and innovation from the ground up, including from their Director of Agronomy, Cintia Perez. Her main areas of work are in plant health, soil management and pest control.
Even with such favorable weather along the Central California Coast, agronomic problems arise and need to be dealt with quickly and effectively.
“You have to be a really big problem-solver,” Perez said. “I think that’s actually the funnest part of the job is to be able to solve problems. I have a checklist to try to figure out what the issue is in the field…. The most important part is to make sure you are in your field often, so when an issue does arise, they are able to deal with it quickly.”
Betteravia Farms, which shoppers will recognize through the Bonipak label, grows about 20 different crops, both conventional and organic, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, cilantro, and several types of berries.
Perez said it’s encouraging to see more women and greater diversity in agriculture. Her advice to those seeking a similar profession is to persevere, even when challenges arise.
“I enjoy seeing more and more women in ag,” she remarked. “Being a pest control advisor, being an agronomist, isn’t an easy job. Males struggle in this industry, as well. I always just tell people ‘Make sure you don’t give up. Just keep pushing through those hard times and you’ll get through it.’”
The technology that has helped Redox Bio-Nutrients be a leader in efficient, carbon-based nutrition in agriculture has for many years also been a go-to for the turf industry. Big changes are underway for the Redox TurfRx™ line moving forward.
Effective October 1, Redox will re-enter the turf market directly through turf retailers. Other changes include new packaging and new products en route.
What doesn’t change is our company commitment to providing superior quality nutrition that benefits golf courses across the U.S. and internationally.
“It all starts with soil health,” said Redox Turf Agronomist Todd Scott, who has 36 years of work in the industry. “Any good carbon-based product is going to help in soil health situations. You also have to have good mineral nutrition in combination with that. It’s a combination of abiotic stress defense, soil health, improving microbial activity – they all have to work hand in hand to get the best result…. The quality of the chelation and complexing is where the difference comes in with Redox.”
Scott said he’s ecstatic about the hiring of Tom Breiner as the Redox Turf Agronomist in the Northeast. Breiner has extensive turf experience, including 25 years as superintendent of the largest golf course facility in New Jersey.
For more information, go to RedoxTurf.com
Farming goals were different when virtually everyone was growing food. Today, farming and ranching are often done well away from the public, and the average consumer has become less aware of what it takes to go from field to fork.
The danger of a society without Agricultural literacy is huge, according to Shay Myers, CEO of Owyhee Produce. Myers regularly reaches millions of people with informative and entertaining content through @shayfarmkid on many social media platforms, but he said more communication needs to happen industrywide.
“I think there’s much, much more that we can do,” he remarked. “There’s much more that we need to do. You can see it on social media today. The conversations that are had, and the misunderstandings and misconceptions that are still in place about what agriculture does, from an environmental standpoint, from a social standpoint – from basically every angle. The consumer still needs to understand and see the transparency in what we’re doing.”
Shay, his mother Robin, and sister Bailey recently visited Redox Headquarters in Burley, as their third-generation farm met with our second-generation bio-nutrient company.
Owyhee Produce is a major onion producer, growing 1,200 acres of the vegetable. They also grow asparagus, watermelons, and sweet corn. More than a dozen family members are active in the business.
Owyhee Produce has several events per year to engage with their customers, including their asparagus festival in the spring.
Find out more about the company and their engaging CEO at https://owyheeproduce.com.
Unpredictability is one of the most predictable aspects of farming. Growers in the Midwest have persevered through drought, but late rains should help their crops come harvest time.
While corn and soybeans reign supreme in the Farm Belt, Illinois grower Andrew DeGroot has a more diverse set of crops, including peppers, squash, cabbage, and potatoes. He attributed the Redox Bio-Nutrients product diKaP as one key to help his crops through abiotic stress from dryer than normal conditions.
“I think it helps push us through dry times and heat stress,” he said. “The plants seem to keep growing and pushing through, even though the weather isn’t favorable. When we started using it about six or seven years ago, I just noted a great crop response. Plants weren’t wilting like they used to. Potatoes kept bulking and sizing, holding on to set – not aborting potatoes in the hot, dry weather. It has been a very valuable tool.”
With acreage about an hour outside of Chicago, DeGroot’s vegetables are enjoyed far and wide, including at Chipotle and Campbell’s Soup. He said his Redox program helps ensure excellent results, which, in turn, keeps customers happy.
“Fruit quality is just massive,” DeGroot said. “Nice, solid potatoes that cook up nice. They store nicely. It helps everything. Everybody wants a quality product, and Redox has definitely helped us be able to bring that to the table, for sure!”
Sometimes a change of scenery can bring clarity. Washington state hay grower Andrew Eddie had reservations about staying on the family farm in Moses Lake, but he had a change of heart, following his education at the University of Oregon.
“I went and had a good experience in college,” he said. “Got a communications degree, then it came down to time to get after it, and I was like ‘you know, I’m going to go back to the farm and see how it goes’ and so far, it has worked out really well. I enjoy what I do every day. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t want to work as hard as I do.”
Eddie said his communications degree has been a tremendous help, as it helps him frequently in everyday life, whether conveying information on the farm, or communicating with others on why agriculture matters.
Eddie is President of the Washington State Hay Growers Association. He and his father grow more than 1,000 acres of forage crops, and custom farm several thousand additional acres. Hay from their state is utilized domestically and internationally, including in Asia and the Middle East.
Washington is a large hay state, with nearly 3 million tons grown each year.
Sustainability is one of the biggest areas of discussion and focus in agriculture today. Whether in the U.S. or many other countries, increasing farm efficiency in an environmentally sound way is the way of the future.
The University of Idaho’s ambitious CAFE, the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, aims to help many sectors of agriculture understand and implement sustainable practices in the future.
A major component of CAFE is a 640-acre dairy under construction near Rupert, Idaho. When completed, it will be the largest research dairy in the nation, and it should help dairy farmers locally and nationally with their stewardship.
Construction of the dairy began this spring. The first cows are expected on site by the end of 2024, with the first milking anticipated in 2025.
“As an industry, we have to survive and have a path into the future, and that’s what this research is hopefully going to provide,” commented Project Manager John Wright. “You go to a dairyman who works very hard at being a good neighbor. He works very hard at being clean. He wants to do what’s right, but now some of these issues brought up with saving the environment, global warming and all of these other issues that come up, the dairyman looks around and says, ‘I want to help, but what do I do?’ Hopefully this research dairy can answer some of those questions.”
The Idaho Dairymen’s Association represents the state’s dairy farmers, which comprise a longstanding industry that contributes approximately $11 billion in annual sales. Idaho is the nation’s third-largest dairy state. Association CEO Rick Naerebout said their commitment to CAFE included $2 million towards buying land for the research dairy. He said there are two key areas this research should help the industry.
“In broad strokes, water quality and air quality are the two biggest pressure points we see,” he said. “We have to have the science to back up our dairymen, to help explain to the public just what the true science is behind some of the practices and some of what our industry does.”
In addition to assisting dairy farmers, CAFE is expected to benefit many other sectors of agriculture.
Redox Bio-Nutrients CEO Darin Moon said CAFE should provide important data for even greater sustainability in the future and strengthen the connection between animal and plant agriculture.
“This is such an exciting project,” Moon said. “It is from research to production to profitability that we’re going to see the results of how we do things better. … This project will give both research and practicality, with a high level of probability of success. That’s what excites me about this. Plus, all of the innovations that are going to come out of this. How do we handle compost? How do we handle liquid waste in a better manner? How do we handle feed in a better manner? All of these items that go into dairy and go into production agriculture – many of those questions are going to start to be answered and given practicality and real answers to growers.”
