One of the areas we have focused a lot of our attention on over the past couple of years is stress mitigation in plants, whether that stress comes from heat, moisture, or even herbicide use. As farmers and agronomists, we can’t control Mother Nature, but we have identified products within the Hefty Naturals portfolio that can be used to minimize the effects of these stresses in plants.
Data continues to show us that when we minimize certain stresses in plants, the potential for greater yields at harvest is improved. This may be a relatively new area of research within agriculture, but there are several products that have been around for quite some time that have been tested and proven in a growing body of research. As each crop season brings unforeseen conditions to our crops, tools to help us fight against these stresses are increasingly important, especially in the volatile commodity markets we are seeing today. Here are two products we have seen bring consistent gains in fields over the past several years.
MegaGro
Back in 2004, MegaGro was introduced into the market as a plant growth hormone. Then in 2012, it was granted a patent from the United States Patent Office designating it as a glyphosate safener – it is the only product on the market that can claim to be a glyphosate safener.
At a basic level, plant hormones are applied to crops to stimulate the desired response. In the case of MegaGro, it’s an auxin-dominated product with a small amount of kinetin. The auxin sends signals within the plant to force additional root growth, while the kinetin acts as a trigger for additional vegetative growth and reproduction. When MegaGro is added to a glyphosate application, it helps the plant speed up the metabolization of the herbicide. Herbicides kill weeds, and regardless of whether a plant is tolerant to that herbicide or not, that plant must decide if it’s a toxin or something it can process. It takes a tremendous amount of energy for that to happen. Since the hormones within MegaGro already occur naturally within the plant, all the product really does is boost the levels of auxins in the plant at the ideal time to trigger a more immediate recovery response following the herbicide application. In soybeans, the biggest reaction we typically see after applying glyphosate is yellow flash. By adding MegaGro to the application, we reduce the risk of yellow flash by speeding up the plant’s ability to recover. In 2021 across three locations and three different application timings (nine total trials), we saw a 2.7 bushel response with MegaGro versus untreated in soybeans. With $14 beans and a treatment cost of around $4.75 an acre, adding this product to your glyphosate applications provides nearly an 8:1 return on investment.
Heat Shield
Another product designed for stress mitigation is Heat Shield. Introduced in 2016, Heat Shield has a unique ability to lower the temperature in the crop canopy. It takes Trichoderma species that are naturally found in the environment and introduces them to the crop early in the season so they grow within the plant and help manage heat and moisture stress all season long. This allows plants to better manage transpiration and keep themselves cooler, enabling them to work towards a higher yield target. As we’ve discussed in previous publications, the species found in Heat Shield have initially identified in Yellowstone National Park nearly 20 years ago. These Trichoderma strains were found in plants that were naturally growing in extraordinarily hot and stressful conditions near the geysers in the park. Heat Shield is found in Hefty Complete Seed Treatment; is a component of Nutri-Shield, one of our top-selling products; and is sold as an individual product for use with in-furrow and foliar applications across any crop.
In 2021 and in 2020, Hefty Seed Company partnered with North Carolina State University to demonstrate how Heat Shield performs when applied in-furrow on corn. In addition to exhibiting the performance of the product in-furrow, another key takeaway from these trials reinforces how important it is to understand your water source. While Heat Shield alone exhibited a significant yield bump when compared to check (see chart above), when the application water was treated with Water-Rite and Bio-Prep to protect the bacteria and fungi found in Heat Shield, one trial showed an additional yield benefit of four bushels, while another added two bushels on top of the already significant gains brought by Heat Shield alone.
MegaGro and Heat Shield are just two products from our ever-expanding Hefty Naturals portfolio that continue to show promise with stress mitigation in research trials. As the ag industry is beginning to understand the magnitude of how important stress mitigation is, many companies are investing more and more in this area, and we will continue to lead the industry in that regard. No single product can completely cure drought and heat stress, but a few of these products can help preserve bushels from being lost to these events. However, the best trials are those done on your own acres. Our suggestion is to try these products on your own farm if you haven’t already!