Welcome back to Season 2 of RhizoMetRx! After taking a break during the heart of the 2026 growing season, Faith Lois is back with an agronomic quick hitter and a look at what she’s seeing in the fields across Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin, and beyond. From a wet spring and difficult planting conditions to uneven emergence, challenging herbicide windows, and major rainfall events, 2026 has already given growers plenty to think about.

Faith breaks down why the planter pass can set the trajectory for the entire growing season, why high-speed planting isn't always the answer, and how planting depth, soil conditions, residue, and early-season stress can show up months later in the crop. She also looks ahead to grain fill and harvest while challenging growers to think differently about crop management heading into 2027: before reaching for the next product, technology, or piece of equipment, start with the soil.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The Planter Pass Matters: How planting depth, speed, soil conditions, and compaction can influence root development, nutrient availability, and crop performance all season long.

A Planting Depth Hot Take: Why Faith believes planting deeper can lead to better root establishment and more consistent nutrient availability—and why high-speed planters aren't right for every field.

What Uneven Tasseling Reveals: How variability in tassel emergence can help identify differences in soil type, moisture, planting depth, and early-season crop stress.

Why Dry Junes Can Build Big Crops: How favorable moisture conditions can increase nutrient mineralization while reducing nutrient loss and why timing matters.

The Residue Management Problem: Why higher-yielding corn, tougher stalks, and more corn-on-corn acres are making traditional one-pronged residue management strategies less effective.

Stress Mitigation Is Always the Goal: From herbicide applications to saturated soils and heat, Faith explains why maximizing sugar production and minimizing crop stress should be a priority every year—not just in difficult growing seasons.

As you evaluate your 2026 crop and begin thinking about 2027, Faith challenges you to look beyond the latest products and technologies and start with the resource that ultimately drives everything: your soil.

After You Listen: 

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• Interested in the September 3rd Soil Fertility & Plant Nutrition Meeting? Reach out for details to [email protected].
• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

In this special episode of RhizometRX, recorded live at the 2026 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas! Faith and Mary Pat Sass (co-host of the Beyond the Crops podcast, founder of Grounded Journals) join Sean Nettleton (host of The Crop Cast).

Together, the trio explores the fascinating parallels between human health and soil health—a concept they playfully dub "crunchy agronomy." They discuss how settling for "average" on a standard soil test is just like settling for "average" on a routine blood panel, and why feeding your crops unbalanced fertilizers is exactly like feeding a toddler Pop-Tarts: it just makes them want to graze for more snacks. Finally, Mary Pat shares the heart behind her business, Grounded Journals, and why physically documenting your farm's history and struggles is vital for future generations.

Meet the Guests:

Mary Pat Sass: Farm wife, content creator, co-host of the Beyond the Crops podcast, and founder of Grounded Journals—prompted memoirs designed specifically for farmers and ranchers.

Sean Nettleton: Host of The Crop Cast and BW Fusion Agronomist. A regular voice on RhizometRX, Sean is passionate about marrying regenerative practices with conventional agriculture.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The "Crunchy Agronomy" Connection: How Mary Pat’s personal journey toward better health and whole foods mirrors the shift toward better soil health and balanced plant nutrition.

Average vs. Optimal: Why a standard soil test is like a basic trip to the doctor—it might tell you you're "average," but an Indicator soil test (like a comprehensive blood panel) tells you what you actually need to function at an optimal level.

The "Pop-Tart" Effect: Why crops fed a steady diet of unbalanced synthetics constantly "snack" and fail to build resilient health, drawing a direct parallel to the way humans react to heavily processed foods.

Regen Meets Conventional: Why you don't have to be an "all or nothing" farmer. Faith and Sean discuss how BW Fusion acts as a consulting bridge between regenerative ideals and the realities of conventional farming.

