Harnessing Nature's Science™
By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.
#Plant23 is well underway. From the time seeds are sown, how many days should it take for crops to emerge? That can vary greatly, from days to weeks. But for many crops, it’s not really about calendar days, but Growing Degree Days (GDD). [Read more…]
By Fred Nichols
Chief Marketing Officer,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.
Regenerative agriculture is not some passing fad. It’s now a movement. And it’s here to stay. How can we be sure? Just look at who’s driving it. Unlike well-intentioned predecessors, such as LISA (Low Input Sustainable Agriculture), regen ag has a financial benefactor: food companies. From lofty goals articulated by their CEOs to multi-million-dollar investments, consumer brands are rushing to attach their name to nature-based growing practices. [Read more…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
By Lyndon Smith
President and CEO,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.
The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) celebrated its 30th anniversary at the 2022 ARA Conference and Expo last week. It made me reflect on our long-standing ties with ARA, and the opportunities it provides us to assist agricultural retailers (ag retailers) with their challenges.
Our association with ARA goes back to the 90s, and we have been a supporting member company since then. Almost five years ago ARA offered us a position on its Board of Directors, which is made up mostly of ag retailers, to represent the ag retail suppliers group. It has been an honor to be a part of the Board of Directors for ARA and to serve on many of their sub-committees. This service gives us ample opportunity to understand and lend a voice to help resolve the numerous challenges faced by ag retailers across the United States. Also, it bodes well for Bio Huma Netics, Inc. (BHN) to be recognized in the premier ag retail industry organization without being a part of that industry in the traditional sense, but primarily as a global supplier of nutrients and biostimulants into distribution and directly to independent ag retailers to meet their growers’ needs. [Read more…]
By Michael Gardner
Senior Director Turf and NW Sales,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.
As I begin to write, I’m reminded of an excerpt from Ode to the West Wind — “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” Well, spring is certainly not far behind, especially for those of us working in the agriculture sector.
Winter can be a tricky time for growers, as many of them face numerous challenges to prep their soil for the next season. Healthy soil is the foundation of growing healthy crops, and this fact stands tall irrespective of the season or time of the year. When you have healthy soil, any crop you grow in it will look good, taste better, and be of higher quality. If your soil is weak and lacks nutrients, then external factors such as climate, location, etc. hold more power over the crop. [Read more…]
By Lyndon Smith
President and CEO,
Bio Huma Netics, Inc.
We attended the Humic Products Trade Association (HPTA) annual meeting this past month in Park City, Utah. It’s always a pleasure to get together with industry peers and talk about issues pertaining to HPTA as well as discussing the latest and the greatest research and product developments taking place in the biostimulant movement throughout the world!
Our alliance with HPTA is a long and strong one. From being a participant (with Mesa Verde) since its inception in 2010 and serving as a member of the Board of Directors—it’s been fun to see us come together in unity and how we’ve accomplished many monumental and exciting milestones together. [Read more…]