In 2023, more than 7 million acres were treated with products from the Hefty Naturals portfolio, and for good reason…

Growers continue to see a consistent return on investment when adding Naturals products to their cropping plans.

As we look forward to a new season and operations continue working to maximize profit on every acre, we expect this upward trend to continue. This is due to many farmers that used these products on a single field or in trials expanding acres after having success, while at the same time bringing in additional key products from the Naturals lineup.

As you search for crop investments that will provide a consistent return on your farm, here are four key products that we’ve seen really move the needle on yield when used in the proper timings and field scenarios.

Introduced in the spring of 2021, Nutri-Shield combines Nutri-Cycle and Heat Shield into a talc formulation that you can apply to seed right in the planter box. This year, we are bringing forward the option of adding graphite to Nutri-Shield to make it a true talc replacement product.

When used together, the two foundational products of Nutri-Cycle and Heat Shield provide season-long benefits:  

If you want to harness the advantages of Naturals at planting but don’t have in-furrow application capabilities, Maxx NS is the ultimate package. Maxx NS is an 80/20 blend of talc and graphite that combines Heat Shield and Nutri-Cycle with an active carbon source, manganese, iron, and enough zinc to replace roughly the equivalent of 1 quart of liquid zinc per acre.

What separates Maxx NS from any other product in the market is its Bio-Capsule box design.

This design is important because when Naturals are combined with zinc and graphite, the efficacy of the microbial components can be severely reduced even in a shorter time window of exposure.

The Bio-Capsule delivery system keeps Nutri-Cycle and Heat Shield in separate containers until immediately prior to use, allowing you to keep biology safe from graphite and zinc until right when you need it. Simply pushing the buttons on top of the Maxx NS bucket will release the living components of Nutri-Cycle and Heat Shield right into the bucket. Simply shake the bucket before use, and its entire contents will be mixed and ready to go. If you want to incorporate biology and micronutrients right into the planter box, Maxx NS is the perfect system built for you. The formulation of this product allows Maxx NS to replace the traditional talc and graphite you might add to your planter box to improve flowability and singulation – with Maxx NS, you’ll get all those benefits and more.

A plant hormone package patented as a glyphosate safener, MegaGro continues to be one of the top-selling products in the Hefty Naturals lineup. MegaGro speeds up how plants process and metabolize glyphosate, resulting in improved recovery time after applications and allowing plants to use more energy toward producing yield later in the season. Consistent returns in more than 11 years of data covering both corn and soybeans show why this is a top seller. Farmers often ask me which product should be the last thing they cut from their input budget when commodity markets are depressed.

My answer is always MegaGro. At $4.20 cash corn prices for fall 2024, MegaGro still provides a return on investment greater than 4:1; in soybeans using $10.70 for fall delivery, its return is just under 4:1.

You might have heard of RyzUp SmartGrass. Valent Biosciences recently rebranded this product as Proliant PGR. Proliant consists of gibberellic acid (GA3) and is best applied early in the season on silage corn, other grass crops like winter wheat, and pastures. When temperatures are below 70 degrees, grass crops such as corn have a hard time producing their own gibberellic acid, which is a natural hormone that tells plants to stretch individual plant cells, resulting in the production of additional leaf mass and tonnage.

Since plants are better able to produce sufficient amounts of their own gibberellic acid once temperatures reach above 70, this type of application isn’t necessary later in the season, but in cold, early-season growing conditions, Proliant is a fantastic fit if you’re raising silage corn, winter grasses, or pasture acres where it’s valuable to stimulate early season growth. Although Proliant is excellent at producing more tonnage from leaf material in silage corn, we don’t see a big benefit in corn grain yield, which is why we recommend this product for silage, pastures, and winter grass crops.

Is every biological product meant for every acre? Absolutely not!

No silver bullet exists when it comes to the Naturals market, and it’s unfortunate that some companies continue to sell these products while promising consistent results on broad acres. Our advice to anyone looking at the Naturals market is to ask a lot of questions to ensure you understand how to get the most out of whatever biostimulant you are purchasing.

As you finalize your plans for 2024, consider using one of the products I discussed above in a trial on your farm. They are relatively inexpensive and have the potential to provide you with an excellent return on investment when you use them in the right situations.