Farmers are the key link in keeping bountiful, affordable food to feed the world. There are many others that help growers do their work, including ag retailers.

“If you just look at the top 100 ag retailers, as far as the biggest ones in the country, the last couple of years, it has been over $40 billion worth of products and services that have been provided to farmers,” remarked Daren Coppock, CEO of the Agricultural Retailers Association. “It’s a significant contribution, and essential to raising the food that we need in the country and around the world.”

Coppock has led the ARA since 2009, and said every aspect of agriculture, including retailers, continues to evolve and become more complex. New areas include artificial intelligence and the rise of biological products, including biostimulants. 

He said the ag retail industry has a lot of optimism for the future, although areas to watch incudes impacts the interest rate environment and a lack of sufficient labor. 

American agriculture not only has a wide range of crops and growing methods, there are also a wide variety of backgrounds among the farming community.

One case in point is Tommy McMurren of Five Patriots Farms in Illinois, a farmer, veteran, crop consultant and ag history afficionado whose Instagram page, tattooed agronomist, reflects another of his passions.

A common thread among those in agriculture is a dedication to getting the best results in the field, by growing their knowledge of new technologies, including in crop nutrition.

“We have evolved,” McMurren said. “When I first started working with clients, it was the very basics. Here’s our chemical program. Here’s our fertility program. Working with companies like Redox, I do have people that are more open to looking outside the box, that we need to be doing something different. We have stagnated. Even if it’s not a monetary thing, it’s more of just a preservation of the farm.”

Third party research is crucial to making sure agricultural inputs work as advertised, and David Holden has been a trusted evaluator for many companies, including ours.

Holden Research and Consulting in Ventura County has worked with more than 100 crops, ranging from avocados to zucchini.

Holden has carried out at least 750 biostimulant-type trials in the last 20 years. He said biostmulants hold promise in fighting abiotic stress, in particular.

“I have quite often seen a reduction in the effect of various diseases, mites and insects when you use some of these products,” he said. “In other words, healthier plants are happier plants, and they live under stress situations better.”

Holden said his research helps show how biostimulants work, but growers would be interested in knowing why they are working. He said better answers to those questions would entice more farmers to try this newer technology. 

Thirty years in business is no easy feat. It was in 1994 that Redox started in business and speaker, podcaster and author Damian Mason branched out with independent work.

Damian travels across the U.S. for keynote addresses to agricultural groups and hosts three podcasts, including The Business of Agriculture. He provides insight and commentary on critical subjects in a way that few others can.

He said he expects an increasing call for reducing overall synthetic nitrogen in agriculture, a reduction in acreage in future years based on which ground is best suited for farming, more of a premium paid for better-tasting food and the likelihood of reduced food demand from China based on expectations their population will plummet within the next years.

As for any anxiety over a potential drop in farm income, he pointed out that the recent track record for growers has been excellent. 

“I think the mode is a little doomy and gloomy that perhaps is warranted,” he remarked. “Here we are in the first year of a downturn. It’s good to keep in mind that the three years prior to this were the highest agricultural income years in the history of the United States of America.”

Find out more about Damian at DamianMason.com.

Growing up on a farm helped Ben Jauregui form his deep appreciation for agriculture, and it shows in his work.

As a Pest Control Advisor working at AgRx, one of our ag retailers, Ben guides decisions for about 1,800 acres of crops on California’s Central Coast, with strawberries commanding the greatest acreage.

“The most important thing is trust,” he said. “Carrying that relationship with the growers to where they can trust you, especially with the decisions that we’re making every week. There’s a lot of money at stake.”

Every weekday, Ben starts his day at 6:30 am.  With the help of a co-worker, they walk every acre, every week. They write recommendations, and after a spray or if they find an area of concern, they will return and review that crop within three to four days.

Ben is active on social media, as he wants to show off crops and many longtime farmers. He’s on Instagram and LinkedIn at #BenNPK.

