Think high yields require a lot of fertilizer? What if you could cut back on chemical and petroleum-based fertilizers and still do more with less. You can when you focus on biology to properly feed your soil and crops.
    “It’s all about nutrient use efficiency,” said Bruce Odens, owner of Nature’s Source, which partners with ProfitProAG to help farmers build soil health and maximize crop yield potential. “It depends on availability of the right type of carbon and the right balance of beneficial bacteria and fungi that keep the “engine” running under the soil’s surface.”

• Step One to keep that “engine” humming? Do not harm soil biology with adverse cultural practices or blends of fertility that limit the ability of biology to function optimally.
  
• Step Two: Reduce the use of high-salt fertilizers. “Decades of over-use with high-salt fertilizers will diminish soil health,” Odens said.
  
• Step Three: Properly feed the soil biology. Maintaining the right balance of beneficial microbes is the key to converting existing nutrients in the soil into an available form for plant uptake.
  
• Step Four: Measure results. Help this process along with Nature’s Source® BioNutrition. Nature’s Source’s low pH, low-salt liquid plant food formulations includes a proprietary blend of seed extracts containing all the L-amino acids found in seeds, offering a rich source of plant available nitrogen. “Since our seed extract sources are derived from oil seed, Nature’s Source is also able to deliver additional natural nutrition such as natural organisms, cytokines and gibberellins, which aid in overall plant development and health,” Odens said.

    In addition, every gallon of Nature’s Source BioNutrition provides organic soluble carbon. “To fulfill global food production needs and preserve farmland and soil health for future generations, we need organic soluble carbon as part of sustainable crop fertility solutions,” Odens said.
    That’s precisely what Nature’s Source brings to the table. “We are 20 percent organic soluble carbon, which offers the best source on the planet to feed soil biology,” Odens said. “This creates a healthy environment for promoting and spawning natural organisms in the soil typically depleted by other nutrition technology, such as synthetic fertilizers.”

Put your soil biology to the test!

    Nature’s Source can be foliar applied or soil applied through in-furrow application, drip irrigation, center pivot, wheel lines and y-drops. You don’t have to wonder if Nature’s Source is making a positive difference for your soil and crops. Use data to find the answers.
    “Proper soil testing is important,” said Odens, who works closely with Regen Ag Lab, LLC in Pleasanton, Nebraska. That includes genomic testing for microbial activity in your soil to determine if and where the nutrient cycle is ‘locked up’ from a biological perspective.
    Odens and ProfitProAG also recommend the Haney test to measure total available nutrients in the soil. Like traditional soil tests, the Haney test assesses the key macro- and micronutrients needed for crop growth. The Haney test differs from traditional soil tests, however, since it also evaluates various soil health indicators such as soil respiration, water extractable carbon and microbial active carbon. The Haney test also measures the nutrients that are not locked up in your soil and shows where you have a fertilizer “credit.” This can help you trim your fertilizer bill, since you may not need to apply as much fertilizer as a traditional soil test indicates.
    “Using data and enhancing overall nutrient efficiency are the keys to doing more with less in successful crop production,” Odens said. “Put Nature’s Source to the test. It’s an effective alternative to commodity fertilizers to boost soil health and helps crops thrive.”