Cereal NS+ was developed in 2022 after the success of our Hefty Complete seed treatment packages and the launch of Nutri-Shield for corn and soybeans. Cereal NS+ combines crucial microbe strains found in Nutri-Cycle and Heat Shield along with enough talc to cover 240 acres of small grain seed.

The Nutri-Cycle component consists of 26 strains of bacteria that focus on breaking down minerals into nutrient forms that are easier for root systems to bring in. Whether nutrients are being cycled from organic matter or they become available as broadcast fertility breaks down, microbes are the cog in the wheel that makes it happen. Heat Shield is made up of 6 strains of Trichoderma Harzianum that act as a protective barrier living within the intercellular walls of plant tissues, allowing the crop to better moderate heat, cold, and salt stresses.

As a complete package, Cereal NS+ helps with early season plant vigor, minimal winter kill, and early spring advancements from dormancy. By helping create more available nutrients while minimizing water losses within plants early in the season, wheat and other small grains have the ability to be more resilient to harsh weather conditions.

Boost 10 is another Naturals product that fits well if you are planting winter wheat or raising a small grains crop in the early spring. During this time, amino acids are pivotal for plants to convert energy from photosynthesis to be used in plant functions. However, when plants do not have adequate sunlight or experience extreme weather stresses common during the early season, photosynthesis is often not efficient. Boost 10 is an amino acid complex that makes photosynthesis more efficient in the plant, increasing its ability to store sugars and carbohydrates for use later in the season. Boost 10 helps the plant maximize what sunlight it captures, allowing it to produce important proteins that might not have been produced if the plant had not had the additional amino acids available. Critical timing for Boost 10 is at green-up in winter wheat; for other small grain crops, aim to include it in the earliest post chemistry application pass.

Finally, one of the most successful products in the Naturals portfolio is MegaGro. It’s possible you’ve even used this product in the past on your foliar corn or soybean herbicide passes, but did you know it’s just as successful in small grains? Think about anytime you make a foliar herbicide pass in-crop. Within crops, there is a tax on energy consumption to process and metabolize any herbicide — I call this the ‘Herbicide Tax’. MegaGro is the product we use to minimize the Herbicide Tax. The plant has to decide if the chemistry applied is a toxin that is going to kill it or not, and that process takes a tremendous amount of energy. Adding MegaGro to the tank speeds up the plant’s ability to process and metabolize herbicide. We’ve seen documented cases of increased speeds of up to 25%, allowing the plant to recover faster and apply its energy from photosynthesis to continue critical functions like reproduction and grain fill. Boost 10 and MegaGro can be tankmixed together with any foliar herbicide pass in small grain crops.

Cereal NS+ helps set the foundation for a successful crop, while Boost 10 and MegaGro minimize crop stresses your plants endure throughout the season.

As I always say — if you haven’t started using products in this space and are interested in trying them out, be sure to start small and TEST these products on your own ground.

Have a safe 2025 harvest and a great start to the 2026 crop planning season!