Redox Grows

Rice has been part of the foundation of California’s Sacramento Valley for more than a century, providing $5 billion a year to the state’s economy and virtually all of America’s sushi rice. The industry suffered through a devastating drought in 2022, and, thanks to a wet winter, returned to normal acreage, and is in the midst of a promising harvest. 

“There’s rice everywhere and water to irrigate that rice,” said Kurt Richter, Vice President of Richter AG in Colusa. “All of the wildlife activity is restored. Whereas this time a year ago, it was tens of thousands of acres that were bone dry growing dryland weeds. It was just a desolate place. Now it has become the vibrant rice country that we’re all familiar with.”

The estimated 511,000 acres of California rice is more than double the 2022 total. More rice grown has widespread benefits that extend well beyond the farm.

“This year is vastly improved from last year,“ remarked Nicole Montna Van Vleck, President and CEO of Montna Farms, a family farm near Yuba City. “It’s really a welcome event for everyone across the eight counties that we grow rice in in California. To see a full crop and wall to wall rice across the valley, brings about lots of jobs, lots of economic activity to these small towns throughout the Sacramento Valley.”

In addition to provide a staple food, Northern California rice fields are home to nearly 230 wildlife species, including millions of migrating ducks and geese every fall and winter. 

Growers and all involved in agriculture continually strive to grow the best quality food with the highest yields.

Success, including at Betteravia Farms in Santa Maria, California, comes from dedication and innovation from the ground up, including from their Director of Agronomy, Cintia Perez. Her main areas of work are in plant health, soil management and pest control.

Even with such favorable weather along the Central California Coast, agronomic problems arise and need to be dealt with quickly and effectively.

“You have to be a really big problem-solver,” Perez said. “I think that’s actually the funnest part of the job is to be able to solve problems. I have a checklist to try to figure out what the issue is in the field…. The most important part is to make sure you are in your field often, so when an issue does arise, they are able to deal with it quickly.”

Betteravia Farms, which shoppers will recognize through the Bonipak label, grows about 20 different crops, both conventional and organic, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, cilantro, and several types of berries.

Perez said it’s encouraging to see more women and greater diversity in agriculture. Her advice to those seeking a similar profession is to persevere, even when challenges arise.

“I enjoy seeing more and more women in ag,” she remarked. “Being a pest control advisor, being an agronomist, isn’t an easy job. Males struggle in this industry, as well. I always just tell people ‘Make sure you don’t give up. Just keep pushing through those hard times and you’ll get through it.’” 

The technology that has helped Redox Bio-Nutrients be a leader in efficient, carbon-based nutrition in agriculture has for many years also been a go-to for the turf industry. Big changes are underway for the Redox TurfRx™ line moving forward.

Effective October 1, Redox will re-enter the turf market directly through turf retailers. Other changes include new packaging and new products en route.

What doesn’t change is our company commitment to providing superior quality nutrition that benefits golf courses across the U.S. and internationally.

“It all starts with soil health,” said Redox Turf Agronomist Todd Scott, who has 36 years of work in the industry. “Any good carbon-based product is going to help in soil health situations. You also have to have good mineral nutrition in combination with that.  It’s a combination of abiotic stress defense, soil health, improving microbial activity – they all have to work hand in hand to get the best result…. The quality of the chelation and complexing is where the difference comes in with Redox.”

Scott said he’s ecstatic about the hiring of Tom Breiner as the Redox Turf Agronomist in the Northeast. Breiner has extensive turf experience, including 25 years as superintendent of the largest golf course facility in New Jersey.

For more information, go to RedoxTurf.com 

Farming goals were different when virtually everyone was growing food. Today, farming and ranching are often done well away from the public, and the average consumer has become less aware of what it takes to go from field to fork.

The danger of a society without Agricultural literacy is huge, according to Shay Myers, CEO of Owyhee Produce. Myers regularly reaches millions of people with informative and entertaining content through @shayfarmkid on many social media platforms, but he said more communication needs to happen industrywide.

“I think there’s much, much more that we can do,” he remarked. “There’s much more that we need to do. You can see it on social media today. The conversations that are had, and the misunderstandings and misconceptions that are still in place about what agriculture does, from an environmental standpoint, from a social standpoint – from basically every angle. The consumer still needs to understand and see the transparency in what we’re doing.”

Shay, his mother Robin, and sister Bailey recently visited Redox Headquarters in Burley, as their third-generation farm met with our second-generation bio-nutrient company.

