Innovation in crop nutrition has been ramping up in the past few years. New players in the market are taking different approaches to provide farmers enhanced ways to boost yields by cutting fertilizer bills. Sound Agriculture has been building its market with two products, Source Corn and Source Soybean. But for 2023, the product line is expanding and changing.

During a virtual briefing recently, Sound Ag announced two product innovations and news of a redesign of its packaging.

Source DC will provide producers of cotton, wheat, alfalfa and grass hay the benefits of this nitrogen-fixing and phosphorus-liberating product. “This new product will pour like a liquid, and you won’t have trouble washing out the jugs, as in the past,” said Sarah Taylor, product marketing associate. “This product will make tank-mixing easier and can go on with [plant growth regulators] and other products for a free ride.”

Taylor also outlined another change from Sound Ag with its more colorful packaging. She said the bold colors and new boxes will make it easier for farmers to recognize when the product is delivered to the farm.

Another change is reformulation for what was once called Source Soybean. The new product is Source SC, which Taylor said will keep the product from being “pigeon-holed as only Source soybean.”

She noted that SC is for use on soybeans for 2023, but next year, farmers may hear of other crops added to the label for this product.

A formulation change

Source SC gets not only a new name but also a new formulation. Zach Carlson, agronomy manager for the Western region, discussed the new formulation and its benefits.

“SC is a new product for soybeans,” he said. “It has the same active ingredient, but we’re changing the carrier.”

He noted that the older oil-based formula was a challenge for growers because it would get “gloopy when cold and be hard to pour,” he said. “We want to make a good customer experience for our products.”

The new product is a solid concentrate, hence the SC branding. The new carrier is a water-based product that is compatible with fungicides, herbicides and plant growth regulators working in that V4 to R3 growth stage. Usage rates are unchanged for the revised product. The application rate remains 2.5 ounces per acre.

For the new Source DC, the usage rate is 1 ounce per acre, which Taylor said will be popular for customers.

For Source Corn, the formulation is not changing, and the use rate will remain 0.7 ounce per acre. Erik Wolfe, senior product marketing manager, said the Source Corn product has been very popular, and there was no need to update that formulation.

Farmers can learn more about the new products, including online tools for determining proper application for the product, at sound.ag.