CAFE has received broad support from agricultural groups, the Idaho Legislature, and federal government. You can find out more about the $45 million project at: www.uidaho.edu/cafe.
The Pacific Northwest not only has jaw-dropping scenery, it’s also a major food growing region. In addition to growing 70 percent of the nation’s apples, Washington farmers produce 300 different crops, including potatoes, cherries, and wheat. Oregon is also an agricultural powerhouse, with $5 billion worth of crops produced yearly, including berries pears, onions, and sweet corn.
Scott Drake of Innovative Farm Consulting is one of those helping farmers in the PNW succeed.
He said he considers himself part detective and part mechanic, as he works with growers to solve complex challenges, all in the name of healthy fields and orchards, along with abundant crops.
He has worked with Redox Bio-Nutrients, either as an employee or working with the product line, for nearly 25 years, and said Redox products are “truly unique and work amazing, in my opinion.”
Drake grew up on a farm and was a grower himself, so he said he can relate to the rewards and challenges farmers face.
“If people knew how much families and farms risk every year to produce the food, and the amount of work that goes into it 24/7, they would be amazed,” he remarked. “There’s a lot easier ways of life out there. It’s a lifestyle. I take my hat off to them and we wouldn’t be eating if it wasn’t for them.”
After a cooler and wetter than normal start to the year, the heat is on in many farming regions of the U.S. Excessive heat is one of the major types of abiotic stress that can harm trees and plants, ultimately leading to reduced crop quality and size.
Fortunately, there are steps growers can take to help with abiotic stress defense.
Nutrition is a key part of successful farming, especially during stressful times.
“We’re playing catch up from a cool spring,” said Redox Bio-Nutrients CEO, Darin Moon. “How will we properly feed and cultivate the plant. Number two, as it gets warmer, we have two effects of heat: excessive UV radiation can be damaging to a plant, and then heat itself. As a plant respires, can it respire fast enough to deal with excessive heat? It’s very important that growers understand and take precautionary steps to deal with both UV radiation in how they fertilize and how they water their crops.” Redox technology helps plants ward off abiotic stress through highly efficient mineral nutrients that get into the plant and help with plant metabolism faster. Also, the organic molecules attached in Redox products provide proteins, amino acids, and other beneficial materials to reduce the oxidative component of oxidative stress and help a plant to metabolize better. Two key Redox products especially popular in the summer at diKaP and Banx. They deal with plant-water relations and improve plant metabolism through ultra-efficient potassium, amino acids, and plant extracts.
Moon added the volatility in world fertilizer supply and price over the last two years is another major reason growers should seek out more efficient fertilizers and work to improve soil health, so the fertilizers applied are more effective. Doing so, he said, would leave growers less at the mercy of world economic situations. It also would increase farm efficiency and sustainability, both environmental and economic.
The more you know, the better chance of success.
Gathering detailed intelligence is vital not only in miliary settings, but also in farming.
Tyler Adams can attest to this winning combination. Adams spent nearly a decade in the US Army, including managing a nine-month counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. He’s now a field representative at Willard Agri-Service in Maryland, providing proven Redox Bio-Nutrients technology to help farmers get the most of their crops.
“The more you understand the soil, the climate, and how a crop reacts biologically in a certain condition, and then analyze that with the goals you’re trying to achieve… you can then make informed decisions,” Adams said. “So, you can predict how a plant is going to respond at a certain time or certain treatment, and impact it at the cellular level for stronger, sweeter fruit, more yield or build a plant that’s more resistant to stress. I think that’s what I love about Redox is we’re looking at the cellular level and we’re not just putting out a magic bullet. We’re applying nutrients and products at key timings and making those recommendations to impact them, because we know our ‘enemy’ the plant, and we understand it at the biological level.”
Adams works with growers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, an immense area which requires tremendous adherence to environmental regulations. He said ultra-efficient Redox technology fits well in this regard, providing effective results with significantly fewer materials than conventional crop inputs.
Find out more about Willard Agri-Service and their half century of service to farmers at willardag.com.
Getting produce from the farm to market involves many people working in unison, including produce brokers.
One of those helping keep supermarkets and restaurants well-stocked is Steven Johnson with Florida Specialties. He markets a wide range of vegetables to retail, food service and various food distribution companies all over North America.
He logs a lot of time on his three phones, to help get the best return for the growers he works for. That process isn’t for the faint-hearted.
“It’s definitely a high-stakes poker game, especially on the vegetable side, because there are no programs that supplement when they have a bad year,” Johnson remarked. “It’s a win or lose proposition. I don’t know how they do it.”
Johnson said his family farm background and his working on a farm prior to this job help him understand the effort it takes to maintain an abundant, high quality food supply for our country.
“Most people have no idea the investment these vegetable growers have, long before they ever see a penny back, as far as on return,” he said. “At there’s been a lot of years where, no matter how hard we try, we don’t get all of their investment back.”
Johnson said Redox products are an important part of maintaining strong vegetable crops in the Southeast.
“I’d probably be hard pressed to name any major growers in this area that didn’t use the line in growing their crops” he said. “Absolutely, it has been really big for these growers, as far as leveraging and getting the most of their crops as they possibly can.”
With worldwide competition and a myriad of challenges, advancements in technology have long been a key to financial health on the farm.
While earlier breakthroughs were largely centered on machinery, the information revolution is playing a greater role in growing crops.
Redox Bio-Nutrients has partnered with Canada-based ChrysaLabs and their real-time soil analysis technology. ChrysaLabs has developed a portable AI-based soil health probe that measures 37 soil nutrients and characteristics, delivering data for producers and agronomists in a matter of seconds, instead of traditional lab analysis, which takes several days.
Recently, three members of the ChrysaLabs team visited our headquarters and research farm in Burley, Idaho. They met with Redox management and learned more about how our company provides effective, efficient technology to agriculture.
Co-founder and CEO, Samuel Fornier said the company launched, after a need was identified to get faster soil analysis data.
“We tried to identify how growers and agronomists got their soil information and realized that nothing was existing except brick-and-mortar labs,” he said. “So, we decided to make a leap of faith directly in this market, and bring innovation that would provide more information to growers, to bring more sustainability in agriculture.”
Through this partnership, Redox agronomists are utilizing ChrysaLabs probes on several farms in different parts of the U.S., including fields, vineyards, and orchards of California, Idaho, the Southeast, and the Pacific Northwest.
Farmers gamble with each growing season, so it’s vital that whatever tools they use delivers as advertised. Redox Bio-Nutrients technology is put through multiple checks, including at our research farm in Burley, Idaho.
Redox Director of Research and Development, Gifford Gillette, said he and the research team have more than 30 trials planned for this year, including some new crops this year – spinach, peppers, and broccoli.
In addition, there are about 50 third party trials being carried out nationwide, with 24 different research entities. The Midwest is a growing area of focus for our research.
“We’ve been able to build off of what we’re already done the last year, as well as expand,” Gillette said. “I think that’s a credit to the team that the management at Redox has built around us, as well as the team that we have. We have been able to expand and broaden our experience beyond nutrient efficiency, into abiotic stress categories and root development.”
In addition to Jamie Harrell, Noah Masoner, and Quinten Morgan, interns Karter Zampedri, Faith Talley, Tyson Ramsey, and Courtney Beene have joined the team and took little time in finding ways to contribute.
The interns are carrying out a variety of projects, from planting corn to growing broccoli and spinach.