From the small town of Pauanui, New Zealand, to Gonzales, Louisiana, is 8,000 air miles and a world of difference. That’s the trek Mike “Kiwi” Robinson made as a young adult, and he’s now running the highly regarded Pelican Point Golf Club in the Bayou State.

 Louisiana summers usually come with heat and tremendous humidity, so Mike has countered with well thought out plant nutrition from the Redox TurfRx™ line, with a variety of products as stables, including K+, NatureCur, C-85, Supreme™, and CA. 

He said Redox not only helps keep his course in great shape, it has taken a significant amount of his stress away.

“Apart from having healthy turf, the biggest thing I get from using Redox is my stress levels are down,” he remarked. 

California is a world leader in strawberry production, growing $3 billion of the fruit annually. Getting the most out of the crop was the focus of the annual Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Strawberry Center Field Day.

Areas covered included non-chemical pest and disease solutions such as bug vacuums and the use of UV-C light for disease suppression. A myriad of other issues were addressed, including workplace efficiency and safety, as well as mechanical ag plastic removal and recycling.

“The thing that impresses me the most is the variety of innovative products,” remarked Leo Stoeckle, a longtime strawberry industry official. “Everything from fertility products to ag chemicals to disease control to strawberry genetic resistance. We get the whole gamut here.”

The Cal Poly Strawberry Center recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and is operated in partnership with the California Strawberry Commission.

Agricultural research is the cornerstone of productive farms and abundant food. The investment Redox Bio-Nutrients has made continues to grow and pay dividends.

“The is really a banner year for Redox,” said Head of Research, Dr. Gifford Gillette. He said the addition of Dr. Debatosh Das to the team and a second year for Faith Talley, who started as an intern and now works with the research team on carrying over protocols and adding new ones.

The understanding of and benefits from biostimulants continue to grow, leading to rising optimism about the ability for this technology to help growers.

“Dr. Das has put together a 56 biostimulant mode of action checklist,” Gillette said. “We probably never will measure all 56 of the modes of action, but they’re all on our radar. This matches well with what we know about the science of biostimulants in agriculture and what they do for crops.”

The global biostimulant market has seen rapid growth, with estimates that the value of sales may triple within the next decade.

Margins for farmers are tight, so there’s more emphasis than ever on finding innovative new ways to innovate and stay in the black.

Dave Handsaker is with AGNETWORX in Iowa, which helps efficiently connect farmers to new technology and better understand its effectiveness.

He said, with corn and soybean prices down, growers are especially interested in increased efficiencies and maximizing production wherever possible.

Matt Rohlik with ARVA Intelligence helps boost revenue for growers, by making them aware of incentives available from consumer-packaged goods companies to help sustainability through agronomic practices, including reducing commercial or synthetic inputs, split applying nitrogen, foliar feeding, tillage, cover crops and biologicals.

Shane Forney with Sentinel Fertigation helps growers maximize efficiency by leveraging satellite imagery to help growers improve nitrogen recommendations throughout the growing season, all done without a negative impact on yields. 

Handsaker, Rohlik, and Forney were among the speakers at the Farmer Innovation Forum in Omaha, presented by Redox.

Hawk’s Ridge Golf Course in Ball Ground, Georgia, has many rave reviews, and for good reason. However, maintaining the course isn’t easy.

The hot, humid climate is a challenge, but course superintendent James Rauhuff and his team do excellent work. Rauhuff credits Redox TurfRx™ as a key part of his success. In fact, his course greens actually aged in reverse since improvements were made to their nutrition program.

“I firmly believe one of the main reasons was due to the Redox line of products,” Rauhuff said. “The way those products perform is superior to anything else that I have used. Combining Redox products, optimum soil chemistry, root growth and health, and an ideal air to water relationship has provided the soil microorganisms a conducive growing environment which I believe has helped reverse the aging of our greens.”

The par 72 course was designed by Bob Cupp and has plenty of beautiful features, including a centerpiece waterfall on hole 15.

If you play a round at Hawk’s Ridge, keep an eye out for Ziva and Duke, James’s German Shepherds that are so loved that members now carry treats in their golf bags to give to them as they’re on the course.