Craig Hornung is a Citrus Grower in California and an Irrigation Scheduling Expert and Simon Rüger is the Managing Director for Yara Water Solution. Craig and Simon discuss the importance in perfecting a grower’s irrigation system and even testing the quality of their water and soil. They break down the reasons why having this extra data can help farmers develop the right taste and flavor in their crop. Find out more on this week’s show!

Key Takeaways:

[1:50] How does Craig go about analyzing quality soil?

[4:50] Simon explains different soil types.

[9:10] When does it make sense to split your irrigation system up into different management zones?

[11:35] The quality of the water is extremely important and will dictate how the soil will respond.

[13:10] What are some of the best ways for growers to test their water?

[13:45] What key elements does Simon look for in the water?

[19:45] How has soil moisture monitoring changed in the last few years?

[22:30] How has technology helped us become more precise in our irrigation?

[24:45] Water fertility management is really one of the keys to manipulating the crop to make sure you get the outcome that you want.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Yara.com

Yara.us/crop-nutrition/citrus

Simon on LinkedIn

Craig on LinkedIn

Neil Mayberry is the Crop Manager for Turf and Ornamental and Brian Grill is the Sales Agronomist for Turf and Ornamental at YARA. Today’s discussion revolves around what it takes to keep turf healthy and playable. There’s a lot of work that goes into keeping and maintaining turf that many golf enthusiasts might not realize. Find out more on this week’s episode about nutritional programs for turf and the aerification process.

Key Takeaways:

[1:00] Sometimes when talking about agriculture, we don’t always think of turf as a crop, but it’s actually a very important crop.

[1:05] Neil discusses Yara’s Optimum Turf solution and the importance of turf.

[3:00] What is the main objective when growing turf?

[7:10] What types of aerification processes are there when it comes to turf?

[10:15] Does the turf aerification process disrupt the ‘playability’ aspect to the turf?

[13:15] In a golf setting, everybody walks on the turf. They will either blame the turf for the poor playability or the superintendent for not setting the hole in the correct position.

[13:45] How often should you aerify the turf?

[16:50] What are some of the downsides of doing an aerification?

[20:00] Is there a nutritional program that’s better for aerification recovery?

[24:25] What products does Yara offer to help with turf growth and health?

[29:00] There’s a delicate balance between trying to determine what’s right for the turf vs. trying to keep the players happy.

[31:30] There are a lot of benefits from sourcing different superintendent opinions in the field that helps Yara and the team serve their customers better while also having healthy turf too.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Yara.com

Yara.us/crop-nutrition/turf/

Neil on LinkedIn

Brian on Twitter

Scott Warr and Markus Braaten sit down to discuss canola nutrition on today’s episode. Markus Braaten is the Canola Crop Manager at Yara North America and he answers some burning questions about the importance of canola in North America, how farmers can increase their yield, and the best places for growers to learn more.

Key Takeaways:

[0:55] Why is canola important to North America?

[3:15] Why did Yara decide to focus on canola?

[4:30] What types of products does Yara have available for canola growers?

[6:15] Markus explains some of the existing cultural practices for canola in North America.

[8:10] What type of yield can growers expect from a typical canola harvest?

[9:20] How are farmers successfully getting 2x their yield at the end of the year? What are they doing differently? 

[13:30] Before offering solutions, it’s important to understand where the grower is today and what some of the ‘missing pieces’ are in their journey.

[14:30] Markus offers advice for canola growers and the types of things they need to improve upon.

[16:10] Sometimes your maximum yield might not be your maximum profitable yield, so how can growers fix that?

[18:30] Where can growers go to learn more?

Mentioned in This Episode:

Yara.com

Yaracanada.ca/crop-nutrition/canola/

Markus on LinkedIn

Our host Scott Warr, Steve Petrie, the Director of Agronomic Services at Yara International, Sebastian Korob, Crop Manager for YARA’s Primetomato, and Gary King, Senior Manager of Global Agricultural at Kraft Heinz, join us today on this week’s podcast. They discuss how to better manage your tomatoes during harvest season, some of the challenges of processing tomatoes, and dive into how growers can utilize and maximize their tomato yield throughout the year.

Key Takeaways:

[1:05] Sebastian does a quick recap on what Primetomato is.

[3:40] You don’t lose a lot of the nutrition on a tomato through the processing process.

[4:15] How long has Gary been in the tomato industry?

[5:00] What kind of changes has Gary seen over the years in the tomato industry?

[6:45] Gary discusses the types of trends that have happened over the years for processing tomatoes.

[9:00] Farmers have a much more progressive approach to farming and are constantly looking for ways to improve their crops.

[11:25] Sebastian shares some of his observations for this season’s tomato crop production.

[14:05] Farmers often focus too much on nitrogen first and think about the rest of the needed nutrients second. Steve believes you need to have a broad approach to nutrition.

[15:55] Gary shares his thoughts on nutrition programs.

[18:30] What are some of the things you need to be aware of when you’re preparing for harvest season?

[23:40] How can farmers better manage and maximize their nutrition programs without using up additional resources?