The new arrivals have shown great enthusiasm and quickly adapted. All expressed excitement and optimism that their work will ultimately contribute to the Redox purpose of creating passion and excitement in growing healthier plants.
“What we’re doing is actually making a difference in how people are eating,” Zampedri said. “It’s really crazy to think about that. We start (our research) in a greenhouse. We grow 26 pots of spinach, and we get enough data from that, that we have a chance to actually change something in the world.”
The San Joaquin Valley is a vital producer of fruits, nuts, and vegetables, but it hasn’t been an easy stretch on the farm. Drought, supply chain issues, fallout from the pandemic, and gyrating input costs are some of the hurdles that growers face.
Greg Schmidt strives to make a positive difference for farmers bringing stability to these uncertain times.
Schmidt is a crop consultant at Buttonwillow Warehouse Company, an agricultural retailer that provides Redox Bio-Nutrients technology to improve the efficiency and success of growers far and wide.
He said this year’s challenges include a slow start to crop maturity due to cooler and wetter than normal conditions. As the season progresses and temperatures warm, work in fields and orchards will also rise – including Schmidt working alongside growers to provide the best root growth, soil health, nutrient efficiency, and abiotic stress defense.
Schmidt is a Fresno State graduate and considers his work with farmers to be much more than a “9 to 5” job.
“It’s a pleasure driving up and down the road, seeing the fruits of everybody’s labor – going out and providing nutrition to the community,” he said. “There’s no place like the valley! It’s hot, it’s cold. Some call it a dustbowl, some call it ugly. But without it, we’d all be struggling to get some good fruit.”
Fresno County is one of America’s top ag area, with more than 170 farm commodities and nearly 2 million acres of crops, and a gross value of more than 8 billion dollars a year.
A parade of storms allowed California to recover from a historic drought, although the cooler and wetter spring has delayed crops and important cultural practices.
Third generation grower Jeff Colombini in San Juaquin County is among those impacted. His cherry harvest is 2 ½ weeks later than last year, due to the dramatic weather shift. In addition, ill-timed rain can cause the fruit to swell and crack, making the cherries unmarketable.
Colombini remains calm through the ups and downs of cherry growing, saying he focuses on what he can control, and tries not to worry about the variables that are out of his hands.
He says he wants to understand everything he can about his crops, to have the best chance of productivity and profitability now and into the future.
“It all starts with soil health,” he said. “…To get health soil microbes, you need good organic matter. Quite frankly, any plant cannot take nutrients into its roots without soil microbes. We’re big believers in cover cropping and compost use, to increase organic matter to feed the soil microbes. When you have soil right, then you can get everything else right. If you don’t have a good, healthy soil, it’s like building a house without a good foundation."
California is second to Washington in cherry production. Cherries from the Golden State are even enjoyed overseas, with customers in Japan, China, South Korea, Canada, and India.
Pecans and PerseveranceHistory, innovation, and perseverance are keys to success for Putt Wetherbee, one of Georgia’s leading pecan growers.
Despite the deep roots his family have in farming, this fifth-generation grower continues to seek new ways to improve efficiency and productivity.
To this end, he finds promise in the emerging science of regenerative agriculture; a series of management practices to improve soil health and, ultimately reduce inputs and increase yields. Steps such as adding cover crops, chicken litter, and ash from a biomass energy plant have come after plenty of research.
Redox Bio-Nutrients products have also been a part of his successful farming methods.
Aside from the farm, Wetherbee has been blessed by his wife, Margaret, daughters Frannie, Berkeley, and Sims, as well as his faithful English Field Cocker, Huckleberry.
His strong faith and family helped him through a violent home invasion in 2017 that left him paralyzed from the chest down.
“I have forgiven the people that did this to me,” he said. “If anybody needs any direction in life, start with the Lord’s Prayer and then go through the Ten Commandments. All your answers are right there. … I have to forgive, because God forgave me. I’m not nearly arrogant enough not to pass on the grace that He gave me.”
The determination, positivity, and strength of Putt Wetherbee are an inspiration to all fortunate to know him.
Jason Tyrone took a circuitous journey before establishing a highly successful vegetable farm in Lake Park, Georgia. After graduating from Mississippi State University, he returned to his home state of Arkansas to work. After additional steps, he established Tycor Farms in 2010 with his now brother-in law.
Tycor Farms grows peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, cabbage, and green beans. Their location offers many positives. Crops are grown in sandy soil, which drains well. The climate allows for spring and fall harvests, and the farm is near major interstate highways which help with distribution.
Tyrone said maintaining consistently high-quality produce is vital, as it helps the vegetables hold up well during their journey to market. It also helps keep customers coming back for more.
“I started with Redox not long after I started farming, first with their calcium product,” he said. “That’s a big thing in bell peppers. We saw a lot of improvements looking at numbers on paper and quality itself, so it’s been part of program for probably 15 years.”
The H-2A guestworker program is a key part of the farm’s workforce. At its peak, Tycor employs some 275 farm workers.
“We would literally be nothing without them,” Tyrone said. “I’ve been here, in total, for almost 20 years. Some of the same people have been coming here for as long as I’ve been here. We have a lot of return workers, especially our main guys. They love coming here. They take time away from their family to come here for two or three months at a time. They want to make all of the money they can. They take a lot of pride in their work at this farm, which means everything to us.”
Food safety is a top priority at the farm, with a full-time employee devoted to this area. As Tyrone explained, “If everybody is doing their part to make sure we’re sending off a good, healthy product, we’re all better off.”
At the end of a long workday, Tyrone said he remains fascinated with the growing process.
“That’s what keeps me doing this,” he said. “That’s my favorite thing, is to watch the crop grow and how good it looks there at the end before we start tearing it up picking it.”
The annual Georgia Pecan Show is equal parts history and family, with nearly 900 growers and industry officials in attendance. In addition to renewing friendships and learning the latest technology, growers are on a mission to seek any way to boost their return on investment. This is especially important with crop prices down and higher input costs.
For Dee Simpson of Howhum Nurseries in Pelham, Georgia, utilizing Redox products has been a key to achieving the premium quality he seeks for their young pecan trees.
“I started with Redox from the beginning,” he said. “We have seen exponential growth in our roots, as well as the tops of our trees. … Through that program, we have been able to pump out the quality of tree that we want to put out there.”
Georgia grows more pecans than any other state, and the industry has a history that has spanned generations.
Keeping as much of the family on the farm is important to grower Jerry Hall, a first-generation pecan grower. His son, grandson, daughter, and son-in-law are all involved.
“We’re very excited about it,” he remarked. “We actually live on a family farm that has been in the family probably 150 years, and we hope to keep it that way going forward.”
Pecans are grown in 15 states. Ninety percent of all pecans are grown in the US.
Idaho Governor Brad Little, Ag AdvocateIdaho agriculture is so much more than potatoes. Farmers and ranchers in the state grow more than 185 different commodities and provide some $8.5 billion to the Idaho economy each year, including Brad Little, 33rd Governor of the Gem State.
Little and his wife, Teresa, are the latest in a long line of cattle ranchers in the family.
He said he’s committed to helping agricultural producers in several ways, including ensuring they have sufficient water and manageable regulations.
Little said innovation is one key to Idaho agriculture continuing to thrive.
“Every change you make is to make it better for the next generation,” Little said. “One of my favorite sayings that I tell all my agricultural friends is ‘Change is inevitable. Adaptation and survival are optional.’”
He added that, fortunately, farmers and ranchers in the state are very innovative and willing to adopt the latest technology to get the most from their crops and livestock.
