Podcast: Feeding the Crop, Not the Soil - How Activated Carbon Can Revolutionize Fertilizer Use
In production agriculture, improving fertilizer efficiency is more critical than ever, with up to 90% of applied fertility feeding the soil rather than the crop. Could activated carbon be the solution? Brad Benson and Brandon Laws of Activated Carbon Technologies join Arkansas farmer Matt Miles to share results from two years of farm trials that are reshaping how we think about soil health and fertility. Hosted by Damian Mason, this episode dives into the science and strategy behind activated carbon, exploring its potential to reduce fertilizer rates and drive better outcomes for farmers.
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00:00:00 Why your crops need carbon, why your soil needs carbon, and how you can go about getting that carbon. That's what we're talking about in this episode 00:00:06 of Extreme Ag Cutting the Curve. Welcome to extreme Ag Cutting the Curve podcast, where real farmers share real insights 00:00:14 and real results to help you improve your farming operation. This episode is brought to you by Simon Innovation, 00:00:21 protect your crops and maximize yield with a full lineup of innovative precision tools engineered 00:00:26 to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of your sprayer. Visit simon innovations.com and start getting more ROI out of your sprayer. 00:00:34 And now here's your host, Damien Mason. Hey there. Welcome to another fantastic episode of Extreme Acts Cutting the curve. 00:00:41 We're talking agronomics, we're talking about something that you don't talk about very often. We've covered carbon as in carbon sequestration, 00:00:47 carbon programs with Kelly Garrett. Now we're talking about getting carbon into your soil, more importantly, getting carbon into your soil, so 00:00:53 that can give you bigger crops. I've got Brad Benson and Brandon Laws with me. They are with Activated Carbon Technologies company, 00:01:01 formerly known as Fluid Growth Solutions. Um, we talked to these guys at Commodity Classic. They've been on here before, 00:01:07 but they rebranded their company's activated carbon technologies because they're all about not just getting carbon to you, but getting activated carbon. 00:01:14 I don't know the difference. Maybe you don't either. That's why they're here. Brad, gimme the, gimme the bullet points. 00:01:20 What, what, what do you do? And why do I need what you have? Why do my crops needed? 00:01:25 Yeah. So the, the foundation of our company is, Incidentally, Matt Miles is on this episode. Also, if you're listening, you're driving down 00:01:31 the road and you're saying, wait a minute. You talked about these two guys. Matt Miles, one of the founders of Extreme Magazine here. 00:01:35 I'm wearing his hat. He's just wrapped up harvest down in McGee, Arkansas. And he, he has done two years of trials with these guys 00:01:44 and he has some results to share with you. So, anyway, go ahead. Sorry, Brad. All good. Um, so yeah, the foundation of our, 00:01:50 of our business and our company is activated carbon. Um, that's what we produce. That's what we refine, that's what we manufacture, 00:01:57 that's what we distribute. Um, we work directly with, with all of the farmers that we do business with. 00:02:02 Um, the important message that we really want to get across is that, um, we are manufacturers of activated carbon, um, carbon. 00:02:12 Everyone's familiar with it. Uh, they understand it. It's the building block of just about everything in life. Um, we understand what organic matter is, um, 00:02:20 in our soil tests. Um, however, I believe it's a little bit misconstrued. 'cause what that is, is, um, you know, 00:02:29 carbon based material, but it's not contributing to the active components and building blocks that we have in activated 00:02:36 carbon organic matter. And carbon is important in providing a reservoir for nutrients in the soil, um, in improved soil structure, 00:02:45 um, soil chemistry, biology, so on and so forth. Uh, what we really do is we focus and we work every day on developing 00:02:53 and manufacturing activated components within a liquid complex that we have at active activated carbon technologies. So 00:03:01 One of you two needs to answer this. The person listening is right now saying, okay, all right, I'll buy it. 00:03:05 Carbon's the basis of all life carbon, you know, for as much as everybody, we gotta reduce it and all that. 00:03:10 It's like, well, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Carbon's, it's, it's, it's this thing and it's, it's important. 