Plant Health Insights

In a side by side trial conducted in Dalby, Queensland, adding Foundation LM (applied at 2.5 L/ha) to the grower's standard fertiliser program led to a yield gain of 0.25 tonnes/ha in grain sorghum. The trial was harvested in July. 

Wheat and lupins have been showing a strong response to Basis XC-treated granular fertiliser in these Cooke Plains, South Australia trials.

In the photos below (taken in mid-August), wheat from the treated side of the paddock shows more vigour and darker colour compared to wheat from the untreated side. 

These chickpea plants in Moree, New South Wales are from a block of a grower's paddock that was treated with Foundation LM. The grower reports that he is impressed with the size and health of the nodes and nodules on the plants. Photos were taken in August 2017.

In the Southern Highlands of Goulburn, NSW, Nutrien Ag Solutions senior agronomist Jim Colquhoun is working hard to give his clients the best opportunities to increase production and quality in their pastures.  Jim uses an array of exclusive technologies from Nutrien Ag Solutions to tailor nutritional programs that not only improve his clients' yields, but also provide them with solid economic benefits.

Some of the products Jim has found to be a good fit in his region include Awaken, with its patented zinc ammonium acetate technology, Basis XC, with unique biochemistry that quickly releases nutrients from granular fertilizers, and ESN Smart Nitrogen, with a flexible polymer coating that only unlocks when the right soil temperature is achieved. With these tools and other technologies, Jim's clients will be better able to meet increasing food demands.

Gatton, Queensland is home to much of the fresh produce found in the supermarkets across Australia. Fertile soils paired with favorable temperatures make this area and its surroundings a haven for horticulture production. Nutrien Ag Solutions agronomists are working to make horticulture in this area even more productive using innovative plant nutrition technologies like Foundation LM and other products in the Loveland Agri Products portfolio.

“We are utilising product technologies that have been extensively researched and trialed to give growers the opportunity to take their production to the next level,” says Nutrien Ag Solutions agronomist Nev Watts. “It takes a systems approach.”  

A crop's ability to access nutrients from granular fertilisers is dependent on how quickly the fertiliser granules break down. Treating the fertiliser with Basis XC can hasten that process, as seen in this video from a pasture trial in South Australia.

A Nutrien Ag Solutions Field Day demonstration shows sugarcane's quick response to Foundation LM. 

Two sugarcane billets were planted in pots at a Nutrien Ag Solutions location in Tolga, Queensland. Foundation LM was applied at 5 L/ha in one pot, and the other was left untreated as a control. In the photos below, which were taken 5 days after planting, you can already see that there is a big difference in root growth with Foundation LM.

A South Australian cropping farmer has been using Foundation LM to help unlock nutrients in his heavy clay soils and improve soil nutrition and structure.

After injecting Foundation LM in furrow on his farm using a Liquid Systems unit last year, farmer Peter Hannaford and Nutrien Ag Solutions agronomist Craig Hole noticed a more strongly developed root system and greener stalks in Peter's barley crops. The greener stalk colour indicates better phosphorus uptake, compared to purple stalks where Foundation LM had not been injected.

When growing short-season crops like brassicas and leafy greens, we often see strong benefits from the biochemistry in Foundation LM when added to a grower's standard practice.  In a series of block trials with some growers, we were able to capture some of the benefits that Foundation provides to growers by making nutrients more available and helping to improve plant performance.

The first trial was conducted in cos (romaine) lettuce. Cos is a sturdy, dark green, and fast growing variety of lettuce that is a staple in many Australian diets. The second trial was conducted on wombok (Chinese cabbage). It is also a favorite with Australians because of its tender leaves and nutritional qualities. 

In the trials, Foundation LM was applied with the grower's standard practice (GSP) one week after planting at 10 litres per hectare through fertigation. Early tissue test results and results of first and second pickings showed exceptional responses from one application Foundation LM. 

For thousands of years, the world regarded the act of growing a plant in the soil as a biological process. But—as in all systems—the need for scalability to meet growing demands called for new, more efficient technologies to improve food production. The agricultural advancements of the post–World War II era were nothing short of transformational in this respect. Worldwide, food production skyrocketed, owing to advancements including improved seed varieties, modernized irrigation, better control of plant diseases and pests, and increased use of chemical fertilisers.

In more recent years, we have realized that the gains achieved through the tools of the Green Revolution are not limitless. We have also realized that the intensity of agricultural production has some significant, long-term impacts on soil, air and water resources. These realizations have helped prompt a renewed interest in the biological elements of crop production.