\t\t\t\tThanks to you, our repeat and new customers, CSI increased our sales volume again in 08. Thankfully, Ron is now on full time and a new office person, Sue Hartman, is on board.<\/p>\n
EXCITING NEWS: Because we have several new technologies and products to introduce to you, the \u201cagronomic message\u201d will be integrated into the discussion of these products. We hope you have or will read our articles in the Nov. & Dec. 08 issues of AcresUSA as they are loaded with the type of info we typically include in our agronomic message.<\/p>\n
NATURAL NITROGEN FIXATION: We all know that N prices are way too high. We also know that standard nitrogen is usually over used resulting in watery plant sap, aka low brix. That leads to the necessity of crop rescue with toxic chemicals. Then the excess N and the toxic materials end up in the ground water or food supply. Since we can\u2019t do without N (it\u2019s the electrolyte in the soil\/plant system) it behooves us to find more natural sources of N as well as regulating the application amounts and\/or finding ways for the soil and plant to produce N and uptake it as needed. Many species of Azotobacter (microbes) are identified as having this quality of being able to \u201cfix\u2019 N\u201d (make available in nitrate and ammonia forms) from the N2\u00a0<\/sub>nitrogen gas found in air.<\/p>\n CSI is pleased to announce that we have been granted a Master Distributor position for a large portion of the\u00a0US\u00a0for a new line of Azotobacter products from BioNatural\u2122 Blooming Blossoms\u00ae<\/sup>.<\/p>\n BioNatural products are the result of the most advanced technology and have won multiple awards, including the most prestigious Gold Metal Award from the World Intellectual Property Organization for excellence in innovation. The uniqueness comes from the manufacturing process that puts the Azotobacter spores into a cyst stage that allows the product to be in liquid form with a two year shelf life. The uniqueness also comes from the fact that you can use the cyst spores in the soil and on the leaf surface to produce N on the leaf, using the sugars being produced by microbes on the leaf surface as the necessary energy source for N fixation.<\/p>\n BioNatural soil products combine bacteria and Azotobacter species that release P (phosphate) in the soil. We know that one of the hardest nutrients to get into a plant from the soil is P. The combination of making P available and producing N in the root zone gives us a better chance of increasing photosynthesis. BioNatural programs have resulted in increased yields on Corn of 24% to 45%, increased germination of 95-100% with N fixation in the 50-55 lbs\/A range. Their products have produced 49.5% increased dry matter yield in Wheat, 41% increases in Grapes, 45% increases in Strawberries and 38% increases with Apples.<\/p>\n The BioNatural Blooming Blossoms line consists of three products, 2 for soil and 1 for foliar. The first product is called BioNatural\u00a0NutriTech<\/em><\/strong>. It contains multi species of Azobacter for N fixation in both nitrate and ammonia form. N can\u2019t be fixed without minute amounts of molybdenum so I would use some fish and seaweed as fertilizer sources with NutriTech to insure maximum N fixation.\u00a0NutriTech<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is used after planting and emergence, when root hairs are present for absorption of released P and fixed N. The usual rate is 250 ml product (about 9 oz) in 50 gallons of water to get the spores down into the Rhizosphere (root zone) for high value crops and field crops.\u00a0<\/strong>Use lists for a wide variety of crops are available.<\/p>\n The second product is called BioNatural\u00a0Bioplin<\/em><\/strong>. It is the primary P releaser using bacteria as well as some Azotobacter species. It is used with and at the same rates asNutriTech<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0along with the 50 gallons of water for getting into the root zone. Since both of these soil products have some overlapping function, the manufacturer suggested that growers with biological soils, those that show reasonable P availability numbers on a LaMotte test, could just use the\u00a0NutiTech<\/em><\/strong>. My first thought would be that most of you aren\u2019t where you really want to be yet with available P, so why not introduce both sets of needed micro-organisms to your soil at least once.<\/p>\n The third product is BioNatural\u00a0NutriFoliar<\/em><\/strong>. I am most excited about this one as it offers a chance to correct a \u201cflaw\u201d in the nitrogen cycle. If you look at all the test data on soil nitrogen throughout the season, you almost always see a major decline in N levels just when the crop is trying to fill out a head or ear. Dr. Reams taught that if you can foliar feed a crop the last 30 days, you can double your yield! So here is a chance to have Azotobacter sitting on your leaf producing N on a regular basis and allowing N to be used by the plant on a daily basis as the plant needs it.\u00a0NutriFoliar<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is compatible with other nutrient sources such as fish, seaweed, soluble K, sugar, etc.\u00a0NutriFoliar<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0also works in the early and mid stages of growth in the same manner. The additional kicker is that the organisms in\u00a0NutriFoliar<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0produce Vitamins in the B group, Vitamin E and C. B vitamins can act as growth stimulants and E and C provide disease resistance.<\/p>\n The BioNatural Blooming Blossoms product line is all OMRI Listed\u00ae<\/sup>. The\u00a0Azotobacterspore counts are over 1 billion per gram, which exceeds the minimum requirement for effectiveness by a factor of 10; and 5 to 10 billion spores\/ gram are regularly achieved. The product can function in soil pHs from 4.5 to 9.0 and in temperature ranges from 32 degrees to 110 F including very low humidity.<\/p>\n It is my opinion that trying the BioNatural Blooming Blossoms line is very worthwhile for fruit, vegetable and berry growers, as the research reports are very impressive and the cost factors are very reasonable when using all three products at recommended rates and times. Field crop growers should try the appropriate products, using\/leaving check plots.You should also see a major reduction in any disease and insect pressure. We talked to our compatriots in\u00a0Australia\u00a0who have had these products for a couple of years under an Australian trade name, and they spoke highly of the quality control and performance. The research and products come out of\u00a0India.<\/p>\n