Little said, although only a small percentage of the state and nation farm, everyone benefits from agriculture.
“So many people move to Idaho because of the farms, ranches and open space, and how it contributes to the watershed and wildlife habitat,” he remarked. “I love it when people show a picture of Idaho, and there are a couple of cows, potato field or grain field in the background. They appreciate that. We need to remind people that somebody’s paying the cost of those cows and that agriculture out there. All we want is a fair return on our investment and a regulatory atmosphere to where they can be profitable from one generation to the next.”
About one-third of all the food we eat is made possible through hardworking honeybees. In fact, billions of bees are needed this time of the year to help pollinate 1.5 million acres of almond trees in California’s Central Valley, which is the largest single pollination event on earth.
That massive number of bees needed to pollinate almonds come from many different locations, including Belliston Brothers Apiaries in Burley, a few miles from our Redox Bio-Nutrients Headquarters.
Ryan Razee and Joel Smith took over the operation six years ago, and they continue the company’s tradition of providing healthy hives for pollination, quality honey (including to Sue Bee Honey) and beeswax.
Late winter and early spring, their major work is shepherding millions of bees from Idaho to blooming almond orchards in California’s Central Valley. Weather in the Golden State has been unusually wet, which is a positive for the state’s water outlook but makes successful pollination more difficult.
“It has definitely been challenging this year,” Smith said. “The weather down there this year has been causing it to where obviously the almonds actually are not able to bud out as quickly, and the bees are not able to get out as much. But, they usually generally do pretty good, as far as being able to get out – even on cooler days.”
Working hives is laborious and requires continual vigilance to ensure the bees are healthy and content. One of the biggest challenges is the varroa mite, which can have devastating consequences for hives far and wide.
At the end of the day, the beekeepers said they get great satisfaction out of playing an important role in growing food.
“I really love it,” Razee said. “It is a job that comes with its ups and downs, but I love it and feel like we are a big part of the ag community.”
Orange juice from Florida is as ubiquitous as peaches from Georgia and almonds from California. However, it has been a bumpy ride of late. Urbanization, uncooperative weather, and an insect-spread disease in the groves have dropped estimated production at its lowest level since the Great Depression.
The McLean family has persevered through this major industry challenge, through their innovative growing approach and finding a niche in the marketplace.
Benny McLean in Lake County is joined by numerous generations of family members who help their business in a variety of ways. His son, Matt, launched and runs Uncle Matt’s organic juice company, which is sold nationwide through Whole Foods. Launched in 1999, Uncle Matt’s is the oldest and largest organic orange juice brand in the nation. Meanwhile on the farm, son Ben leads their work to find the most successful farming approaches; made difficult through citrus greening disease.
Through the highs and lows, family and faith are foundational for the McLeans. Despite their busy schedule, they consistently devote time to enrich others, including bringing many smiles during grove tours with the disabled.
“I’m living the dream,” Benny said. “I’ve got all my grandkids growing up here, working with us, and I’m working with Ben, Matt and my daughter, Martha Sue. … It has been a tremendous blessing to my wife and I.”
Golf has been enjoyed for generations around the world, and turf is a vital part of the playing experience.
Thousands gathered in Orlando, Florida this month, for the annual Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Conference. The GCSAA has been around for nearly a century, and their conference and trade show brought together industry experts from throughout the US and around the world.
In addition to a showcase of new products and technology, increasing industry sustainability was a common theme.
“It’s more important than ever and it’s only going to get more important,” remarked Tom Coyne, best-selling author who gave a talk in the booth of Aquatrols, which partners with Redox to market turf products. “In the golf industry, we have to do more with less, and water is at the very top of that list.”
“It’s absolutely number one,” said Michael Fance, Technical Support and European Account Manager with Aquatrols. “Legislation is really, really harsh in my trading area, so the eyes of the world are on nitrates in water, etcetera.” He said their products provide a major boost to this effort, aligning nitrogen reduction with improved turf health.
Another key issue with turf is helping fight off abiotic stress. How to fight it depends on several factors, but there are effective solutions available.
“It really does depend on what stress we’re trying to address,” said Graham O’Connor, European Business Manager at Aquatrols. “What we’ve found is that, when we can home in on whatever it is, then we have a product that’s a “go to” to deal with an issue. Then people say ‘well, let’s look at more. Let’s look at something else. We want to see what else is on this line, because it has ticked that box.’”
Whatever the challenge, Redox and Aquatrols gain great satisfaction in providing valuable tools to healthy golf course turf.
Ken Maltby, Senior Superintendent of Florida’s Grand Cypress Resort, has been a satisfied Redox customer for nearly a decade.
“Once you get on a steady program, then you can adjust your rates, you actually start using less product almost, once you address those soil issues” he said. “That’s another great value of having the Redox products is the adjustability or compatibility with all of the products they have.”
With much of the West gripped by an epic drought, you might wonder if any amount of additional water is too much for California, the nation’s leading agricultural producer. When 32 trillion gallons of water fell during three weeks of a soggy winter, it’s a good question to consider.
The massive influx of rain and snowfall is largely a positive for California, including farmers, who benefit from replenished underground aquifers, a major influx of water in storage and reduced soil salinity.
Challenges from that much water all at once include thousands of acres of flooded strawberry fields, and the potential that overly wet conditions may negatively impact upcoming almond pollination. Bees do not like to gather pollen if it’s too cold or wet.
“In certain regions, there’s going to inevitably be flooding, due to the substantial snowpack,” remarked Justin Rose, Redox Bio-Nutrients Agronomist working with growers in the San Joaquin Valley. “For some of these early guys who’ll be getting in for bloom time, for sprays in almonds and some fruit trees, saturated soils will prevent them from entering, so they’ll either have to go by air, or they won’t spray any bloom sprays at all.”
Rose said Supreme is one of the products that provides big benefits during this time in the season. It’s a full nutrient package with a fermentation process that helps retain and size nuts.
Along the coast, Redox Bio-Nutrients Agronomist Kort Holzwart is working to help strawberry growers get the most from their fields, especially with key sales periods like Mother’s Day around the corner.
“Early on, it’s most important to have the field drained,” he said. “As we move forward into the season, I would recommend products to help stimulate plant and root growth. H-85 is going to be a phenomenal product, to stimulate microbial activity. Also, RootRx is a winning root stimulant option for some of these growers.”
Agriculture is not only fundamental but is also one of the most resilient industries. Every year without fail, growers must clear a myriad of hurdles, ranging from preparing fields, planting, harvesting, shipping, and navigating through market swings.
A consistently important factor for successful farming is agricultural research, and a new project should greatly help this area.
With its $500,000 contribution, Redox Bio-Nutrients is among those providing substantial support to the University of Idaho’s Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE).“Agriculture is at a transformative state of change right now,” said Darin Moon, CEO of Redox Bio-Nutrients. “We have to move forward through sound science that allows us to positively adapt and change. We couldn’t pass up this opportunity to contribute in a significant way, because it’s a part of who we are.”
When completed, Idaho CAFE will be the nation’s largest research dairy and will have many other components to foster scientific research, agricultural sustainability and consumer education. Plans call to begin milking cows in 2024.
Idaho CAFE not only will help growers and consumers, it is also a testament to the strength and unity of the agricultural industry.
“Collectively, we can move mountains” said Michael Parrella, Dean of the University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. “From the Idaho Legislature to Redox and others in agriculture, it truly is a remarkable partnership that will pay widespread dividends.”
Link: https://www.uidaho.edu/research/entities/cafe
Orange County, California, is best known as home to Disneyland. It’s California’s third most populated county, with more than 3 million residents. Thanks to ingenuity and adaptability, it’s also a big farming region.