00:03:16 It's all of us. What's the difference between carbon and activated carbon? Maybe Brandon can answer me that. Maybe you can answer that. 00:03:23 Yeah. I mean, to me, Damien, I think the biggest thing is, uh, like you mentioned, carbon's important carbon drives 00:03:28 so many things in life, but, um, you know, through our process, our, you know, physical chemical and, and biological refinement, we're able to things 00:03:39 or react things with that carbon to make it more reactive and more chemically viable in the soil. 00:03:46 Um, carbon can take a long time to, to break down some of these processes. Can, can be, uh, can take years 00:03:53 or thousands of years even to, to be realized. And, and we're able to concentrate that activated and give it that, um, that that chemical reactivity, 00:04:02 that boost that, uh, allows us to see that in a industry like agriculture where you're gonna need it, you know, that season 00:04:08 and, and seasons going forward. So you look at the, look at the, uh, base material, okay, there, there's a dozen different components and, 00:04:18 and raw materials in our activated carbon complex. The main component which we extract and refine all of our humic from is ardy. 00:04:28 That's no secret. Multiple people use Linard. I, um, it's a very high IC concentrated substance, but you go to a liite mine, 00:04:37 there's nothing growing in that liite mine. Um, you put liite in water and eventually it's gonna settle, 00:04:46 and the water is gonna be clear. You'll be able to see through it fully transparent. You have to react it, you have 00:04:51 to activate these different components. Um, the way in which we do it is extremely concentrated. It's extremely activated. 00:04:59 There's multiple carbon components in there. So from a carbon standpoint as it relates to soil fertility and, and chemistry and productivity, 00:05:08 you have labile components, which is immediately active. Um, multiple, um, chemical 00:05:16 reactions going on in the soil with that carbon. We make that material immediately active. You also have refractory types of carbon, which really all 00:05:26 that says it is, is it's resistant to being changed. That's what provides a structural component, um, a larger fuel tank in your reservoir. 00:05:37 Um, a lot of things, and we'll, we'll get into it in further detail today, but what we're doing with our fertility inputs, 00:05:43 whether they're organic or, or, um, or synthetic, we're applying this on our acres and in our soil to give us a return on that investment. 00:05:54 But the soil is really just greedy for capturing and, and not releasing these things to the plant. Um, you know, everybody has heard the, the, the story before 00:06:05 or the statement, um, we wanna feed the crop, not the soil. They do go hand in hand, 00:06:10 but in most cases, 90, 90% of our inputs as, as it relates to fertility or feeding the soil, not the crop, 00:06:18 Man, you get a lot of people come through the doors at the office of Ma of Miles Farms. These guys come through the door a couple, two 00:06:26 or three years ago and started telling you they're gonna, they want you to buy their activated carbon. 00:06:30 And you said you guys should really just go down the street. Right? You told him. He said, 00:06:35 what the hell are you talking about? I buy macronutrients. I buy micronutrients. I now know because my friend Chad Henderson about the 00:06:42 importance of things like boron. Uh, this is probably a little stretch. I mean, yeah, you got the humans phobics, 00:06:48 those kind of things, but this is a little bit of a stretch. What was your first reaction? 00:06:52 It's a whole different process. And, and, um, you know, they, uh, when it was FGS, they, we, we talked a couple years 00:06:59 before, two years ago, I guess, four or five years ago, whenever they first started, you know, and, and everyone was just starting to kinda learn 00:07:08 or think they knew what carbon was, and it was something we needed to add to our soils, you know? 00:07:14 Uh, and so it was kinda like the biology game. Everybody's hitting you with the, you know, there's, I don't know, Brad could probably tell you 00:07:19 how many different competitors he has. Um, so I rocked along there a couple years, kind of, you know, in the background watching what went on until 00:07:27 the Arkansas State record and soybean yield got set by use, and it was not me by using activated carbon Mm-Hmm. 00:07:37 At that point, my eyes were kind of like, okay, there's something to this. Met Brad in the airport prior to the Commodity Classic, 00:07:44 I think it was Commodity Classic we're at, and, uh, already knew who he was. And, and, and we just kind of struck up talking then, 00:07:51 and it's a different level. I mean, in my opinion, a lot of these carbons, you see, Brad and Brad and them were playing chess, 00:07:58 and a lot of these guys were playing checkers. I appreciate that, man. That's, that's very complimentary. 00:08:04 Okay. By the way, he brought up a couple things, all right? He said, all right. Um, it, it, 00:08:09 it was kind of a little bit on the radar. Uh, he com he compared it to biologicals completely not what your stuff is. 00:08:15 I get that. But it kind of does evoke a similar reaction. And I want Brandon and Brad to both touch on this. 00:08:23 I know about, you know, I, I took soils and FFA and all that kind of stuff, and we've talked about macros mostly then 00:08:30 and a little bit about micros. But now that's a thing in the last 10 or 20 years, we've really got into that 00:08:35 biologicals start hitting us here in the last five years, let's say you're right there about the same timing. 