This Week in Ag #7

March 28, 2023 by

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

For most farmers, April means the start of planting season. It’s a lot like opening day for a baseball team: heavy planning, great excitement and anticipation, lots of optimism and more than a few watch outs. So when exactly do farmers start planting? While they all have a plan, Mother Nature usually has the final say. There is an art and science to determining when to first drop the planter. Here are some key factors that determine the right time. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

This Week in Ag #6

March 20, 2023 by

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

Tomorrow is National Ag Day! Just like Bio Huma Netics, Inc., National Ag Day is enjoying its golden anniversary. The day is dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness for how our food, fiber (and energy) is produced. This year’s theme is “Growing a Climate for Tomorrow.” Agriculture is the USA’s largest employer, responsible for 23 million jobs – with about 2 million being actual farmers. While the number of farmers continues to decline, the job market in agriculture is booming. USDA expects to see almost 58,000 job openings per year for graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher. The strongest job market is expected for plant scientists, food scientists, sustainable biomaterials specialists, water resources scientists and engineers, precision agriculture specialists, and farm-animal veterinarians. While Ag Day is officially celebrated on March 21, agriculture is the one industry we celebrate every day, three times a day. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This Week in Ag #5

March 8, 2023 by

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

It’s Commodity Classic week. This is one of the ag industry’s most important shows, and among my favorite times of the year. I’ll be in Orlando for the show, as will Lyndon Smith, Barrett Smith and Michael Gardner. #Classic23 is expected to draw around 5,000 farmers. But what makes this show exceptional is not the number of farmers who attend, it’s the type of farmers who attend. On average, farmer attendees operate 3,500 acres, earn $3.5 million in gross income and annually purchase $383,000 in fertilizer, $429,000 in seed and crop protection products and $718,000 in equipment. Moreover, these farmers are highly influential. Many serve on state and national boards for the corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum associations, elected by their peers to do so. This is also where state and national yield contest winners are recognized. Among attendees, 72% say Commodity Classic is the most important event they attend all year. And as is often the case, #Classic23 will include a speaking appearance by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nematodes: Friends, Foes, or Both?

March 7, 2023 by

By Mojtaba Zaifnejad, Ph.D.
Sr. Director of Field Research and Technical Services,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

During field visits, I often come across people who ask – what exactly are nematodes? More often than not, many of them associate nematodes with everything bad that happens to their crops. Is this true? We’ll get into that too, but first, what exactly are nematodes?

Nematodes are invertebrate worms that have been around for about a billion years. Some of them are beneficial, while others are parasitic or neutral. They are typically vermiform or “worm-shaped,” but some species swell to become sphere-shaped in later life stages and do not resemble typical worms. Nematodes may also vary in size—some are 26 feet long and one inch wide, and some are tiny (250 um long and 15 um wide). A shovel of soil can contain millions of nematodes. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

This Week in Ag #4

March 2, 2023 by

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

Wednesday was Tax Day. For farmers, it was. Unlike the rest of us, farmers (and fishermen) file taxes on March 1. Due to the complexities of farming, including depreciation schedules for machinery, most farmers hire a professional tax preparer to help file their Schedule F. These are often independent accountants. And most are long-standing, often multi-generational relationships. Some local Farm Credit and Farm Bureau offices also offer the service. The business of farming is rife with fluidity. Even though they are harvested in the summer or fall, many grain crops are stored and sold throughout the year, as are livestock, so income can be generated any time of the year. There are several options farmers can use to “adjust” their income with expenses. They can elect to prepay fertilizer or other crop inputs in December or purchase equipment. So, farmers frequently consult with their tax person throughout the year for advice on managing income and expenses and how this can impact taxes. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This Week in Ag #3

February 2, 2023 by

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

There are lots of definitions floating around for regenerative agriculture. But the best and simplest I’ve heard was from Soilcraft. They define regen ag as adding “life.” When you think about it, the practices of no-till/low-till, crop rotation, cover crops, manure and biological products all help create, stimulate, prolong and accelerate more diverse life in the soil. Better soil life leads to better plant life (healthier crops), better human life (more nutritious food), better environmental life (less erosion, fewer toxins, less carbon emissions) and better financial life (reduced crop input costs, higher long-term yields, higher land values) for farmers. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

BHN Announces Leadership Expansion to Pave Way for Growth

January 25, 2023 by

Bio Huma Netics, Inc. (BHN), a leading miner and manufacturer of raw humates (humic and fulvic acids) as well as creator of soil amendments and crop nutrients based on humic technologies, has announced structural changes and expansion of its core leadership team to better align with the company’s continued growth and strategic goals. The BHN Research and Development Center has also welcomed two new members from Brazil. The newly promoted and appointed individuals stepped into their new roles effective January 2023–a milestone year for BHN as it will be celebrating its 50th anniversary.

With these new developments, the BHN executive leadership team includes Lyndon Smith, Jonathan Plehn, Justin Smith, Steve Lunt, Melanie Parkinson, Mike Boyd and Fred Nichols. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

This Week in Ag #2

January 19, 2023 by

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

Are we looking at a fertilizer shortage? Guess it depends on your definition. The availability of fertilizer isn’t a major concern in the US. It really wasn’t last year, either. As a good friend (who I consider to be among the best farmers in the country) told me last winter, “you can get it, it’s just a matter of how much you’re willing to spend for it.” That’s the issue many farmers are facing right now. How much do I invest? And do I seek alternatives to traditional NPK sources? Many of these alternatives, such as humate-based products, offer high value, improved soil health and lower overall rates/expenditures. Fertilizer prices remain historically high, but there’s not the degree of market volatility expected as there was last year. As a result, Q4 sales have moved slower than last year. But while input prices remain high, so do crop prices. That is incentivizing many farmers to chase yield. A recent survey confirms just that. Demand is strong for all fertilizer categories. 60% of farmers expect to increase micronutrient usage in 2023, 59% will increase liquid fertilizer, 51% will increase specialty fertilizers and 48% will increase yield enhancers/growth managers. Last week’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which was bullish on the major commodity crops, should continue to carry momentum for yield chasers. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This Week in Ag #1

January 11, 2023 by

By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.

Curly fries, waffle fries, spicy fries or… regen fries? Soon, these may all be choices in the frozen foods aisle, at least if McCain Foods has a say in it. And as the world leader in prepared potato products, purchasing 6.8 million tons of spuds annually, McCain carries a strong voice. Their commitment to sustainability includes a pledge to have regen ag practices used on all their potato acres by 2030. The company has entered the Metaverse and designed this virtual game where players grow their own potatoes and learn about regen practices. Thus far, a staggering 2.8 billion visitors—that’s about one-third of the world’s population—have experienced “Farms of the Future.” All-natural, humic-based crop nutrients may soon become a key ingredient in the recipe for regen fries. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

BHN Hosted Annual Staff Meeting and Awards Night in Arizona

December 22, 2022 by

Bio Huma Netics, Inc. (BHN) hosted its annual staff meeting on December 14-15, 2022, at its headquarters in Gilbert, Arizona. BHN staff from New Mexico, Mexico, and Brazil also flew in to attend the two-day event.

The company planned the all-staff gathering to recognize employees’ contributions and to celebrate significant milestones achieved in 2022—including the acquisition of an additional 40,000-square-foot building in Tempe, AZ, to facilitate further expansion and growth. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Post Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »
Translate »