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BIOLOGICAL INOCULANTS

gency. Constant use ‘just in case’ is what leads to pesticide farmers to apply in-furrow or as a foliar application on cash
resistance, which means when you REALLY need to get crops or cover crops. Compost extract is made by leaching
something under control, nothing seems to work very well. water through a compost made in a specific manner to cul-
Good management results in healthy soil and that is the ture beneficial microbes. Compost extract is a liquid teem-
best crop insurance in the world. “Don’t work your soil, let ing with billions of microbes and auto-inducers (see pages
the soil work for you!” 44-45) and can be applied at a very low cost. Organic farm-

Another promising product is our Bi-Azo inoculant, a mix- ers and gardeners have used compost extracts for decades
ture of Azotobacter and Azospirillum, two free-living ni- and have seen good results. Science is now corroborating
trogen fixing bacteria that live in the rhizosphere of many these positive results and beginning to unravel the microbi-
plant species, including non-legumes like grasses. Scientific al mysteries behind the results.
research has demonstrated that in situations where the soil is Elevate Ag also offers a full line of humate products. Hu-
lacking in nitrate, these two bacteria will fix small amounts mates are the natural result of the humification of organ-
of nitrogen in the root zone of non-leguminous plants (sci- ic matter over thousands of years and are complex carbon
entific literature indicates a range of 0-80 pounds of N per molecules resulting from biochemical reactions. Humates
acre, with most reports around 20-40 pounds of N). They are a critical component of soil fertility and plant nutrition
do not fix nitrogen when there is ample available nitrogen and are a rich source of energy and beneficial bacteria which
in the soil. These two bacteria are common in many regions aid overall plant health. Other benefits of humates include
around the world where nitrogen fertilizer is unaffordable or enhanced fertility uptake, improved water holding capacity,
hard to transport for small farmers, but not used much in the improved seed germination, and increased root growth. We
US where the common practice is to apply heavy amounts of have also been adding humates to our liquid fertilizer as a
nitrogen fertilizer to crops. However, since most cover crop stabilizing agent. The HyprGrow extract contains humates
mixtures of grasses and legumes are not fertilized with ni- and Elevate Ag’s line of Halo products are humates that can
trogen, these mixtures may benefit from Bi-Azo inoculation. be used right at the farm as a fertilizer or seed amendment.
Often summer annual grasses like sorghums and millets are
not fertilized for fear of creating toxic levels of nitrates so
Bi-Azo can provide plants with small daily amounts of am-
monium nitrogen that will not spike nitrate levels in plants.
Since the cost of Bi-Azo is only a few dollars per acre, it takes
only a small benefit for it to pay.
Another inoculant that has a very high benefit to cost ratio
is an application of our HyprGrow compost extract. Green
Cover Seed has recently invested in Elevate Ag, a new ven-
ture that is producing a patented compost extract product Elevate Ag is owned by Green Cover Seed and five part-
(HyprGrow) and we can now offer this as a seed applied ners from Kansas. This innovative biological company
inoculant on cover crop seed or as a liquid product for
holds a patent on a process to make a better compost
product. Elevate Ag also offers a full line of humic prod-
ucts, including humic acid and humate products that can
be added to liquid fertilizer or as a seed treatment. Ele-
vate Ag is committed to being a leader in innovation in
practical and affordable biological solutions for farmers.
Photo by Midwest Biosystems
Go to www.elevateag.com for more information.

HyprGrow is extracted from a high quality compost that is made with a patented
process that keeps the biology alive longer. The liquid extract can be used as a seed
treatment, starter fertilizer, or foliar applied to the plant.

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