Can VitaNterra Increase Corn Drought Tolerance?

Genesis Ag had been seeing our unique fulvic acid product, vitaNterra, do some pretty incredible things on crops in the field when used as a fertilizer for corn.  On top of the yield benefits and increased disease resistance we saw, growers had been independently confirming that an application of vitaNterra could increase the uptake of water and nutrients, and plants seemed to do better when faced with drought conditions if they’d been treated with vitaNterra than crops that had not been treated.

Corn Drought Tolerance Study

We decided that it was an important enough claim that we ought to have some independent studies commissioned. So, we decided to partner with the University of Utah’s Ag school in 2015 to do a drought study to determine the effect of treating corn with vitaNterra under less than ideal precipitation or moisture levels.

Study Design

The design of the study involved running four replications of treated corn against four separate control or “check” plots.  The irrigation and natural precipitation on the corn totaled one half of the “ideal” level of moisture for our hybrid given the temperature, humidity and rate of respiration of the crop.

Results of The Corn Drought Tolerance Study

The corn trial showed all of the test plots with increased yields when compared to the control plots.  The average yield increase on the treated plots was 11.07 bushels per acre over the control.

The average yield increase on the treated plots was 11.07 bushels per acre over the control.

Implications

In any year, our unique fulvic, humic, and micro-nutrient product vitaNterra can help break through yield barriers on your farm.  After all, it’s been part of the fertility program on the last three world record yields in corn.  However, it can take on additional importance if you’re looking to protect yield loss in a drought year where water becomes your yield limiting factor.  For dryland farmers, you can easily run a quart to 1/2 gallon of vitaNterra through a sprayer for between $4.50 – $9.00 per acre and see positive yield response and positive R.O.I. to get you through a tough year.