Orange County farmers grow about $90 million worth of crops each year- primarily nursery crops, trees, berries, and vegetables. Strawberries and green beans are the specialties for Orange County Land Management Services, where Vice President Mark Lopez has worked since 1999.
Lopez said adaptability is key to farming in such an urban area, meaning they grow crops in several non-traditional areas.
“Land in Irvine is about $4 million an acre,” Lopez remarked. “The military base that used to be there in Irvine, El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, when they shut it down in 1991 or ’92, it was vacant for a few years. We got called out there and they started letting us farm. We farm right between the runways … several little islands of 10-15 acres of green beans and strawberries. We do still currently farm at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station … farming on a gigantic magazine of about 1,000 acres.”
One of the ways this farm has succeeded is careful use of inputs, including help from Redox Bio-Nutrients. Lopez said they had big success using Supreme in their green beans, with results easily seen. They are also planning on trialing Mainstay Si in their strawberries.
Berries are a large crop at Lopez’s farm and in many areas of the California Coast. A wet winter has hurt some yields, but optimism remains for a good crop and excellent demand during the all-important marketing period around Valentine’s Day.
The pace of the world continues to quicken, and patience is sometimes tossed aside. However, agricultural research remains an area where a lot of time is needed to get the best results.
Whether on our research farm in Burley, Idaho, or through third parties, the process of quantifying benefits from Redox Bio-Nutrients products can take several years. Dozens of trials are underway or planned at farms across the U.S., with commodities ranging from melons in the Arizona Desert to sugar cane in Florida.
The hard work has a payoff, as research has identified hundreds of successful results from Redox products that ultimately help farmers do their job.
Redox Bio-Nutrients Head of Science, Gifford Gillette, was raised on a farm and has a passion for making a tangible difference to assist farmers and, ultimately, consumers. He said agricultural research is exciting – and vital.
“Down the road and now, we’re providing access to technology that isn’t 50 years old,” he remarked. “What that means is we can provide greater efficiency in what is delivered, and that’s always going to be better for the grower. Buying less, transporting less, delivering less to the field. We do the work to make sure they continue to bring in the yield that they’re used to, if not better.”
California’s Central Valley is one of America’s top farming regions, providing more than half of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables grown in the United States.
The Filter family is among those who have spent generations growing crops and helping keep abundant, affordable food for consumers. They grow 900-acres of walnuts, cling peaches, and prunes in the Sacramento Valley near Yuba City. They also have an onsite commercial walnut huller and dryer, processing about 10 million pounds a year.
Steven Filter’s great grandfather Godfrey immigrated from Germany to Northern California in the late 1800s. He plays a major role in ensuring their orchards are healthy and productive.
Filter said soil health is a vital part of the success of any farm.
“Everything starts with the soil,” he remarked. “Our trees are all dependent on it. Harvest is dependent on the quality of the soil. It’s very similar to a human. If you’re a healthy human, you eat great and exercise, you’re going to be a little bit more resistant when it comes to getting sick. It’s the same with our trees. If we can start with a healthy soil in the spring and give that tree everything we need through just the soil being healthy and alive and having a good microbiome – giving it the nutrients it needs. That tree will be healthier, and when insects, fungus, or any kind of disease comes in, that tree is already stronger.”
California farmers grow more than two-thirds of the world’s walnuts and prunes, as well as nearly all of the nation’s cling peaches for processing.
Anyone with any time spent in farming knows it’s a job filled with challenges as well as rewards. With soaring input costs, supply chain snags and uncooperative weather in many regions, the past year provided more of the former than the later.
“Some of the big items that impacted us this last year especially was we were late due to weather,” remarked Andrew Eddie, a hay grower in Moses Lake, Washington. “We were about a month behind a normal season. Also, crop input prices were very high.”
Many of the factors present in 2022 could be back in 2023, including a squeeze on global fertilizer, due to unrest in several areas of the world.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” Redox Bio-Nutrients President Colton Moon said. “The Russian-Ukrainian War has a major impact on fertilizer prices. Russia and Belarus are among the largest potash exporters in the world. China is also a major player, as one of the largest phosphate exporters in the world. When they aren’t exporting, it increases the demand on other exporters to fulfill supply in the marketplace, and that will shoot up prices. Other factors include the price of liquified natural gas and crude oil.”
With real concern for the availability and price of agricultural inputs, growers will pay especially close attention to their purchases. As they search for the best return on investment and more assured supply, bio-nutrients may even look more attractive.
Redox Bio-Nutrients founder, owner and CEO Darin Moon said an advancement to more efficient crop inputs could gain ground.
“We have advanced in tractor technology, irrigation equipment technology and pesticide spray application technology, but some growers are still using the same basic fertilizer technology that was present in the 1970s and 80s,” Moon remarked. “The way that we look at soil regeneration, how plants grow, how nutrients move in the soil and are actually utilized by the plants and how much actual nutrients need to be applied to the soil – that’s how growers will adapt and change.”
To farm successfully, a lot of things need to go right. One of the most basic ingredients to success is soil.
Ensuring healthy soil is one of the four foundational elements of the grower tools developed at Redox Bio-Nutrients. It’s also a top priority of Cody Hatzenbuhler, agronomist and owner of Pan Ag, who works with growers in North Dakota and surrounding areas to find solutions to help them get the most from their crops.
“Soil health is a passion of mine and trying to keep that biology going with a lot of non-commercial fertilizers,” he said. “There’s always something new for the growers I work with. I like to find new products that we can change the methods of applying fertilizer more efficiently. … including with new companies like Redox. We can apply less fertilizer in more efficient ways that the plant can use and uptake.”
Cody’s family arrived in North Dakota from Germany in 1902, making him the fifth generation to farm.
He spent more than a decade at the US Department of Agriculture working in natural resource management, teaching farmers about the soil and how to protect it from wind and water erosion, trying to protect it for future generations.
Hatzenbuhler said growers understand the value of protecting soil for future generations of farmers.
Farmers frequently battle less than perfect weather, but 2022 provided extra challenges in many regions.
Whether it was too hot, dry, cold or wet, many crops were stressed in the past year. As a result, abiotic stress defense has become an even bigger topic of discussion in agriculture.
The good news is, success is possible through thoughtful planning that strengths your soil, promotes healthy roots, efficient nutrient uptake and better defends plants against stress.
Darin Moon, founder, owner and CEO of Redox Bio-Nutrients has been passionately working to help farmers succeed for decades. He said understanding and implementing a strategy centered on regenerative agriculture is key to success during climate volatility.
“Yes, it is very possible,”he said. “Even with the daunting task of environmental conditions and water quality, lack of water, and all of these changes that agriculture is going through right now. That simply means that we have to understand the system better. That simply means that no longer can we just put out a whole bunch of fertilizer, a whole bunch of product, and then just hope for the result in the end. We have to be more laser focused in what we do and how we do it. We have to be understand the types of soil we’re farming. The type of water of water we’re using. The type of crop we’re planting in that soil, and view that system as a whole and not as individual parts.”
Apples and blueberries are two of America’s most popular fruits. They also have undergone a lot of changes at the farm level over the years.
Dan Griffith, Crop Horticultural Advisor with GS Long in Yakima has spent more than forty years helping Washington apple growers get the most from their orchards. Washington is the nation’s leading apple producer, accounting for two-thirds of U.S. production, checking in at about 2 ½ million tons of fruit produced each year.
He says efficiency is a key to future prosperity for the apple industry.