Documenting Your Farm’s Legacy: Mary Pat shares the inspiration behind Grounded Journals. The group discusses why writing down your seasonal practices, market challenges, and field changes is one of the greatest gifts you can leave for the next generation.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

Grounded Journals: groundedjournals.co (Prompted journals for farmers and ranchers)

Beyond the Crops Podcast: Hosted by Mary Pat Sass & Jenna Ochsner

The Crop Cast: Hosted by Sean Nettleton

X (Twitter): @FaithLois12\

After You Listen: 

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• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

In this solo episode of Rhizometrx, Faith drops a major agronomic hot take that goes against decades of industry advice: It is time to stop blindly "feeding the soil" to build arbitrary PPM levels. With fertilizer prices climbing and margins tightening for 2026, dumping hundreds of pounds of bulk nutrients into the soil is an expensive, outdated strategy that ignores plant stress and nutrient tie-up.

Faith uses a highly relatable "Pantry and Milk" analogy to explain why hoarding Phosphorus in your soil is useless if you don't have the Zinc required for the plant to consume it. She challenges growers to look at all 17 essential plant nutrients—not just the big five—and explains how feeding the plant first encourages root exudation, pumps carbon (WEOC) into the soil, and unlocks the fertility "bank" you've already paid for. If you are tired of the industry's scare tactics telling you to apply more pounds or go backwards, this episode will give you the confidence to rethink your budget.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The "Feed the Soil" Myth: Why over-applying hundreds of pounds of fertilizer to build a soil test PPM actually degrades your carbon levels and reduces overall system efficiency.

The 17 Essential Nutrients: The industry hyper-focuses on N, P, K, S, and Ca. Faith asks: If you blow your whole budget dumping hundreds of pounds of just those five, how are you paying for the other 12 your crop desperately needs?

The Pantry Analogy: Why Phosphorus is like boxes of cereal and Zinc is like milk. You can stuff your soil "pantry" with cereal, but if you don't buy milk, the plant can't eat it—it just sits there as wasted money.

The "Bad Bank" of Soil: Traditional soil tests are like a bank that is only open 16% of the time and doesn't post its hours. Faith explains why you need an Indicator test to understand when your nutrients will actually be available.

Real-World Audit: After reviewing 300 soil tests across 60 fields in just two days, Faith reveals that she only recommended Phosphorus applications on 10% of them.

Realistic Yield Goals: Why setting your yield goals based on APH (Actual Production History) rather than arbitrary sky-high numbers prevents over-spending and carbon burnout.

• Subscribe to Rhizometrx! (Note: As planting season ramps up, episodes may shift to a bi-weekly schedule, so make sure notifications are turned on).

• Audit Your Pantry: Look at your 2026 fertility plan. Are you buying more "cereal" when you really just need a little bit of "milk"?

• Share this episode with a grower who is feeling the financial stress of the current fertilizer market.

After You Listen: 

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• Share this episode with fellow growers, consultants, or agronomy professionals
• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

Fresh off the floor of Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Faith returns with a pulse check on the Ag Industry and a tactical guide for navigating the volatile fertilizer markets of 2026. While the industry buzzes with new biologicals and tech, the reality for growers remains the same: we must compete on a global scale by becoming the lowest-cost producer.

In this episode, Faith breaks down specific, actionable strategies to make every pound of N, P, and K go further. She explains why nitrogen is useless without sulfur and molybdenum, why phosphorus applications need to shift to in-season timing for energy, and why high-magnesium soils in the Midwest require a completely different potassium strategy than the rest of the country. If you are looking to cut waste and focus on what actually gets into the plant, this episode is your blueprint.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Commodity Classic Takeaways: The industry shift toward biologicals, structured water, and new adjuvant tech, plus the global pressure to lower cost-per-bushel.

Nitrogen Efficiency: Why split applications are non-negotiable in 2026. Faith details the "protein synthesis pack"—why you must pair N with Carbon, Sulfur, and Molybdenum to prevent waste.

Phosphorus & Zinc: Why P is actually a late-season energy limiting factor. Faith advises moving P applications in-season (sidedress) and explains why you should never apply Phosphorus without Zinc.

The High-Mag Potassium Problem: For Midwest growers with high magnesium soils, broadcast K is often tied up immediately. Faith explains why moving Potassium to a sidedress or foliar pass is the only way to beat the soil antagonism.

The Nitrogen/Potassium Block: How over-applying Nitrogen can physically block Potassium uptake, leading to disease and standability issues that look like a deficiency but are actually an excess.