Mentioned in This Episode:

Yara.com

Yara.us/crop-nutrition/tomato

Sebastian on LinkedIn

Steve on LinkedIn

Gary on LinkedIn

Peter DeBoer, the Sales Agronomist at Yara International, and recurring guest Steve Petrie sit down with your host Scott Warr to discuss almond tree nutrition. They discuss things a grower in California needs to be aware of, how to ensure your almond trees are receiving the right amount of nutrients, and Yara’s my almonds crop nutrition program.

Key Takeaways:

[1:05] California has roughly 1.3 million acres dedicated to the growth of almonds.

[2:15] How long do almond harvests last for?

[2:55] What do growers need to be aware of when it comes to almond nutrition?

[6:15] Steve explains why it’s so important to strengthen the cells in an almond tree after harvest season.

[7:30] The nutrition the almond tree stores this fall will be used for next spring’s production.

[8:40] What happens if a grower decides to skimp on their nutrition program in the fall?

[9:35] What are the different types of nitrogen you can use and which one is best for this time of year?

[11:30] It’s really important that growers take a multifaceted approach to their post-harvest nutrition.

[14:10] Take both tissue samples and samples from the hulls where the almonds were removed from your trees to get an accurate nutrition analysis.

[15:50] What does Peter look for in a foliar nutrient application?

[16:55] What kind of products does Yara offer to almond growers?

[19:05] How can a grower get access to the my almonds newsletter?

[20:05] Peter shares his role at Yara and how you can get in touch with him.

[21:10] Steve shares some final thoughts on things you need to be aware for almonds this time of year.

[23:00] Right now, does it look like it’s going to be a big year for almonds?

Mentioned in This Episode:

Yara.com

Yara.us/crop-nutrition/almond/myalmonds/

Steve on LinkedIn

Peter on LinkedIn

Scott Warr invites three expert guests on to today’s show to discuss potato crop nutrition. We have repeat guest Steve Petrie,  Director of Agronomic Services at Yara North America, joining us today, Jimmy Ridgway, Crop Nutrition Solution Brand Manager of TopPotato, and Shawn McIver, Regional Sales Manager for the Atlantic Canada Region. Our guests discuss the summer heat and how it affects potato crop, what growers can do to combat it, and how to ensure your potatoes are healthy and happy throughout the entire growing process.

Key Takeaways:

[2:45] It’s hot right now! How does the heat affect our potatoes?

[4:00] Where in the world do potatoes typically grow?

[4:50] Jimmy and Steve explain why the heat disrupts the growing process of potatoes.

[8:05] Is there a way we can mitigate the heat stress for our potatoes?

[11:50] What did potato growers do in the northeast during the summer heat before Yara’s products came into production?

[13:05] Steve explains the key roles that calcium and potassium play in crop nutrition.

[16:30] How do growers in the north west deal with potato heat stress?

[18:05] Jimmy shares some key takeaways he learned at the Potato Association of America conference he recently attended.

[19:55] Where can growers go to get more information about heat stress on their potatoes?

[20:30] How can your local agronomists help with your crops?

[21:15] What does this year’s harvest season look like? 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Yara.com

yaracanada.ca

Yara.us/crop-nutrition/potato/toppotato

Steve on LinkedIn

Jimmy on LinkedIn

Shawn on LinkedIn

Scott Warr invites Steve Petrie, the Director of Agronomic Services at Yara North America, and Sebastian Korob, Crop Manager for YARA’s primetomatoes, on today’s show to discuss tomato crop nutrition. Steve and Sebastian discuss the research involved and how you can grow tomatoes that yield great results with the use of Yara’s primetomatoes solution, foliar applications, and well-balanced fertigation systems.

Key Takeaways:

[0:56] Sebastian explains what primetomatoes is and how it helps tomato growers.

[2:25] How important are tomatoes for the North American market?

[4:30] What kind of research has been done on growing tomatoes? Steve has some answers!

[8:45] Steve explains what ‘hidden hunger’ is and how it affects plants.

[9:40] What does the research say when it comes to applying a foliar application on tomato plants? 

[13:00] After transplanting the tomato plant into a new environment, what other key growing phrases are there?

[15:20] Sebastian explains the type of fertigation system most tomato growers use and some of its challenges.

[19:20] What’s the best way to check up on the tomatoes and measure their nutrition/soil levels?

[21:35] How does Yara address quality-control in their tomatoes?

[24:05] How can Yara’s Primetomato product help growers increase their profit?

[25:45] Where can a grower go to learn more about primetomatoes?

Mentioned in This Episode:

Yara.com

Yara.us/crop-nutrition/tomato

Sebastian on LinkedIn

Steve on LinkedIn

Scott Warr and Toby Goodroad kick off the first episode of the YARA Crop Nutrition podcast! Scott is the Digital Farming Manager and Toby is the Market Development Director for YARA. On today’s show, Toby discusses in detail what YARA does, why crop nutrition is so important for our agriculture, and how YARA solves for problems that arise in crop management.

Key Takeaways:

[1:10] An introduction to YARA.

[2:45] Why is crop nutrition so important to farming and sustainability?

[5:25] Toby explains the type of research YARA does and how it helps farmers feed the world.

[9:45] Toby and his team are focusing on, and researching, eight types of crops right now.

[11:55] What can listeners expect from this podcast?

[13:30] Have questions? Feel free to research out!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Yara.com

Toby on LinkedIn