00:08:40 So it does evoke a similar reaction, like, wait a minute, carbon biologicals, come on, man, 00:08:47 you get some skepticism. I think that's probably fair to say, right? You get some skepticism. 00:08:52 Brandon nodding his head, do you get skepticism? Absolutely. All day. Um, all day, every day. Um, you know, 00:09:02 whenever I tell you to touch on what Matt said earlier, um, we grew 133 bushels soybeans with 54 pounds 00:09:10 of totally fer total fertility on that acre as it related to, um, macro and micronutrients. 00:09:16 Um, we grow, we have growers that are growing four and a half bale cotton with only 20% of the fertility as the industry standard. 00:09:25 Um, 230 bushel rice with only nine pounds of pot ash out there. Um, you know, so it, it's, we're doing far more with less, 00:09:34 and it's because we are addressing the shortcomings that we have in our soul environment. Yeah. You look at, 00:09:42 Go ahead, Brandon. The big argument point here is, and I think that this has become an over sounding theme here with the extreme mad guys. 00:09:48 Kelly probably started saying it when I first, three years ago. He said, we're gonna realize 00:09:54 that we've generally over applied fertility and or gotten very little bang for a buck. And then I was in an agronomic session this winter, 00:10:00 and then they talked about what 35% of applied nitrogen actually gets to the plant. And it's about the same with the other macros. 00:10:07 We're using the hell out of fertility that never actually does anything for us. And maybe it's because we're not using the right stuff. 00:10:13 Like what you're offering carbon, the basis of life. Yeah. And when, when I think about that, Damien, I mean, I, I, I'm a fairly analogous person. 00:10:22 I like, uh, simplifying it in my mind to the things that I, that I understand. And, uh, when we look at activated carbon, the application 00:10:29 of activated carbon, the transfer of those nutrients from the soil to the plant, I mean, that takes energy. 00:10:35 That energy comes from, you know, processes that the plant runs, um, microbial activity in the soil, and that activated carbon component 00:10:43 or increasing the, uh, basically the extension cord or the conduit of nature's energy. So we're, we're increasing that flow. 00:10:51 We're we're adding something that, that makes that process more efficient, less natural loss, more efficiency, needs to do it more with less. 00:11:01 What's the, what's, Why, why is it, why is it, why, why is it happen? I mean, in other words, and if it does happen, 00:11:08 when are we gonna finally wake up and use 20% of, uh, recommended fertility, Brad? I mean, it seems to me that this, this is 00:11:16 where we're we should be going. Yep. So I'll try and simplify this as much as I can. We all are familiar with soil tests. Okay? Yeah. 00:11:25 The collection of a soil sample, the submission to a lab. Mm-Hmm. The lab, they apply what 00:11:32 to get the nutrient reading on a salt test. They apply acid in most cases, like where Matt and I are located, it's a maleic acid. 00:11:40 So they're applying, or it's a maleic method. They're applying acetic acid to the soil to estimate what's available to the plant. 00:11:48 Okay? Mm-Hmm. Um, plants don't give off acetic acid, right? Plants drink their nutrients, they drink 'em, well, 00:11:55 plants actually exude the roots sweat. Okay? They sweat hydric acids, which is a combination of oxygen and hydrogen. 00:12:04 So that's a chemistry lesson for the day. Okay? So nothing that we apply with synthetic fertilizers is actually in the form of plant available nutrients. 00:12:17 So we are applying an organic acid in, in our activated carbon complex that is assisting and increasing the plant's ability to give off acid in 00:12:31 that root zone, in that rhizosphere. That's, that's the, that's the method to our madness is replicating 00:12:38 and exponentially compounding the effects of, of natural processes within the soil. Okay. So, Matt, miles, 00:12:46 you're using this stuff you've used the last two years. You were baited into this, or I'm sorry, you were sold on this 00:12:51 after you saw that somebody else in Arkansas was getting huge yields out of it. 00:12:56 Does it allow you to reduce fertility? We we're in the testing phases with it, so we didn't actually reduce any fertility. 00:13:05 We, we applied this on top of our normal grower standard practice. That's the way I kind of do stuff when I'm, 00:13:12 when I'm starting with something that I've learned since Brad and I started working together. I mean, we've seen that this year when Kelly come down here 00:13:18 and did his, his plot, his corn plot, and he made same corn I did on way less nitrogen than what I was using. 