Stress Mitigation First: Why the first dollar of your 2026 fertility budget should be spent on mitigating herbicide and weather stress, because a shut-down plant takes up zero nutrients.

After You Listen: 

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• Share this episode with fellow growers, consultants, or agronomy professionals
• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

Fresh off the Agronomy Roadshow in Indiana and heading into Commodity Classic, Faith Lois returns for a solo episode packed with practical, albeit controversial, agronomic advice for the 2026 season.

In this episode, Faith delivers a "hot take" on Potassium application for high-magnesium soils in the Midwest: stop applying it upfront. She explains why moving Potassium in-season can unlock early-season Calcium uptake, build better stalk structure, and improve economic efficiency. Conversely, she contrasts this with the soil needs in Nebraska, highlighting why agronomy is never one-size-fits-all.

Beyond specific nutrients, Faith pivots to the macro-view of agriculture. She argues that in a global market, the American farmer must become the lowest-cost producer to win. The strategy? Shift your mindset from "feeding the soil" to "mitigating stress." From herbicide stress to the oxidative stress caused by excess nitrogen, Faith explains why the first dollar you spend in 2026 should be on keeping the plant's metabolic engine running, not just piling on fertilizer.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The Potassium Pivot: Why growers in high-magnesium soils (IL, WI, IN) should stop applying K upfront and move it to a sidedress pass to prevent it from antagonizing early-season Calcium uptake.

Global Competitiveness: Why chasing every last bushel is a losing strategy in 2026. The goal is to drive down the cost of production per bushel to compete on a global scale.

Stress Mitigation is King: Why a stressed crop cannot uptake nutrients, no matter how high your soil test levels are. Faith argues that stress mitigation (herbicide stress, weather, nitrogen load) should be the #1 investment this year.

The Nitrogen-Disease Link: How plugging a plant with excess nitrates creates oxidative stress and feeds pathogens like Tar Spot, and why "more nitrogen" often leads to "less efficiency."

The Carbon Gap: A look back at why fertilizer was more efficient in the 80s (higher carbon levels from manure/rotation) and how raising your WEOC (Water Extractable Organic Carbon) can restore that efficiency today.

The 5% Rule: Why 95% of the biological heavy lifting happens in just 5% of the soil (the rhizosphere), and why you need to focus your management there.

After You Listen: 

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• Share this episode with fellow growers, consultants, or agronomy professionals
• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

In this solo episode of Rhizometrx, host Faith issues a wake-up call to growers as they head into the 2026 planning season. With margins tighter than ever, Faith challenges the industry's obsession with chasing the "last five bushels" regardless of cost.

Faith opens the books on real-world data, comparing traditional "build and maintain" fertilizer programs against the Baseline RX approach. She breaks down a sobering case study where chasing a specific Phosphorus PPM number resulted in a $165/acre net loss over four years. Conversely, she shares incredible success stories of fields crushing their 5-year APH by 30 to 60 bushels while spending less on fertility.

If you are tired of trading money to grow corn and ready to detach your emotions from arbitrary soil test numbers, this episode is your blueprint for auditing your inputs and reclaiming profitability.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

ROI vs. Ego: Why chasing high yields for the sake of a number often leads to "trading money," and why it's okay to leave bushels on the table if they aren't profitable.

** The $165/Acre Mistake:** Faith walks through a data set showing how a 4-year Phosphorus build program cost a grower significant capital with negative ROI.

Potassium Pitfalls: A look at a potash application plan that bled $25/acre per year simply to move a soil test number that didn't correlate to yield.

Grow the Crop, Not the Acre: The mindset shift needed to move away from building soil test levels (PPM) and toward feeding the specific crop in front of you based on true limiting factors.

Real-World Wins: Faith shares data from a grower who, by addressing limiting factors rather than broadcasting bulk fertilizer, achieved yields 50+ bushels over their APH on significantly less fertility spend.

Resourcefulness: Why modern farmers need to adopt a "Depression-era mindset" of resourcefulness—auditing every dollar and ensuring it performs—even when markets eventually turn back up.

