Since harvest, the number one question I hear regarding Naturals is,
‘Can Naturals replace fertility that I won’t apply in the fall or spring?’
Many companies in the biological space are marketing to growers that want to limit fertilizer expenses in their next crop.
Catchy marketing messages say things like, ‘Save $100 an acre in fertility expenses for your next crop!’ Or, ‘Unlock free fertility in your crop residues!’
HERE’S THE REALITY. NATURALS CAN’T REPLACE ALL YOUR FERTILIZER, BUT THEY CAN MAKE WHATEVER COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER YOU APPLY MORE EFFICIENT!
First of all, if you want to cut your fertilizer bill, be sure to do grid or zone soil testing to identify where fertilizer is in excess and nutrients are in balance vs. out of balance in areas of your fields. Then, you can see what Naturals might help. Many biologicals can keep fertilizer from being tied up in your soil and others can help with fertilizer efficiency within plants.
Here are three products from the Hefty Naturals lineup that can help you be more efficient with your fertilizer dollars.
If you have manure in piles from a feedyard, or an area of bed pack that you need to break down into usable form, DRY D-COMP is a good option. It is a combination of bacteria, fungi, and enzymes that help break residues down.
In the spring of 2025, we did a study with a grower where half of his manure piles were treated, and the other half were not. Then, just before the manure was applied to crop ground, we pulled samples from each group. The results were very interesting. Treated piles showed virtually zero ammonia nitrogen present, meaning the nitrogen in the pile was in organic form.
The biggest difference between the treated and untreated tests was the ratio of moisture to solids.
Treated piles measured at 58.2% moisture and 41.8% solids; untreated piles measured 70.8% moisture and 29.2% solids. This means every 5 tons of manure applied more than 1260 additional pounds of solids versus liquids. Instead of applying additional synthetic fertilizer, using a product like Dry D-Comp helps you get more value out of your manure and keeps nutrients in available form. In the case of this trial, if the grower were to apply 5 tons of manure per acre, the additional value of the manure treated with Dry D-Comp came to roughly $42 an acre more than untreated!
That’s easily a 5:1 ROI.
This product has been a foundational element of our portfolio since 2017. NUTRI-CYCLE combines 26 bacteria strains that help make and keep fertility available to plants.
It helps by cycling nutrients from organic matter and establishes a relationship with plants early in their growth to keep fertility available to the root system.
NUTRI-CYCLE is found on every kernel of Hefty Brand Corn and in every bag of Hefty Brand Soybeans treated with Hefty Complete — it’s a huge part of what sets Hefty Seed Company’s seed treatment apart from anything else in the industry. Nutri-Cycle can be run as an in-furrow option, or you can get the same benefits in your planter box with a product called NUTRI-SHIELD.
WHAT MAKES NUTRI-CYCLE DIFFERENT?
Instead of relying on a single strain or just a couple of strains of bacteria, the combination of the 26 bacteria found within Nutri-Cycle greatly increases the product’s consistency across variable acres and soil types. Essentially, 26 different strains of bacteria give you 26 different chances to win in a variety of conditions, as opposed to just one or two that may or may not have an ideal environment for success. Every field is different. Nutri-Cycle can handle that variability.
Phosphorus has a negative charge in your soil. If free calcium is present, it’s likely going to bind with calcium and create calcium phosphate. This bond is nearly impossible to break.
NUTRICHARGE is a chemistry-based solution that has the ability to capture more than 65 times its weight in calcium, preventing it from tying up phosphorus in your soil.
Mixing NutriCharge with your phosphorus-based fertilizer has shown great ROI. Not only can it help keep some phosphorus in your soil from binding to calcium, but if you are running a low-salt row starter, adding NutriCharge can be a good investment as it can help that fertility from being tied up and unavailable when the crop needs it early in the season.
If you don’t have in-furrow capabilities, NUTRICHARGE POWERPLANT can be an option as a planter box product. The difference it has versus others in the market is it doesn’t use talc as a carrier — it uses microalgae. This is great for operators that are hesitant to use a talc-based product for inhalation concerns.
THE KEY WITH THE PRODUCTS ABOVE IS UNDERSTANDING WHAT THEY CAN AND CANNOT DO FOR YOUR OPERATION.
If you have chlorinated water or micronutrients you want to mix with these applications, please keep in mind that Dry D-Comp and Nutri-Cycle are living biology. As such, they should be handled with care. In these respective situations, it’s always a good idea to use a chlorine neutralizer and/or a chelating agent to make your water ideal for application. The last thing we want to do is to kill these products before they get to the field. When used correctly, these products have shown great consistency in ROI.
For more information about how Naturals products can fit into your fertility plan, please reach out to your local Hefty Agronomist or go to HEFTYSEED.COM/NATURALS.