RETURN OS Provides Value in the Northern Plains

From the Pivot Bio Northern Plains Agronomy Team

If you ask any plant nutrition expert, they’ll be the first to admit that understanding soil biology and plant fertility interactions are far from an exact science.

Pivot Bio agronomists have engaged with customers and potential customers to help them gain confidence that farm producers can at least maintain yields while reducing dependence on synthetic commercial grade fertilizer.

During the 2024 growing season, Pivot Bio agronomists in Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota had about a dozen locations with simple side-by-side comparisons, and another two dozen sites with replicated strips, hoping to tell the story that Pivot Bio microbial nitrogen is just as effective as synthetic nitrogen. With the first half of that data available, here are the take home messages to date:

• In 10 spring grain comparisons across the far northern plains, fields using RETURN OS with a 25 lbs/ac reduced nitrogen rate out-yielded the untreated comparison that were using 100% full nitrogen by 1.8 bu/ac (80% wins). Note: The full nitrogen rates were determined by the trial cooperating farm.
• This 80%-win rate is a great first step in demonstrating that RETURN OS provides another quality source of nitrogen that is as effective in driving yields as synthetic commercial grade nitrogen.

In 8 comparisons, where RETURN OS was tested against an untreated check (same full nitrogen rates for both treatments), there was no further yield enhancement with RETURN, confirming that more nitrogen isn’t always better. The results shows that the maximum ROI in utilizing Pivot Bio RETURN OS is with reducing commercial grade synthetic nitrogen.

The data also shows that grain crude protein content, test weight, and grain moisture (test weight and grain moisture data not shown) were NOT significantly impacted with any RETURN OS treatments.

Diversify your farm’s nitrogen risk by conversing with your local Pivot Bio representative. Please understand that nitrogen is very dynamic, often resulting in year to year and even location to location performance variability.