“It’s everything,” Griffith said. “The more bins you can produce per acre, the less cost you have per bin… Being able to get a good yield is so important to keep you cost per bin down.”
Griffith said there’s an increased focus in the microbiological activity in the soil, which improves efficiency, provides better nutrition to the tree, and allows for less fertilizer use per acre.
He added, while Red Delicious apples remain a major player, many other varieties are gaining greater interest, including the Cosmic Crisp, a crispy, juicy apple that stores well.
This year has been a challenge for apple growers in Washington. A very late, cold spring contributed to one of the smallest crops in many years. The 2023 apple crop is expected to be significantly larger than this year’s.
Another popular fruit, the blueberry, provides a great one-two punch of taste and nutrition. Brad Harper grows blueberries in Michigan. The cool summers and relatively warm winters have been favorable for their family farm.
Besides Michigan, Washington and Georgia are very large blueberry producers. The annual U.S. crop size is about 600 million pounds a year.
Harper has had great success utilizing Redox Bio-Nutrients products over the last decade, reducing conventional inputs, and bringing about a dramatic boost in production.
He said the Michigan state average is about 4,200 pounds of blueberries per acre, while their farm started at 6-8,000 pounds per acre. Since using Redox products, he said they have had consistent increases in production, peaking at more than 16,000 pounds per acre.
Harper said he hopes his children will one day continue the family’s agricultural legacy. They enjoy being around the farm and helping with chores, so there’s hope they will maintain the family farm when that time comes.
From Japan, With PassionMory Ogata’s energy and enthusiasm are evident the moment you meet him. As the sole Redox Bio-Nutrients distributor in Japan, Ogata, 84, has worked hard and creatively to gain traction for our line of high efficiency agricultural inputs.
His most successful early marketing efforts have been with Redox Turf products. Japan is widely known as a place with excellent, impeccably maintained golf courses.
Widespread adoption among the rest of Japanese agriculture has been a slow process, but Ogata said interest is growing, especially after a successful large fall trade show.
One reason the Redox Booth attracted attention was Ogata made an anime video and printed material to demystify the sophisticated technology and ultra-efficiency that are hallmarks of Redox products.
“So far, we don’t have a big distribution network,” Ogata remarked. “I think within the next year or so that’s going to change. I try to live as long as I can to witness that happy day!”
Chances are you’ve never heard of Laconia, Indiana, but if you’re a golf enthusiast, it needs to be on your bucket list.
With a population of 50 and surrounded by farmland, Laconia is home to Chariot Run Golf Club (hyperlink to-- https://chariotrungolf.com), featuring an immaculate, award-winning course.
“Our motto is ‘you pass a lot of good golf courses to get here, so we have to be great,’” said general manager David Beanblossom. “We’ve always said ‘it’s a field of dreams golf course out here, if you build it, they will come.’ I feel like, day in and day out, we put a product out there that is just better than everybody else. We really give people a reason to drive 45-minutes to Chariot Run to play golf.”
David’s story is even more remarkable that the golf course he manages. Twice he had brushes with death. The first occurred in a vehicle accident when he was seven. The second injury occurred during a horrific accident while he was harness racing.
“Just by the grace of God I am still here today,” he said. “I owe it to my wife why I’m sitting here today. She said ‘You’ve got to find another way to make a living. I can’t watch you do this anymore.’”
He started at Chariot Run as an $8 an hour greenskeeper. Through his hard work and becoming a student of the greens, David continued to rise until his current general manager position.
He credited Redox Bio-Nutrients products as a key to the rave reviews about their course.
David has worked for many years with Todd Scott, Redox Director of Turf Marketing & Strategy, and now uses several products that yield healthy turf that’s a joy to play on. Chariot Run is among countless golf courses across America and overseas that depend on Redox Bio-Nutrients to care for their greens, including healthy soil, strong root development, abiotic stress defense and nutrient efficiency.
“That’s the one thing about Redox and their products is they’ve really allowed us to produce the quality of turf that we need, the conditions we need to drive revenue and get golfers through the door,” Beanblossom said. “I think that’s the hidden factor that you don’t see with Redox is the additional revenue you’re going to get from just having stellar conditions all the time.”
Fall harvest season is underway throughout the U.S., wrapping up a year with higher costs of production, volatile markets and a myriad of weather issues, including massive drought in the West.
“It has definitely been a challenging year,” remarked Redox Bio-Nutrients agronomist Jared Sannar. “Mother Nature threw us some difficulty… I would say it has been a pretty challenging year, but we’re wrapping things up, are well into harvest for most of the crops, and looking forward to putting this one to bed.”
Growers in the nation’s leading agricultural state, California, saw more than its share of challenges this year. An untimely freeze caused a massive hit on the almond crop. Drought left an estimated half-million acres of farm ground unplanted this year.
Grower Mitchell Yerxa of River Vista Farms in Colusa County is also a pilot and said an aerial view of the usually abundant west side of the Sacramento Valley provides an indication of the extent of the drought toll.
“If you can see something from a different angle or different perspective, you have a whole different understanding than you did before,” he said. “So, when you’re on Interstate 5 and you’re driving north and you’re looking to the west and don’t see a rice field planted, ok it’s one rice field. But when you’re up 1,000 feet, or 3,000 feet, and you look down and don’t see a single acre planted for miles, it gives you perspective that there are many farms and many parts of this community that are going to be dramatically affected when for miles there’s not a single acre planted.”
Fall harvests continue, from Idaho potatoes and Iowa corn to Texas cotton and California walnuts. Redox agronomists are working with growers to maximize yield, quality and return on investment.
One impediment to this goal is excess salt in parched fields.
“In my region, the southern San Joaquin Valley, there’s a lot of salt issues,” said Redox agronomist Justin Rose. “A lot of growers are using groundwater, bringing up salty, sodium bicarbonates. A lot of them, in the places of low calcium, are positioning PeneCal and Mainstay Calcium there, to help build that soil structure and to help move salts through it. In other regions where they’re not able to hold the moisture, with lighter soil, we’ve been able to combat the salt buildup with H-85. Using the combination of the high carbon product of humics and fulvics – one, to help buffer salts out and two, to make the nutrients needed available." When the off-season arrives, preparation can help growers position themselves well for the new year, including sustainable practices.
“One of those things that we really pay attention to is soil preparation, especially for potatoes,” said Redox agronomist Jason Cook. “I think this is applying more and more, as we look at some different sustainability scenarios, is looking at how we take care of our soil and implementing strategies that promote more health benefits and more nutrient cycling benefits. One of those scenarios is looking at crop residue and how we’re managing that, as far as what’s being taken away. For example, in wheat straw or barley straw, how much organic material is being pulled away from the farm and what has to be replaced to help balance the soils and keep the system functioning.”
Maintaining strong roots another important factor.
“One of my main philosophies is to grow better plants, you have to grow better roots,” said Redox agronomist Jeff Yoder. “A strong foundation of roots underneath that crop gives you more root interception zones, more area covered to pull moisture from if you have times of drought stress. I get the rebuttal all the time that ‘we’re not growing roots, we’re growing apples,’ but, in order to grow apples, you need roots. That investment in a strong foundation of roots pays big dividends.”
America’s Heartland is an impressive place. With rich soils and an even richer agricultural heritage, so much of our food comes from this region.
Andrew DeGroot is continuing a 70+ year family farming tradition started by his grandfather in St. Anne, Illinois, about an hour’s drive from Chicago. DeGroot Farms has made their mark in traditional crops, as well as some you might not expect. In addition to corn and soybeans, they grow potatoes, bell peppers, cabbage, and squash. Customers include Chipotle, Campbell’s Soup and Bob Evans.
