Healthy Soil Solutions Monthly |
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Don’t let the Stress get you too Stressed! |
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Good Morning All!
Welcome to the June 2021 edition of Healthy Soil Solutions Monthly. We’d like to begin this newsletter by wishing our readers the best during this frustratingly hot and dry season. We understand all too well the challenges posed by the restrictions on water and, to add salt to the wound, 100+ degree days reared their ugly heads a lot sooner than we would’ve liked this year! These abiotic stressors have a dangerous compounding effect, which is why we believe stress management needs to be the centerpiece of CA growers’ production strategies this season. The good news is that we have proven and data-backed solutions to these challenges (which we’ll present a bit further down in this newsletter), but first, we’d like to start with an exciting announcement from Penny Newman’s Farm Products Division.
Some folks may have seen a post or two via social media, but Penny Newman is thrilled to announce our partnership with Central Irrigation! As some readers might recall from the first edition of this newsletter, we proclaimed water scarcity and soil salinity as public enemies #1 and #2 for the CA grower, and we’ve been able to prove through hundreds of successful experiences in the field and replicated 3rd party trials that our products can and do help growers overcome these challenges and increase profitability in spite of them. That said, we can’t claim to have every tool in our toolbox needed to accomplish these goals, particularly when it comes to the development of the modernized infrastructure growers need to deliver our solutions in the most efficient way possible. Enter: Central Irrigation, proprietors of state of the art water delivery systems.
Through our mutual affiliation with the Ag Center, the management teams of Penny Newman Farm Products and Central Irrigation have gained an appreciation for each others’ passion for helping growers overcome their most pressing issues, and the two companies just so happen to have complementary solutions that allow growers to do just that. Central Irrigation will now be offering Penny Newman’s innovative agronomic products, and the two companies will be hard at work behind the scenes developing new integrated systems to help growers streamline their operations with automated/digitized reporting, product ordering, fertigation, and product performance monitoring (just to name a few). We believe that a holistic approach is the best way to solve problems and, in the case of irrigation and agronomics, the whole is most definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
Now back to that seasonal stress that has us all so stressed…
To add more difficulty to the current situation growers are facing, many commercial fertilizers have rallied upwards of 30-60% in price since the Fall. In light of this challenge, the natural response may be to cut what are perceived to be “unnecessary dollars spent” in the fertility budget to ensure there’s enough room for the traditional NPK products. If all growers adopted this mindset, more nascent products like biostimulants, humates, and biologicals will just have to wait until there are fewer budgetary constraints to be tried out in the field at a greater scale.
As much as we can’t blame anyone for embracing that mentality for the sake of managing risk, we wholeheartedly believe it to be precisely the wrong decision in both the short and long term. There are tools that can be deployed RIGHT NOW that will allow growers to cut back on traditional synthetic NPK and micronutrients without compromising uptake (Aqua Yield’s NanoTechnology), which makes substantial room in the budget (particularly with where fertilizers are priced today) to include the products and strategies that help manage the intense abiotic stress we’re currently facing. Remember, according to UC Davis, upwards of 50-70% of our applied nitrogen is wasted, and Aqua Yield has the simplest and most cost-effective means of eliminating that waste we’ve come across. Lastly, (and not to beat a dead horse here) this reduces the overall salt load on the soil caused by over-application of synthetics, which reduces stress and allows the natural systems upon which crops are reliant to regenerate themselves.
In addition to Aqua Yield, we recommend, as always, our Full Spectrum C+P to maximize water infiltration and holding capacity. We have the data to support its efficacy as an abiotic stress mitigator (that primary stressor being water stress), which also validates its capacity to drive significant ROI in just one growing season. Secondly, we’d like to point you in the direction of our friends from Earthsol, who just published a great newsletter highlighting data on stress mitigation on their kelp product, Seasol, that you can read here. They have great, very straightforward data that shows a statistically significant reduction in stress response indicator: proline (amino acid plants produce under stress). Seasol and Full Spectrum are the ultimate stress-reducing stack, with Seasol fortifying endogenous plant systems and Full Spectrum fortifying its primary support system/growing medium: the soil. This binary approach not only reduces stress, as proven, it further enhances nutrient delivery/uptake to the plant in a manner that facilitates an even greater reduction of applied nutrients (you may be recognizing a theme here). As always, you’ll want to consult closely with your Penny Newman representative about the right program for the right conditions, but this particular stack will be deployed on thousands of acres this year due to the timeliness of the solution it represents.
On that note, don’t let the stress get you too stressed. Penny Newman and Central Irrigation are here to help you build resilience into your operation and grow profitably for decades to come!
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-The Team at Penny Newman Farm Products Division
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From our friends at Aqua-Yield, proprietors of their NanoShield technology, brought to you exclusively by Penny Newman Farm Products |
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We recently visited a strawberry farm on the Central Coast using Aqua-Yield Nanoliquid fertilizer products. Watch the video to learn about the different Nanoliquid products being used to enhance this grower's strawberry production program! |
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From our suppliers of organic seaweed extracts |
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Water shortage, extreme temperatures, or high salinity are some of the most devastating environmental stresses for crops, leading to a depletion in cellular water content and osmotic potential, thereby causing osmotic stress and yield loss (Ahuja 2010; Zhang et al. 2011).
Temperatures are spiking. When plants are under stress, they create an amino acid called proline that is responsible for cellular regeneration. When proline is detected, your plants are stressed.
Keeping abiotic stress down greatly benefits your perennials and your annual crops. See how Seasol decreases the stress in plants based on measuring the proline levels over 12 replicates.
Apply Seasol Advanced Root Boost seaweed with NPK and micronutrients via the soil to keep your plants and crops bountiful.
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Harness the Power of EMOH by Aequion! |
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We have been seeing some incredible results this season with our customers who have installed EMOH systems on their irrigation reservoir systems to mitigate algae growth and cut back on chemical water treatments. Check out the images below of the EMOH system in action, producing visible results!
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Irrigation reservoir with EMOH - No new algae growth from the bottom or top of the reservoir system! Photo taken 5/18/2021 |
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Irrigation reservoir without EMOH - 1/2 mile away on the same farm. This reservoir has a lot of new algae growth occurring. Photo taken on same day 5/18/2021 |
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Above image of EMOH3 system in operation with recirculation of water being treated through the EMOH unit and back into the reservoir |
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Try our flagship product!
First applications for the season are going out. We recommend applying 5 gallons/acre on the first application in the early spring and 3 gallons/acre in the early summer. Set your trees up for success this season and apply Full Spectrum C+P!
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Contact Penny Newman for your Commercial Fertilizer Needs |
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Penny Newman is a Proud Affiliate of The Ag Center! |
Visit The Ag Center website to learn more about all of the affiliates here to serve your agricultural needs!
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Follow us on Social Media |
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Our social media channels are a great way to get live updates from the field, and to stay up to date with upcoming events and activities. |
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