As well all know the Corn Belt was hit hard by this summer’s drought. As we travel to North Central Iowa the results are evident everywhere we turn. A few growers are in the field chopping corn while others are holding out hoping for some miracle to save their crop. Stoller stopped by two farming operations about an hour and half apart – both are dealing with tough climatic challenges this growing season.

Mike Gaul, near Strawberry Point, was our first stop. A first year Stoller customer he’s impressed by how long his fields held out during the drought. Receiving about a quarter of the rain normally received in northern Iowa Mike could tell the Bio-Forge treated corn and soybeans stayed greener longer and roots were robust and healthy. An agronomist by trade, Mike sees things through a different eye compared to most growers. Rejoining his family operation a few years ago his focus is reducing stress and managing plant health to produce the healthiest crop around, and he feels Stoller’s program has helped save his crop this year.

The next day the crew traveled south of Des Moines to Amana Colonies where we met up with Dave Cunningham, Crop Production Manager at Amana Farms. With thousands of tourists visiting the colonies each year Dave faces expectations unlike most growers. A unique end user provides another difficult challenge for Amana Farms. Growing food grade white corn and non-GMO soybeans for cereal and oatmeal companies in central Iowa make applying certain crop chemicals a sometimes “sticky” situation.

Amana Farms have used Stoller products for a couple growing seasons and plan on increasing their Stoller product line next year after seeing ear and pod size increase even with very little rain. A stretch of five to seven days with triple digit weather didn’t help the crops either. Dave explained that in a normal growing season they normally see temperatures peak in the mid 90’s for a week and that’s as hot as it gets. Many neighboring farms are struggling to even make a crop this year. Amana Farms will be harvesting earlier than scheduled due to the lack of rain, but thanks to Stoller’s Bio-Forge and other plant performance products there will be a crop to harvest.

Check back for more details on these and other progressive growers as we continue our trek across the country visiting innovative farmers looking to take their yields to the next level.