Fall harvest season is underway throughout the U.S., wrapping up a year with higher costs of production, volatile markets and a myriad of weather issues, including massive drought in the West.

“It has definitely been a challenging year,” remarked Redox Bio-Nutrients agronomist Jared Sannar. “Mother Nature threw us some difficulty… I would say it has been a pretty challenging year, but we’re wrapping things up, are well into harvest for most of the crops, and looking forward to putting this one to bed.”

Growers in the nation’s leading agricultural state, California, saw more than its share of challenges this year. An untimely freeze caused a massive hit on the almond crop. Drought left an estimated half-million acres of farm ground unplanted this year. 

Grower Mitchell Yerxa of River Vista Farms in Colusa County is also a pilot and said an aerial view of the usually abundant west side of the Sacramento Valley provides an indication of the extent of the drought toll.

“If you can see something from a different angle or different perspective, you have a whole different understanding than you did before,” he said. “So, when you’re on Interstate 5 and you’re driving north and you’re looking to the west and don’t see a rice field planted, ok it’s one rice field. But when you’re up 1,000 feet, or 3,000 feet, and you look down and don’t see a single acre planted for miles, it gives you perspective that there are many farms and many parts of this community that are going to be dramatically affected when for miles there’s not a single acre planted.”

Fall harvests continue, from Idaho potatoes and Iowa corn to Texas cotton and California walnuts. Redox agronomists are working with growers to maximize yield, quality and return on investment.

One impediment to this goal is excess salt in parched fields.

“In my region, the southern San Joaquin Valley, there’s a lot of salt issues,” said Redox agronomist Justin Rose. “A lot of growers are using groundwater, bringing up salty, sodium bicarbonates. A lot of them, in the places of low calcium, are positioning PeneCal and Mainstay Calcium there, to help build that soil structure and to help move salts through it. In other regions where they’re not able to hold the moisture, with lighter soil, we’ve been able to combat the salt buildup with H-85. Using the combination of the high carbon product of humics and fulvics – one, to help buffer salts out and two, to make the nutrients needed available." When the off-season arrives, preparation can help growers position themselves well for the new year, including sustainable practices.

“One of those things that we really pay attention to is soil preparation, especially for potatoes,” said Redox agronomist Jason Cook. “I think this is applying more and more, as we look at some different sustainability scenarios, is looking at how we take care of our soil and implementing strategies that promote more health benefits and more nutrient cycling benefits. One of those scenarios is looking at crop residue and how we’re managing that, as far as what’s being taken away. For example, in wheat straw or barley straw, how much organic material is being pulled away from the farm and what has to be replaced to help balance the soils and keep the system functioning.” 

Maintaining strong roots another important factor. 

“One of my main philosophies is to grow better plants, you have to grow better roots,” said Redox agronomist Jeff Yoder. “A strong foundation of roots underneath that crop gives you more root interception zones, more area covered to pull moisture from if you have times of drought stress. I get the rebuttal all the time that ‘we’re not growing roots, we’re growing apples,’ but, in order to grow apples, you need roots. That investment in a strong foundation of roots pays big dividends.”