The DeGroots have light, sandy soils which work well for growing vegetables. What can prove challenging is weather. This year’s characteristics included a long dry spell with over a month of temperatures hovering around the century mark.
Andrew said they’ve utilized Redox Bio-Nutrients products for about a decade, and the results are easy to see.
“This biggest thing it has helped us with is when Mother Nature throws a curve ball, whether it’s heat stress, drought, cold stress or too much water,” Andrew remarked. “When you have the right products available, where you can fight that and make an extra application or two to combat those stresses and help the plant push through, you don’t have the big swings like you used to. In past years, when the weather is perfect, you grow a bumper crop. The following year maybe there’s a drought and it seemed to be either feast or famine. We’re kind of leveling that off now, knowing our costs going in, knowing what we need to do, setting our program and fighting Mother Nature, pretty much.”
As one example through Redox, Andrew said his potato yields have grown about 30 to 35 percent on average, with a 50 to 60 percent increase when weather fully cooperates.
Bell peppers on the farm are a sight to see, with large fruit, thick walls, and premium quality.
A more traditional crop, soybeans, are also a solid performer on the farm. Illinois is the nation’s largest soybean producer, with more than 11 million acres grown.
From one field to the next, the DeGroot farm is a very productive place. Andrew said Redox Bio-Nutrients are a big part of their success.
“It’s helped greatly,” he said. “I don’t think we could be where we are today without it. Just the growth and new customers we’ve been able to bring to the table because we have a quality product. It takes a lot of the stress away, when you can really focus in, and you see a problem – a deficiency – apply a product, and you will visually see that within usually 7 to 10 days, and then move on from there.”
Golf has enchanted tens of millions of people across the globe and for good reason. With an outdoor setting and intensely rewarding and challenging nature, it’s no wonder it has captured so many for centuries.
Turf is one of the most important aspects of a positive golfing experience. And with some 16,000 golf courses in America, turf is also a major crop in America.
Keeping turf at its best isn’t always easy, as every golf course has its unique set of challenges.
For many years, Todd Scott, Director of Turf Marketing & Strategy at Redox Bio-Nutrients, has diligently worked to help maintain turf quality at many golf courses, with great health, uniform, rich color, and excellent playability.
Redox works with thousands of golf courses across the country, as well as internationally. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach in this endeavor.
“It’s many factors,” Scott said. “Obviously, weather is one. Soil type is another. Climate, water quality, irrigation source and soil structure are also factors. It’s many issues. Some are blessed with good soils, depending on what part of the country they’re in. Others really struggle because of not-so-great soil conditions and water quality. Those are the challenges they face. The more blessed you are with good soil quality and water source, obviously your job is going to be a lot easier.”
Fortunately, Redox can help improve virtually any course, regardless of their needs.
Scott said it all starts with understanding what’s underneath the turf.
“Well, soil testing is paramount, to find out what you’re dealing with, and how you can make adjustments in your fertility applications, whether it’s rates, timing or frequency,” he said. “All of those things matter. The quickest and fastest way to get yourself on the right track is to get a good chemical soil extraction, along with a paste extract test, find out where your deficiencies are and make adjustments in your inputs. You keep tweaking year after year.”
Well-maintained turf means the world, not only to those who play the courses, but to those who manage them, as well.
“Superintendents have told me ‘It has changed this golf course 180 degrees’,” Scott said. “Their life is better. Their home life is better because of it. Hopefully, it will reduce their stress, because it’s one of most stressful jobs you can have out there. I was a superintendent for 10 years in the transition zone, and it can be grueling. Redox really addresses a lot of key parts of their struggles and stresses.”
In the coming months, look for more episodes on how Redox Turf products help golf courses, including profiles on some of the finest courses in the U.S. and internationally.
America is full of business success stories, both small and large, where entrepreneurs worked hard and persevered their way to success.
Henry Ford grew up on a farm in Michigan and worked for a company run by Thomas Edison before borrowing $28,000 to establish the Ford Motor Company.
Ray Kroc dropped out of school as a teenager and spent 17 years selling paper cups before he got the break that eventually led to him launching the McDonald’s fast-food empire.
With a long family history in farming, dentist Dan Zettel sought help in starting an apple orchard, but ran into a proverbial brick wall.
“When we told big national retailers that I was only going to start with 1,200 trees and a little 10-acre spot, they literally turned their back and did not want to discuss fertilizer, any inputs or anything for my orchard,” he remarked.
Undeterred, Dan eventually made the right connections, formulated a successful strategy and planted apple trees. His Edwards Township orchard is now thriving, and his rich red honeycrisp apples are in high demand.
Several experts guided Dan to success, including Redox Agronomist, Eric Massey.
“I wouldn’t be in the apple business today without the help from Redox and Eric Massey,” Dan said. “It’s really interesting the components that we needed and finding the right nutritional plan. When we did soil samples, we found out we were basically farming beach sand out here. We had very low humus; we had very low everything. With the Redox program … we are pulling color on these honeycrisp apples like I’ve never seen. We get dark, dark red apples. Ours come up with this crazy red color.”
Dan and his wife, Melinda, are both dentists, but still find time to work on the farm. They have a built-in labor force with their four children, supplemented by many friends and community members, including a retired state trooper, electrician, and mechanical engineer, who help during harvest.
The Zettels have given back to their community in meaningful ways, including establishing a massive and modern rec center to provide a constructive and fun outlet for kids and others fitness minded residents.
Michigan is third in the US in apple production, with more than one billion pounds produced every year.
Late summer is traditionally a time when families get ready for the start of the school year, many crops are nearing harvest and temperatures spike.
This time out, there have been a few extra hurdles in weather trends to navigate through.
“This summer has been unusually hot for many parts of the country,” remarked Les Colin, longtime meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise. “The East, the South and the Midwest have been very hot, and there’s been extreme flooding. That’s unusual.”
The more volatile summer season has created a few more challenges for growers. Fortunately, Redox agronomists are working with farmers far and wide to ensure productive harvests.
In addition to widespread heat, the prolonged drought in California has led to the problem of high salt levels in farm ground.
“Over time, without having those rains to flush the soil, you accumulate salts in the root zones and that causes stress for the crops,” said Redox Bio-Nutrients Agronomist, Bill Schwoerer. “Products we look at to try to alleviate this include Penecal, which has calcium as well as a surfactant that helps to open the soils and then helps to move water through the pores in the soil, as well as Soilex, which is a surfactant and humic substance as well, to basically help move those salts out of the root zone so the plant can grow under less stress.”
Schwoerer works with growers along the Central Coast. Agronomists Justin Rose in the Central Valley and Kort Holzwart in the Salinas/Monterey area are also working with growers through late summer challenges.
Rose said use of diKaP has helped mitigate heat stress and boosted stomatic conductance for almonds, pistachios and table grapes, as well as citrus sizing.
Holzwart said salt buildup has been a key issue to overcome in his region as well.
In the Pacific Northwest, agronomist Jasmine Baird said apple harvesting is underway, with hops and grapes soon to follow. She said diKaP is helping these crops finish strong, aiding their color and brix.
Agronomist Jeff Yoder said row crops are progressing well in the region. He said key issues include use of potassium-based products to encourage bulking in potatoes and filling out seed crops.
In the Carolinas, agronomist John Rouse said use of diKaP is helping growers he works with combat abiotic stress in their early-maturing soybeans and ensure strong bean development, while Mainstay Si is helping soybeans farther along in their maturity for strong yields.