After You Listen: 

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• Share this episode with fellow growers, consultants, or agronomy professionals
• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

In this special episode of Rhizometrx, Faith steps outside the traditional agronomy bubble to welcome Dr. Blaine Ellison, a veterinarian and ruminant nutritionist. Together, they explore the undeniable connection between the health of the soil, the quality of the crop, and the performance of the animal.

Faith and Blaine discuss a critical disconnect in modern agriculture: why agronomists and animal nutritionists rarely talk to one another. They dive deep into how chasing high tonnage and planting populations often results in indigestible fiber (lignin), creating headaches for nutritionists trying to balance a ration. From the dangers of excessive potassium in dry cow diets to the misunderstood role of phosphorus in fertility, this conversation challenges producers to look at their farm as a holistic system rather than fragmented parts.

Meet the Guest:
Dr. Blaine Ellison is a veterinarian turned ruminant nutritionist with over 30 years of experience. He has worked as a consultant for large herds, served in tech service for major companies, and operates his own private feed business. He approaches nutrition from a theoretical standpoint, having learned from the original authors of nutritional models.

Key Topics & Takeaways:

** The "Silo" Effect:** Why the vet, the nutritionist, and the agronomist need to be in the same room. A disjointed team leads to solving problems that shouldn't exist in the first place.

Quantity vs. Quality: How pushing for maximum tonnage (via high planting populations) creates tall, lignified plants that are high in indigestible fiber, forcing nutritionists to supplement energy back into the ration.

The Potassium Paradox: Agronomists often push Potassium (K) for yield, but high K levels in forages can be metabolically toxic to pre-fresh cows. Blaine explains the importance of managing DCAD (Dietary Cation-Anion Difference) starting at the soil level.

Calcium Bioavailability: The parallels between plant-available calcium (for root structure) and bioavailable calcium for the ruminant (to prevent milk fever).

The "Zero Baseline" Mistake: Just as agronomists often assume the soil supplies zero nutrients (leading to over-fertilization), nutritionists often assume forages supply zero micronutrients (leading to over-supplementation).

Manure Management: Viewing manure not just as a waste product, but as a carbon-rich fertility asset—provided it is accounted for correctly to avoid nutrient loading near the barn.

After You Listen: 

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• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

As the 2026 crop planning season heats up, Faith welcomes back Nebraska agronomists Kyle Olson and Chase Perry to dig through the data. After reviewing thousands of Indicator soil tests from across the Corn Belt, the trio discusses the glaring trends emerging between farms managed with biology in mind versus those stuck in a synthetic rut.

In this deep dive, they explore why manure-fed soils are showing vastly superior CSAT scores compared to synthetic-only systems, and how over-applied nitrogen in 2025 likely contributed to the heavy disease pressure seen across the Midwest. The group also tackles the geographical battle of Potassium vs. Magnesium—contrasting the high-K soils of Nebraska with the high-Mag, tight clays of Illinois—and why chasing a "perfect" grid-sampled PPM number is burning through your budget without boosting your ROI.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The Manure Advantage: Why 10 out of 10 growers prefer manure over synthetics, and how the carbon bond in manure drives higher CSAT scores and long-term soil efficiency.

Nitrogen & Disease: The correlation between heavy front-loaded nitrogen programs and increased disease pressure (Tar Spot, Southern Rust). Why "too much N" often looks like a deficiency because the plant is plugged with nitrate.

The Phosphorus-Zinc Link: Why you should never apply Phosphorus without Zinc. Faith explains how high P levels often induce Zinc deficiencies and why maintaining a 10:1 ratio is critical.

The K:Mag Divide: A look at regional soil differences. While Nebraska growers enjoy decent Potassium availability, Illinois and Wisconsin growers fight High-Magnesium soils that tighten up and block K uptake late in the season.

Manganese as the Governor: How Manganese regulates Potassium uptake and why low Manganese levels can lead to "luxury consumption" of K without yield gain.

