Author

Colin Pennington

Colin is the U.S. Crop Nutrition Product Marketing Manager at FBN® with over 14 years of experience in product marketing and communications in the agriculture industry.

He brings a passion for education and innovation through his experience helping bring numerous new technologies to row crop farmers over the years. Colin currently resides in St. Louis, MO with roots on the family farm in northeast IA.


May 12, 2023

by Colin Pennington

Leading up to and through planting, growers work to find a balance with mother nature, hoping to capitalize on the optimal conditions needed to get a crop in the ground. Once planting is complete, we become even more at the mercy of those environmental conditions we no longer control, still with hopes of a crop reaching its full genetic yield potential.  In a previous blog post we addressed incorporating biostimulant products into early-season fertilizer applications to help a crop achieve a more efficient start. Once a crop has emerged there are also additional foliar options that can help provide balanced nutrition and limit the impact of abiotic stress.  Whether it’s the weather, stress from other pesticides or nutrient deficiencies that just don’t show until later, it’s equally as important to understand what factors you are trying to impact in-season as it was before the season began. [Download the FBN Crop Nutrition Guide ] Planning for Complete Crop Nutrition Plants need a balanced package of nutrients to address any potential late season yield limiting deficiencies as well as prevent antagonism by overapplying any single nutrient that may tie others up. Nourish Vitals™ contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur along with 6 additional micronutrients essential for plant growth at a balanced ratio to help address in season needs while preventing this unwanted nutrient antagonism in addition to providing the crop with the right balance to effectively transition from vegetative to reproductive growth.   Nourish Vitals helps push late vegetative to early reproductive development and improve tolerance to abiotic stress. It is complexed with plant-based peptides containing the amino acids essential for plants. The peptides act as an efficient carrier to allow for rapid uptake and rapid translocation throughout the plant. Ideal application timing is in the late vegetative stage to early reproductive at 32 oz/A. Proactively Addressing Weather and Chemical Stress The impact of weather events such as being too hot, too wet, too cold, or too dry requires the plant to generate energy to get through those stressful periods. During this process of diverting energy to combat stress, yield potential is lost. Atarrus™ provides the plant with supplemental energy and tools to signal plant health to prevent negative impacts from weather stress such as too much or too little heat or moisture.  In addition, Atarrus contains 18 essential amino acids in peptide form that provide supplemental energy to help the plant better metabolize chemicals to minimize any negative damage from chemical stress. Atarrus is best used as a preventative product prior to stress but may be applied following stress to help the crop bounce back faster. Ideal application timing is in the early to late vegetative stages at 16 oz/A. [RELATED: Not sure how to perform a jar test? Start here.] Shop for Crop Nutrition Products  See more of the science behind the FARMERS FIRST™ brand of biological and crop nutrition products by watching this video about the value of biology . Find the products you need at FBN Direct ® . We have a diverse crop nutrition product portfolio to provide product options for growers like you to support plant health. © 2014 - 2023 Farmer's Business Network, Inc. All rights Reserved. The sprout logo, “Farmers Business Network”, “FBN”, “FBN Direct”, “Farmers First”, “Nourish Vitals”, and “Atarrus” are service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of Farmer's Business Network, Inc. FBN Direct products and services and other products distributed by FBN Direct are offered by FBN Inputs, LLC and are available only in states where FBN Inputs, LLC is licensed and where those products are registered for sale or use, if applicable. If applicable, please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Nothing contained on this page, including the prices listed should be construed as an offer for sale, or a sale of products. All products and prices are subject to change at any time and without notice. Terms and conditions apply. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS. It is a violation of federal and state law to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its label. The distribution, sale and use of an unregistered pesticide is a violation of federal and/or state law and is strictly prohibited. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided on this page or which is provided by us in any form. It is your responsibility to confirm prior to purchase and use that a product is labeled for your specific purposes, including, but not limited to, your target crop or pest and its compatibility with other products in a tank mix and that the usage of a product is otherwise consistent with federal, state and local laws. We reserve the right to restrict sales on a geographic basis in our sole discretion. You must have a valid applicator license to use restricted use pesticides. Please consult your state department of agriculture for complete rules and regulations on the use of restricted use pesticides, as some products require specific record-keeping requirements. All product recommendations and other information provided is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for consulting the product label or for specific agronomic, business, or professional advice. Where specific advice is necessary or appropriate, consult with a qualified advisor. Neither Farmer's Business Network Inc. nor any of its affiliates makes any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in the material and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.