Owyhee Produce is a major onion producer, growing 1,200 acres of the vegetable. They also grow asparagus, watermelons, and sweet corn. More than a dozen family members are active in the business.

Owyhee Produce has several events per year to engage with their customers, including their asparagus festival in the spring.

Find out more about the company and their engaging CEO at https://owyheeproduce.com.

Unpredictability is one of the most predictable aspects of farming. Growers in the Midwest have persevered through drought, but late rains should help their crops come harvest time.

While corn and soybeans reign supreme in the Farm Belt, Illinois grower Andrew DeGroot has a more diverse set of crops, including peppers, squash, cabbage, and potatoes. He attributed the Redox Bio-Nutrients product diKaP as one key to help his crops through abiotic stress from dryer than normal conditions.

“I think it helps push us through dry times and heat stress,” he said. “The plants seem to keep growing and pushing through, even though the weather isn’t favorable. When we started using it about six or seven years ago, I just noted a great crop response. Plants weren’t wilting like they used to. Potatoes kept bulking and sizing, holding on to set – not aborting potatoes in the hot, dry weather. It has been a very valuable tool.”

With acreage about an hour outside of Chicago, DeGroot’s vegetables are enjoyed far and wide, including at Chipotle and Campbell’s Soup. He said his Redox program helps ensure excellent results, which, in turn, keeps customers happy.

“Fruit quality is just massive,” DeGroot said. “Nice, solid potatoes that cook up nice. They store nicely. It helps everything. Everybody wants a quality product, and Redox has definitely helped us be able to bring that to the table, for sure!”

Sometimes a change of scenery can bring clarity. Washington state hay grower Andrew Eddie had reservations about staying on the family farm in Moses Lake, but he had a change of heart, following his education at the University of Oregon.

“I went and had a good experience in college,” he said. “Got a communications degree, then it came down to time to get after it, and I was like ‘you know, I’m going to go back to the farm and see how it goes’ and so far, it has worked out really well.  I enjoy what I do every day. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t want to work as hard as I do.”

Eddie said his communications degree has been a tremendous help, as it helps him frequently in everyday life, whether conveying information on the farm, or communicating with others on why agriculture matters.

Eddie is President of the Washington State Hay Growers Association.  He and his father grow more than 1,000 acres of forage crops, and custom farm several thousand additional acres. Hay from their state is utilized domestically and internationally, including in Asia and the Middle East.

Washington is a large hay state, with nearly 3 million tons grown each year. 

Sustainability is one of the biggest areas of discussion and focus in agriculture today. Whether in the U.S. or many other countries, increasing farm efficiency in an environmentally sound way is the way of the future. 

The University of Idaho’s ambitious CAFE, the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, aims to help many sectors of agriculture understand and implement sustainable practices in the future.
 
A major component of CAFE is a 640-acre dairy under construction near Rupert, Idaho. When completed, it will be the largest research dairy in the nation, and it should help dairy farmers locally and nationally with their stewardship.
 
Construction of the dairy began this spring. The first cows are expected on site by the end of 2024, with the first milking anticipated in 2025. 

“As an industry, we have to survive and have a path into the future, and that’s what this research is hopefully going to provide,” commented Project Manager John Wright. “You go to a dairyman who works very hard at being a good neighbor. He works very hard at being clean. He wants to do what’s right, but now some of these issues brought up with saving the environment, global warming and all of these other issues that come up, the dairyman looks around and says, ‘I want to help, but what do I do?’ Hopefully this research dairy can answer some of those questions.” 

The Idaho Dairymen’s Association represents the state’s dairy farmers, which comprise a longstanding industry that contributes approximately $11 billion in annual sales. Idaho is the nation’s third-largest dairy state. Association CEO Rick Naerebout said their commitment to CAFE included $2 million towards buying land for the research dairy.  He said there are two key areas this research should help the industry.

“In broad strokes, water quality and air quality are the two biggest pressure points we see,” he said. “We have to have the science to back up our dairymen, to help explain to the public just what the true science is behind some of the practices and some of what our industry does.”

In addition to assisting dairy farmers, CAFE is expected to benefit many other sectors of agriculture.

Redox Bio-Nutrients CEO Darin Moon said CAFE should provide important data for even greater sustainability in the future and strengthen the connection between animal and plant agriculture.

