Plant Health Insights

In 2017, a Nutrien Ag Solutions customer near Shepparton, Victoria, first tried Basis XC on his starter fertiliser. Today, all of the starter fertiliser on his farm gets treated with Basis XC, a biocatalyst technology that can be applied onto granular fertilisers to enhance nutrient efficiency. 

“Our farm has good background nutrition in the soil, so I decided to compare straight DAP at our usual rate of 85kg/ha to DAP treated with Basis XC at 80kg/ha," said the grower, who is a cropper and oaten hay producer. 

By slightly reducing the rate of the Basis XC-treated fertiliser in that initial trial, he felt he could better and more easily compare the two applications dollar for dollar.

Early observations of the trial showed that plants had a bigger root system, with many more finer root hairs, where Basis XC was used on the starter fertiliser. Moreover, these observations were backed up by yield results. 

Our latest webinar, "Maximising Nutrient Use Efficiency in Cropping & Pasture Systems of Australia," is now available to watch online.

During this on-demand webinar, you will learn:

• How fertiliser inputs break down and cycle in the soil after application, including the role played by soil microbiology
• How efficiently fertiliser inputs are taken up by the crop
• How two technologies - Basis XC and Foundation LM - can have a positive influence on fertiliser practices and maximise yield potential in agronomic programs
• Recent results with Basis XC in cropping and pasture trials

Applying Basis XC-treated single superphosphate (SSP) in dryland pasture considerably increased phosphorus and calcium uptake, a winter 2019 trial in the mid-southeast found, leading to improvements in feed quality.

Treated and untreated SSP was applied to dryland pasture, consisting of lucerne and annual grasses established on calcareous sands, prior to the break of the season (mid-April 2019). Tissue and feed quality tests were later taken on the 27th of August.

Agronomists know that it's important to look at all aspects of crop growth—both above the ground and below—when checking on a trial. This trial evaluating Basis XC in forage brassica is a good example of why this is necessary. 

When Nutrien Ag Solutions agronomists visited the trial site near Millicent, South Australia in April, they noted that the crop, which was sown in spring on heavy peat soil with naturally high fertility levels, looked only slightly better above ground where the grower's base granular fertiliser had been treated with Basis XC. Below ground, however, the differences were obvious.

What do more than one million Australian hectares have in common? Basis technology from Loveland Agri Products.

Since being introduced in 2014, fertiliser treated with Basis or Basis XC has been applied on over one million hectares in Australia, and this technology is becoming the standard in many cropping and intensive pasture districts across Australia. This is an outstanding success for a biologically derived nutrient-enhancing product, with growers coming back time and again for Basis XC on their fertiliser after seeing the benefits of improved nutrient use efficiency and enhanced crop performance.

By using Basis XC with SSP fertilisers, graziers can speed up the release and utilisation of phosphorus and other nutrients in their pastures, which can equal more pasture growth.

"We did trials with a local grazier where we compared the quality of pasture spread with Basis XC-treated SSP versus untreated SSP," says Sam Graetz, Nutrien Ag Solutions Branch Manager at Lucindale, SA.

"The quality of the pasture from the treated area was far higher than the untreated in virtually all aspects, including metabolisable energy and protein, as well as much higher nutritional levels, resulting in higher potential stocking rates," he adds.

In 2017, several trials were conducted to evaluate Basis XC on pastures fertilised with single superphosphate (SSP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP). The results show a positive impact on dry matter yield when the fertiliser is treated with Basis XC. Two trials are highlighted below.

Basis XC with SSP in Littlehampton, SA

In a pasture trial conducted with input from Nutrien Ag Solutions Murray Bridge in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, SSP treated with Basis XC (applied at 2L/tonne onto the fertiliser) was compared to untreated SSP across an existing, one-year old paddock containing four grass species. The treated and untreated fertiliser was applied at a rate of 130kg/ha down the allocated strips at the start of the season.

Learn how to get all of the nutrition you can from your granular fertiliser by viewing our recent webinar, "Improving Granular Fertiliser Efficiency for Higher Yields & Profits." 

This on-demand webinar reviews:

• How you can enhance your fertiliser program and increase yield potential by improving the nutrient availability of your granular fertiliser

• What Basis XC is and how it improves P and K efficiency

• Results of recent trials in wheat, canola, pasture and pulse crops

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.

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.