Apr. 03, 2023

by Colin Pennington

Every season crops are planted with hopes of reaching their full genetic yield potential. Nearly every year, plants struggle to reach this potential due to many external factors outside of a grower’s control. Growers do, however, have control of supplementing their crops with products to help support plant health that ultimately can help minimize these yield robbing events. FBN® has a quality lineup of crop nutrition products from the FARMERS FIRST™ brand that are made to help support plants throughout the growing season.  When selecting what products to use and when, it’s important to understand what factors you are trying to impact. All biological products are rooted in one common purpose: protecting yield potential . Within a plant's yield potential, there are two core functions biology can help achieve:  Enhanced nutrient availability & efficiency Mitigating abiotic stress There are seemingly endless options to choose from when entering the world of biology, but here are a few recommendations on where to start: In-Furrow Fertilizer Applications Nutrients and fertilizers applied alone can be tied up in the soil and unavailable to be utilized by plants. There are several options available to help increase nutrient efficiency, storage and availability in the beginning stages of the season.   Starter Replacement Inhabit P™ is a high-efficiency liquid starter replacement to help improve phosphorus availability & reduce tie-up. Inhabit P keeps phosphate highly soluble and resistant to tie up in conditions with clay, metal ions, calcium, high pH, waterlogging, cold soil, and other difficult conditions. The product should be applied at 2-4 qts/acre and be mixed 10:1 with water. In 2022, Inhabit P showed ROI-positive results in 90% of Innovators Research League trials across 11 states, 1,600 acres and 7,200 subplots.* Inhabit P used at a rate of 2 quarts/acre performs equally to the standard 5 gallon/acre rate of most competitive starters helping growers save more time, money and storage space while maintaining yield and increasing ROI.*  [Not sure how to perform a jar test? Start here] Starter and Sidedress Enhancement Already purchased your starter fertilizer and want to make it more efficient? Inhabit Boost™ is a low rate, high efficiency micro-humate derived from a unique source of leonardite that buffers soils and improves water holding capacity and nutrient efficiency in soils and fertilizers.  Inhabit Boost tank mixes well with most fertilizers (a jar test is recommended) and can also be applied at sidedress if preferred. Inhabit Boost should be applied at 16-32 oz/acre or 1 qt/40 gal. Soil Probiotics such as Inject-Myco ADV™ that can increase root mass in low phosphorus environments, and Inject-N ADV™ that can fix nitrogen in low nitrate soils are additional options as live microbe add-ons.  [Download the FBN Crop Nutrition Guide ] Watch Now: The Value of Biology See more of the science behind the FARMERS FIRST™ brand of biological and crop nutrition products by watching this video about the value of biology . Shop for Crop Nutrition Products  Find the products you need at FBN Direct ®. We have a diverse crop nutrition product portfolio to provide product options for growers like you to support plant health. Copyright © 2014 - 2023 Farmer's Business Network, Inc. All rights Reserved. The sprout logo, “Farmers Business Network”, “FBN”, “FBN Direct”, Farmers First, Inhabit P, Inhabit Boost, Inject-Myco ADV, and Inject-N ADV are servicemarks, trademarks or registered trademarks of Farmer's Business Network, Inc. FBN Direct products and services and other products distributed by FBN Direct are offered by FBN Inputs, LLC and are available only in states where FBN Inputs, LLC is licensed and where those products are registered for sale or use, if applicable. If applicable, please check with your local extension service to ensure registration status. Nothing contained on this page, including the prices listed should be construed as an offer for sale, or a sale of products. All products and prices are subject to change at any time and without notice. Terms and conditions apply. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS. It is a violation of federal and state law to use any pesticide product other than in accordance with its label. The distribution, sale and use of an unregistered pesticide is a violation of federal and/or state law and is strictly prohibited. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any information provided on this page or which is provided by us in any form. It is your responsibility to confirm prior to purchase and use that a product is labeled for your specific purposes, including, but not limited to, your target crop or pest and its compatibility with other products in a tank mix and that the usage of a product is otherwise consistent with federal, state and local laws. We reserve the right to restrict sales on a geographic basis in our sole discretion. You must have a valid applicator license to use restricted use pesticides. Please consult your state department of agriculture for complete rules and regulations on the use of restricted use pesticides, as some products require specific record-keeping requirements. All product recommendations and other information provided is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for consulting the product label or for specific agronomic, business, or professional advice. Where specific advice is necessary or appropriate, consult with a qualified advisor. Neither Farmer's Business Network Inc. nor any of its affiliates makes any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or any information contained in the material and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed. *Based on 2022 Innovators Research League Trials results; data on file. Individual results from use of biological products may vary and are dependent upon additional factors, including but not limited to weather, agronomic conditions and practices, crop selection, soil type and condition, time, method and manner of application, application rate, and geography. Consult an agronomist before any use not addressed on the product label.