How Can Biologicals Help Your Operation?

The buzz around biologicals has never been louder, but the noise can make it difficult to figure out what biologicals are, how they fit into a cropping plan, and how to use them.  Jon Treloar, senior technical agronomist for Novonesis, offers advice for growers on how to cut through the noise.

“I think when we're looking at biologicals, it's important for growers to understand the technology that they're looking at employing on their farms," Treloar said.  "By that, I mean looking through some critical lenses of science, data, and agronomy to evaluate the fit of these products within their cropping systems.  Like science, kind of the academic nature of the biological, the organism itself, maybe their metabolites and their life cycle, but what it's expected to do, and then match that with agronomy.  How is that going to impact the crop?  What benefit is it going to give the crop? But also, how is it going to be applied?  Because we know that ease of use is very, very important, so it has to be a seamless step within their operation.”

Treloar said biologicals can easily fit into practices and other inputs growers have been using for years.

“By looking at how to incorporate biologicals as part of an integrated fertility plan, growers can be successful," he stressed.  "Rather than just thinking, ‘Hey, this is going to get me two or five bushels,’ understanding that agronomic piece is how is this technology going to impact the crop.  When we look at a technology like LGO, we can see how that's going to impact the mycorrhiza association with the crop and give that crop more access to nutrients and water. With inputs that they're currently using, we need to fit seamlessly as a company that delivers biologicals into the marketplace.  We need to fit seamlessly within the cropping systems and the input systems that are out there.  So, whether that be delivering granular products seamlessly in-furrow, I mean, it has to be really, really easy to use, and so, in thinking about how it's delivered, it becomes really important.”

Treloar says it’s not too late to add biologicals to your 2025 plans.

“Not at all. Depending on where they are with their cropping systems, if the seed is still yet to go down, there are opportunities to put biologicals in-furrow, on-seed, or even as a liquid in-furrow. If the crop is already planted and establishing itself, we have foliar technology where we could deliver, again, a product like Ratchet, which is an LGO promoter technology that can go on foliar, over the top, again with that in-season herbicide or in-season fungicide, makes it really, really seamless."

What can producers expect when using products from Novonesis?

“Globally, Novonesis is the number one biological company, and not just in agriculture, but across a number of different industries," Treloar said.  "When people see that Novonesis name, they know that we're going to be delivering quality. We know that the technologies and the innovation that we deliver are going to be proven. It's going to be backed by good science and good data. You're going to get the right quality. Any other attributes, like things like compatibility with seed treatments is going to be rigorously tested. So, I think we can lean on our history and deliver industry-leading biologicals into the marketplace.”

Click Here to learn more about how LCO Promoter Technology from Novonesis.

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