Grids vs. Zones (Again): Why grid sampling co-mingles soil types and hides the true limiting factors, whereas zone sampling offers a customized rifle approach to fertility rather than a shotgun blast.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

Dirt2Dollars: Kyle and Chase’s educational video channel

Creekside Agronomy (Kyle Olson)

CMP Enterprises (Chase Perry)

After You Listen: 

• Subscribe to RhizoMetRx to stay updated on new episodes
• Share this episode with fellow growers, consultants, or agronomy professionals
• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

In this special episode of Rhizometrx, we are unlocking the archives to bring you a powerhouse roundtable conversation that originally aired on The Crop Cast. As we head into the 2026 growing season, the themes discussed here—managing input costs, rethinking nitrogen efficiency, and questioning traditional soil sampling—are more relevant than ever.

Faith joins Crop Cast host Sean Nettleton, along with Nebraska agronomists Kyle Olson and Chase Perry, for a no-holds-barred discussion on the state of modern agronomy. The group dives deep into why "grids suck," why over-applying nitrogen is burning out your soil’s carbon engine, and how moving to a system like Baseline RX can help you cut costs without cutting yield. If you are looking for a blueprint to navigate tight margins while building long-term soil resiliency, this is the conversation you need to hear.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The "Grid Sucks" Mentality: Why grid sampling often creates artificial variability rather than identifying the true biological and physical variability that zone sampling captures.

The Nitrogen Paradox: Why too much nitrogen often looks like a deficiency, and how excess N burns up Water Extractable Organic Carbon (WEOC), leading to stalk quality issues and disease pressure.

Fungicide as a Symptom: The linear relationship between over-applying nitrogen and the need for multiple fungicide passes. Are we treating disease, or are we treating a self-inflicted nutritional imbalance?

Profitability Over Yield: Shifting the goalpost from "highest yield at all costs" to "highest ROI." How to use tools like Ferticast to make intelligent cuts to your fertility budget without sacrificing the crop.

The "Easy Button" Problem: How modern agriculture has relied on band-aids (more chem, more fert) rather than addressing the root cause: soil health.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• The CropCast: Sean’s podcast powered by BW Fusion
• Follow Faith on X @FaithLois12
• Dirt to Dollars: Follow Kyle Olson & Chase Perry on Facebook
  
  

After You Listen:

• Subscribe to RhizoMetRx to stay updated on new episodes
• Share this episode with fellow growers, consultants, or agronomy professionals
• Join the conversation—send your questions, field observations, or feedback to [email protected].

In this solo episode of Rhizometrx, host Faith Lois takes listeners on a journey through her family’s 168-year farming history, sparked by a collection of old newspaper clippings from the 1960s and 70s. Faith reflects on the surprising agronomic wisdom found in these decades-old articles—from growers producing 200+ bushel corn and 70+ bushel wheat in an era before modern genetics and technology, to university recommendations that mirror the principles of Baseline RX today.

This thought-provoking episode challenges the narrative of "progress" in agriculture. Are we really more efficient today, or have we lost sight of the fundamental soil health principles (like carbon and WEOC) that previous generations intuitively understood? Faith discusses the lessons we can relearn about nutrient placement, crop rotation, and building soil tilth to make every fertilizer dollar work harder in 2026.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Looking Back to Look Forward: Faith shares insights from 1970s newspaper clippings that show farmers achieving yields comparable to (or better than) today's averages in wheat and corn, despite having fewer technological tools.

The Lost Efficiency: A discussion on how previous generations naturally maintained carbon-rich environments through diverse crop rotations and manure, leading to higher nutrient efficiency than we often see in modern, synthetic-heavy systems.

University Wisdom Then vs. Now: An analysis of old recommendations that advised against applying extra nitrogen on manured ground—a stark contrast to today's "insurance application" mindset that often burns out soil carbon.

The WEOC Connection: Why building Water Extractable Organic Carbon (WEOC) is the key to unlocking the efficiency that past generations enjoyed, and practical ways to do it (like incorporating small grains or reducing recreational tillage).

Winning the Margin Game: Faith’s closing thought: If everyone can grow 250-bushel corn, the winner isn't the one with the highest yield, but the one who can produce it consistently for the lowest cost per bushel.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Follow Faith on X @FaithLois12

After You Listen:

• Subscribe to RhizoMetRx to stay updated on new episodes
• Share this episode with fellow growers, consultants, or agronomy professionals
• Ready to stop guessing? Email Faith [email protected].