After walking no-till soybeans planted after corn, Steve Gauck concluded that some growers would benefit from stepping up residue management. Gauck, a regional agronomy manager for Beck’s, Greensburg, Ind., offers two reasons. First, increased residue loads over time make it more difficult for planters to work effectively. Second, in a wet spring, excess residue makes an enticing home for slugs.

Earlier this year, Simplot Grower Solutions and Innvictis BioScience introduced Evaness, designed to maximize use of nutrients in crop residues. Spokespersons say a unique blend of nutrients and enzymes in Evaness accelerates breakdown of crop residues, assists in nutrient cycling, and increases solubility and availability of nutrients from residue.

Ty Applegate with Innvictis BioScience believes that if residue buildup is becoming an issue, or if you just want to speed up nutrient cycling, Evaness can help. Visit innvictis.com.

Residue breakdown and more

Developers of Excavator AMS claim it’s a four-in-one product that speeds up residue breakdown but delivers much more. Spokespersons for Meristem Crop Performance say it’s the first-on-the-market, all-in-one product that provides a surfactant, water conditioner, residue breakdown and nutrient release.

This product is designed to break down crop residue, including cover crop residue, faster than competing products. AMS and a non-ionic surfactant make burndown of weeds more effective when used in herbicide applications. Visit meristemag.com.

Disease website rollout

Make crop scouting more effective with a new, updated website from Syngenta. Spokespersons bill it as the newest online resource available for all things related to disease management.

A quick visit indicates the site features quality photos of key crop diseases. Enter your state and choose the crop you want to scout. The site also includes a calculator to compare potential return on investment for fungicide. Visit boostyourbushels.com.

Unique drones, special uses

Drones can do more than scout and spray fields. For example, they can aid in distributing pollen for specialty crops, and distribute modified insects aimed at reducing insect populations. However, developers say it takes specialized drones to accomplish such tasks.

Modovolo, maker of innovative drones, hooked up with Dropcopter this year to make that drone company’s proprietary pollen distribution model more effective. Modovolo also worked with M3 Agriculture Technologies, which distributes insects using drones. These insects are sterile, and the sterile insect release technique, or SIR, results in sterile males mating with wild insects, with no offspring produced.

Modovolo developed the Modovolo Lift, with longer flight time than drones that either of the other companies were using before. This drone was also designed with pollen distribution and SIR in mind. Visit modovolo.com.

Biostimulants and AI

You expect more biostimulants to appear all the time. What may surprise you is that by using artificial intelligence, companies believe they can significantly ramp up the release of these products. ICL, the global minerals company, and Lavie Bio, a subsidiary of Evogene Ltd., leveraged AI to identify more than a dozen novel microbial candidates that could become biostimulants. In 12 months, they accomplished what should have taken four years.

These products are geared toward helping crops overcome stresses caused by weather conditions, including drought. Developers believe they can deliver a 5% to 10% average yield advantage. Field trials are planned in the U.S. and Brazil. See lavie-bio.com or icl-group.com.