“This is such an exciting project,” Moon said. “It is from research to production to profitability that we’re going to see the results of how we do things better. … This project will give both research and practicality, with a high level of probability of success. That’s what excites me about this. Plus, all of the innovations that are going to come out of this. How do we handle compost? How do we handle liquid waste in a better manner? How do we handle feed in a better manner? All of these items that go into dairy and go into production agriculture – many of those questions are going to start to be answered and given practicality and real answers to growers.”

CAFE has received broad support from agricultural groups, the Idaho Legislature, and federal government. You can find out more about the $45 million project at: www.uidaho.edu/cafe. 

The Pacific Northwest not only has jaw-dropping scenery, it’s also a major food growing region.  In addition to growing 70 percent of the nation’s apples, Washington farmers produce 300 different crops, including potatoes, cherries, and wheat. Oregon is also an agricultural powerhouse, with $5 billion worth of crops produced yearly, including berries pears, onions, and sweet corn.

Scott Drake of Innovative Farm Consulting is one of those helping farmers in the PNW succeed.

He said he considers himself part detective and part mechanic, as he works with growers to solve complex challenges, all in the name of healthy fields and orchards, along with abundant crops.

He has worked with Redox Bio-Nutrients, either as an employee or working with the product line, for nearly 25 years, and said Redox products are “truly unique and work amazing, in my opinion.”

Drake grew up on a farm and was a grower himself, so he said he can relate to the rewards and challenges farmers face.

“If people knew how much families and farms risk every year to produce the food, and the amount of work that goes into it 24/7, they would be amazed,” he remarked. “There’s a lot easier ways of life out there. It’s a lifestyle. I take my hat off to them and we wouldn’t be eating if it wasn’t for them.”

After a cooler and wetter than normal start to the year, the heat is on in many farming regions of the U.S. Excessive heat is one of the major types of abiotic stress that can harm trees and plants, ultimately leading to reduced crop quality and size.

Fortunately, there are steps growers can take to help with abiotic stress defense. 

Nutrition is a key part of successful farming, especially during stressful times.

“We’re playing catch up from a cool spring,” said Redox Bio-Nutrients CEO, Darin Moon. “How will we properly feed and cultivate the plant. Number two, as it gets warmer, we have two effects of heat: excessive UV radiation can be damaging to a plant, and then heat itself. As a plant respires, can it respire fast enough to deal with excessive heat? It’s very important that growers understand and take precautionary steps to deal with both UV radiation in how they fertilize and how they water their crops.” Redox technology helps plants ward off abiotic stress through highly efficient mineral nutrients that get into the plant and help with plant metabolism faster. Also, the organic molecules attached in Redox products provide proteins, amino acids, and other beneficial materials to reduce the oxidative component of oxidative stress and help a plant to metabolize better. Two key Redox products especially popular in the summer at diKaP and Banx. They deal with plant-water relations and improve plant metabolism through ultra-efficient potassium, amino acids, and plant extracts.

Moon added the volatility in world fertilizer supply and price over the last two years is another major reason growers should seek out more efficient fertilizers and work to improve soil health, so the fertilizers applied are more effective. Doing so, he said, would leave growers less at the mercy of world economic situations. It also would increase farm efficiency and sustainability, both environmental and economic. 

The more you know, the better chance of success.

Gathering detailed intelligence is vital not only in miliary settings, but also in farming.

Tyler Adams can attest to this winning combination. Adams spent nearly a decade in the US Army, including managing a nine-month counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. He’s now a field representative at Willard Agri-Service in Maryland, providing proven Redox Bio-Nutrients technology to help farmers get the most of their crops.

“The more you understand the soil, the climate, and how a crop reacts biologically in a certain condition, and then analyze that with the goals you’re trying to achieve… you can then make informed decisions,” Adams said. “So, you can predict how a plant is going to respond at a certain time or certain treatment, and impact it at the cellular level for stronger, sweeter fruit, more yield or build a plant that’s more resistant to stress. I think that’s what I love about Redox is we’re looking at the cellular level and we’re not just putting out a magic bullet. We’re applying nutrients and products at key timings and making those recommendations to impact them, because we know our ‘enemy’ the plant, and we understand it at the biological level.”

Adams works with growers in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, an immense area which requires tremendous adherence to environmental regulations. He said ultra-efficient Redox technology fits well in this regard, providing effective results with significantly fewer materials than conventional crop inputs.

Find out more about Willard Agri-Service and their half century of service to farmers at willardag.com.