Quantification is crucial to successful farming. With The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) granting certification to Mainstay® Si, Redox Bio-Nutrients is the only company with two certified biostimulants.

Last fall, TFI certification was given to Mainstay® Calcium 2.0.

Redox Lead Agronomist John Kelly comments on the importance of the independent and rigorous certification, and the beneficial role Mainstay® Si plays for crops.

Americans eat more than 200 pounds of meat per person per year. One byproduct of meeting that demand is manure, as nearly 9 billion pounds of livestock manure is generated daily.

Transforming livestock waste into the most useful form of plant nutrition is the pursuit of people like Abe Sandquist. The former federal soil conservationist started Natural Fertilizer Services 18 years ago.

“We need to be constantly figuring out how are going to take these nutrients and recycle them,” he said, “You never buy them, you only rent them. Nutrients are harvested and replaced, and they have to be in circulation just like money. If money stops circulation, the economy fails. So does the soil.”

He’s bullish on continuing to find the best use of manure to grow crops, which ultimately benefit ranchers, growers, the environment and economy.

Sandquist is providing manure for field trials including Redox products at the XPRT Farm in Iowa.

How do you combat low returns? Be adaptive. Using Redox Bio-Nutrients technology affords the flexibility and specificity needed to succeed, even in a down economy.

In this episode, Redox agronomists Jeff Yoder and Bill Schwoerer outline growing strategies that allow for flexibility in the field, while still achieving strong yields and quality.

Their recommendations include RootRx® for crop establishment, optimizing nitrogen through RDX-N®, adding vital calcium nutrition through Mainstay® Calcium 2.0 and managing in-season stress with diKaP™.

Redox products are meticulously designed to achieve you farm’s yield potential through Redox Active Molecules (RAM™) and maintaining plant charge balance.

From his early days in Nepal on his families subsistence farm, Pramod Acharya has long valued the importance of farming and agricultural sustainability.

In his new capacity as Assistant Professor and Extension Forage Specialist with the University of Idaho’s Kimberly Research and Extension Center, he will be working to help Idaho dairy farms and forage producers, finding ways to enhance efficient forage production, storage and utilization.

Acharya said he will focus on sustainable practices rooted in economic practicality.

“Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability or capacity of future generations to meet the same needs,” he said.

Perseverance was a key for those in agriculture this past year, as lower crop prices and higher input costs dominated in 2025. Yet, many growers navigated their way to abundance and quality come harvest time.

Episode 150 covers highlights of the past year, including stories of passion, perseverance and even agricultural archeology. We hear from Redox President Colton Moon about key developments for our industry and company, including our patented nitrogen-optimization product, RDX-N®.

We wrap things up with a visit with Jaden Wenger from a California farming family, who has made an incredible comeback from cancer.

A new global study on biostimulants quantifies the increased interest growers have for these tools.

The study by DunhamTrimmer, a leading firm for biologicals market data and consulting, was carried out by Manel Cervera, while Vatren Jurin is the company authority on value-added fertilizers.

Redox Bio-Nutrients is identified as a top 20 company in the world in biostimulants. Biostimulants are a nearly $4.5 billion-dollar global market, with a compound annual growth rate just shy of 10 percent – which would put 2030 market value at nearly 8 billion dollars. While the United States remains the largest single market, tremendous growth is reported in several parts of the world, including Latin America, Asia and Europe.

Fruits and vegetables are most popular for biostimulants, while row crops and cereals are seen as the next major game changer.

Many of the challenges growers faced this year will carry into 2026. Their resiliency is being tested and wise agronomic decisions are even more vital.

Hundreds gathered at the Agricultural Retailers Association Conference and Trade Show in Salt Lake City for updates.

“Some of the challenges we have faced, while many of them are similar to the past, there are a few that are unique and new,” remarked Mike Twining of Willard Agri-Service, which partners with Redox. “A lot of those challenges deal with uncertainty, with changes ranging from local to global that are new and different.”

Twining said newer technology including biostimulants can help growers, and it’s important for agronomists to provide sound solutions.

Grower Grant Norwood of Tennessee is among those increasing his use of biostimulants. He participated in a panel discussion carried out by Farm Journal and EVOIA.

Vice President of Fertilizer at StoneX Josh Linville updated growers on the fertilizer outlook, which overall includes higher prices and more volatility. He was optimistic for improvement in the future. “High prices always cure high prices,” he said. “When you get there, supplies start to increase. New potash production is coming down the line. Hopefully new nitrogen production announcements are coming.”

ARA President and CEO Daren Coppock said the ag economy downturn has been a little longer than usual, but the cyclical nature of the industry indicates improvement is down the road.

Farmers have grown yields over the years through improved varieties, nutrition and equipment. An emerging frontier involves automation, including robotics and AI.

“We believe automation is going to be a whole revolution in farming,” remarked Adam Stager, founder of TRIC Robotics. “It’s really the next big thing to drive efficiency on these farms.”

One item TRIC has introduced automated, tractor-scale pest and disease control robotics using UV-C light, that was demonstrated at the recent Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Strawberry Field Day.

Also on display at the event was a prototype robotic strawberry harvester from L5 Automation.

“We’ve seen a lot of startups attempt this, and a lot of startups have failed,” said Dan Schneider, L5 Director of Software. “We want to make sure that we solve these problems correctly, so that we can harvest all season long. Then we will worry about making the process faster.”

Schneider said they expect to harvest trial beds next year, to refine the technology and scale it up to full commercial harvesting.

Stager and Schneider said they hope their emerging technologies will ultimately have application that extends to other crops, in addition to California strawberry fields.