Plant Health Insights

During the 2016/2017 growing season, a production-scale field trial was conducted to evaluate a Loveland Agri Products nutritional program on nonpareil almonds. Overall, it showed that incorporating Loveland's products into the farm nutrition program was beneficial, increasing almond yield during the trial.

The trial took place at a commercial almond orchard in New South Wales under the agronomic supervision of Landmark Griffith. 

Trees from two sections of the orchard were treated with the Loveland Agri Products program and compared to trees from two untreated blocks. The Loveland program included Awaken and LoKomotive (used in replacement of potassium nitrate and an NPK/trace nutrients product), as well as Foundation LM and NutriSync D. The orchard’s normal nutrition program was otherwise applied, with no other differences between the treated and untreated blocks. An independent research group (SGS of Mildura) harvested and assessed the crop, comparing fruit yield, kernel length, kernel weight and crack-out from the treated and untreated areas.   

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.

Congratulations to farmer Rick Martin, the winner of an iPad Mini for attending our 2017 Basis XC webinar, "A New Basis for Improving Granular Fertilizer Efficiency." 

He is pictured here (right) with Agricen Australia's director of sales.

Rick has been a customer of Nutrien Ag Solutions Wagga for several years. Following a recommendation from Nutrien Ag Solutions agronomist John Anderson, Rick trialed our original Basis technology with good success last year. He joined us for our Basis XC webinar in February to better understand the science behind the technology that had proved strong on his farm. 

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.