He said Mainstay Si has helped increase yields for peanut growers and boosted stem strength and shell color. Rouse added Mainstay Si provides a strong assist to cotton growers to help improve their lint yields.
Redox has more than a dozen agronomists working with growers across the country. Find out more at https://www.redoxgrows.com.
Being patient is far from easy, but it can be essential in getting correct results, especially in agricultural research.
At our Redox Bio-Nutrients office in Burley, Idaho, about 20 acres are devoted to meticulous research to make sure our products are indeed an asset to growers.
The crops and materials used vary, although the common thread is we must be patient and precise in reviewing the benefits our product line has on food grown in America and worldwide.
Our current list of crops being grown include alfalfa, corn, tomatoes, honey crisp apples, two varieties of table grapes, and turf.
Crops often start in the greenhouse. Providing that they progress as needed (especially during hot summer months), they next go to pots outdoors. Larger grow-in boxes follow, with one-acre commercial plots the final step at our farm. Every step is carefully monitored and catalogued to help our understanding of how strong the plants are and the efficacy of our products.
Following our on-site trials, we collaborate with independent third parties with the goal of confirming our research on a larger, more commercial scale.
We utilize applied science in our work with a laser focus on the bottom line of growers. To do this, we employ the four Rs of nutrient stewardship: the right source of fertilizer or nutrients, the right rate, right time, and right place.
Understanding these elements help the ultimate goal of getting growers what they need to maximize efficiency and return on investment.
This research is possible through strong coordination, resilience, and teamwork.
“That’s Redox to me,” remarked Gifford Gillette, Redox Bio-Nutrients Head of Science. “There’s an energy because of that synergy. There’s talent all around us, and we’re able to help each other be at our best. Ultimately, the part I get satisfaction from is seeing the tests and the trials that we conduct to get to a program that is utilized, not only by one grower, but in many different geographic regions and is successful in many different circumstances. It’s a tremendous thing knowing that we are helping agriculture as a whole conserve natural resources while simultaneously improving the ability to satisfy global food demands. The scientific process is a key component to this end goal and it is a reason why farmers can readily get on board.”
This year has already been a challenge for farmers – with soaring costs, erratic weather and many other hurdles to clear. Now more than ever, efficient use of resources is vital for growers seeking a good return on investment.
Maintaining healthy soil and being laser-focused on strong plants with proper nutrition are vital to strong yields come harvest time.
Fortunately, there are tools out there to achieve these results.
“One of the things I’m most excited about is the very real progress farmers can make improving their soil,” said John Kelly, co-founder and lead agronomist at Redox Bio-Nutrients. “Some of those improvements can be made immediately and have good returns on their investment.”
Redox has seen steady growth since its inception in the early 1990s, with products sold to farmers in more than 40 states and 32 countries.
American Agriculture is ever-changing, with greater emphasis over the years towards a healthy growing environment and sustainable future, while being conscious of a grower’s return on investment.
“We’ve seen an evolution since the beginning of our business, to going beyond just basic practices that have been in place for 40-60 years, to looking at innovative ways of growing crops,” Kelly said. “Not only from irrigation management – from widespread adoption of controlled irrigation systems - to focus on soil health and fertility inputs. Not only that, but adoption of high-tech practices that improve grower’s bottom lines.”
He said growers that are more efficient with their inputs are better positioned to persevere through years like this that are rife with uncertainty.
“Growers that are thriving in this difficult environment are those at pay close attention to not what they bring in, but what they keep,” Kelly said. “The return on investment, what inputs and what practices will accomplish that best are the ways to thrive in this environment. As we look for efficiencies, we’re looking to get the very best net income per acre possible.”
Like so many that are helping keep abundant, affordable food on dinner tables, Kelly said he’s passionate about keeping farmers farming for generations to come.
“I love what I do,” he said. “I feel very, very fortunate that I’m able to work, not only at Redox with very wonderful people, but the folks we associate within the industry. It’s great and I never get tired of that…. It’s wonderful when we’re able to improve a grower, and the distributor reps, improve their bottom line, while also making a positive impact on the environment.”
California’s 1.6 million acres of almonds have reached a critical juncture in the growing season.
Hull split signals harvest is nearing. It’s also a time when this multi-billion dollar crop is susceptible to threats from Navel Orangeworm and fungal infection.
“It’s both a direct pest and an indirect pest,” remarked Dr. Joel Siegel, Research Entomologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service in Fresno County. He has spent many years studying Navel Orangeworm and working with growers to fight it.
Siegel said if damage occurs from this pest, it could impact almond export trade.
“People want a clean product,” he added. “They want a high-quality product, and this insect is one of their main enemies.”
There are ways growers can protect their valuable investment.
“What’s really worked well for our customers for many years is putting diKaP™ in our hull split sprays,” commented Jared Sannar, Western Regional Sales Manager for Redox Bio-Nutrients.
“That has been a really good return on investment. Our 2-3 pound application (per acre), depending on the goals and what you’re trying to accomplish there, has really worked well. You’re trying to drive potassium and phosphorus at late season, but you’re also looking to reduce abiotic stress and other stress factors that you have in the orchard this time of the year.”
Sannar added Rx Platinum and diKaP™ soil applied applications are also helpful to help finish the crop and build buds for the next year.
This year’s almond crop is forecast at 2.8 billion pounds, which is nearly identical to last year’s.
Rising costs and instability in many key areas have caused big headaches for farmers this year. From record high fertilizer costs to supply chain issues, there seem to be challenges at every turn.
Navigating through uncertainty isn’t new in agriculture, although 2022 has taken that process to an entirely new level.
“Agriculture is facing some interesting times,” remarked Darin Moon, founder and owner of Redox Bio-Nutrients. “Coming out of the pandemic, then the entire energy sector in agriculture- fertilizer is part that energy sector- that has created a dynamic that agriculture hasn’t seen before. You add on top of that the desire for the world to become more sustainable, more planet friendly. All of those things have created a dynamic where there is incredible opportunity going forward, but the foundation is a little bit shaky because people aren’t quite sure.”
As a result, many growers are being cautious with their farming decisions – with greater scrutiny on cost, availability and options for growing their crops.
Redox Bio-Nutrients is focused in areas that can help agriculture thrive, even in difficult times. Through their products and technologies, they help growers build a strong foundation of the four pillars of Yield and Quality - Soil Health, Root Development, Abiotic Stress Defense, and Nutrient Efficiency.
From its inception nearly 30 years ago, Redox has grown to provide products in more than 40 states and 32 countries.
Moon said when growers work towards healthy, productive, sustainable fields and orchards, they are better positioned to get through challenges.
“That’s the DNA of this company,” he added. “Dealing with reduced input costs, dealing with all of these things. We have survived through incredibly turbulent economic times for 30 years and here we stand. I think now able to lead the agricultural economy going forward, because of our experience, our technology and, most importantly, because of our people and passion.”
Bio-nutrition is a growing area that has helped produce healthy farms that positively impact a grower’s return on investment.
“Bio-nutrition for us is the way Mother Nature does it,” Moon said. “If you think about how Mother Nature would do it if we didn’t add fertilizer to the soil, she would use the soil microbiology, the soil carbon base, to cycle nutrients for plant nutrition and uptake. What we’ve done is we’ve spent an inordinate amount of time and money studying those processes and then trying to figure out how to add to commodity fertilizer or create our own fertilizer blends that mimic what Mother Nature does.”
Despite the rocky start to the year, Moon said he’s optimistic that farmers will persevere and succeed.