00:13:24 So, and with the times we're going in now, that's way more important than it's ever been. You know, we got a, we got a super positive ROI on our rice 00:13:33 with it, even with our grower standard practice. So if we can get that same return and, and decrease fertilizer at the same time, that, that, 00:13:41 that three to one return's gonna even go way higher than that Is your sales pitch, Brandon, uh, reduce fertility 00:13:51 inputs and use our stuff. And is that, is that the, if you come to me, is that your, is that your, is that your proposal? 00:13:58 Is that your value proposition? Well, I think, I think yes and no. I mean, kind of the way our sales pitch works is more about 00:14:05 like a, is a more of a process. Um, you know, like I think Brad mentioned earlier, our, our, our goal is to work direct on 00:14:14 probably a little more intimate level with, with farmers to understand what their needs are. 00:14:19 And so we can develop a program that most guys will, um, will replace a big chunk of their, you know, 00:14:27 quote unquote commodity fertility program to use, uh, to use the intubated carbon system. And that allows them to significantly reduce the amount 00:14:36 of fertilizer that they're applying. Um, Matt mentioned his was kind of in, in addition to, that's, that's kind of not really our model, 00:14:46 but, uh, we have had success with guys, especially in season, um, putting it on top of what they're already doing. 00:14:51 But if, if you're coming to me and we're gonna sit down in this fall and work on a program, we're gonna identify your yield 00:14:57 goals, what you've been doing, what ways you have to apply it, and then we'll build the program so it fits your operation 00:15:04 and maximizes that consistency that we see. Brad, I've, I've seen soil samples. I'm not as good at understanding 'em 00:15:11 and reading 'em as the guys extreme ag are because, uh, they do it every day. But I can tell you that I've looked at soil samples from my 00:15:17 own farm, and it doesn't have anything on there about carbon. It's got all your macros, it's got your micros, 00:15:22 it's got your organic matter, uh, percentage. Uh, it doesn't have anything about carbon on there. So how do I even know what I'm starting with? 00:15:31 How do I know how much of your stuff I need? I don't know anything about the carbon levels in my soil. Yeah. Um, so it's very hard to, um, 00:15:43 to get a reading of actual, actual carbon in your soil. We understand what the organic matter is. Okay. But that organic matter, not today, not next year, 00:15:54 and probably not five years from now, is actually gonna contribute to the effects as activating carbon does. 00:16:00 Um, that organic matter takes time to break down, um, organic matter and carbon, it produces a, a, a holding capacity for nutrients. 00:16:08 Right. Um, uh, port is structure reducing compaction, increasing water, holding capacity, oxygen flow, so on and so forth. 00:16:17 So in order it's organic Matter's Role. That's right. It's organic matter's role. But in the, by the way, 00:16:22 We should, it should probably explain to Matt what we're talking about. He doesn't know what organic matter and soil is. 00:16:29 'cause he, his ground is basically like a beach. It's a flat beach minus the ocean. That's pretty much what all of, uh, 00:16:36 every farm I've been on in his, um, if you, if you like, took, like, took a a, a dog turd 00:16:44 and threw it down, that would increase the organic matter by a hundred percent on any field he owns, I'm convinced. 00:16:49 Yeah. Um, well, am I right about that, Matt? I'm not insulting. I'm just saying you've pretty much, there's no organic matter in what you farm. Yeah, 00:16:56 We've got, I mean, I, and our heavier, our higher CCCs where we've, where we've no-till rice on zero grade, we've got a little bit of organic matter, 00:17:04 but for the most part, you know, we're, we're trying to do this with six inches of top soil and, and Will asked me one time, is it really top soil 00:17:12 or is it soil on top of the ground? I said, it's pretty much soil on top of the ground. So these kind of things in a, 00:17:18 in a low organic matter situation, Brad, correct me if I'm wrong, I think they, they help more in that situation. 00:17:25 You know, for a guy like me that don't have that organic matter, Well, that makes you, that, that makes you wonder then. 00:17:31 So if, if I'm in where Kelly is and I've got, you know, six foot of prairie, uh, soils, does your stuff 00:17:41 have a lesser impact on those than it would in where Chad or Matt are because throwing activated carbon in there 00:17:52 when there's never been any carbon in that soil anyhow, because there's no organic matter? Or am I going down the wrong path? 00:17:58 No, it, it, we're going down the right path here. So the best thing about our business approach and the customization 00:18:07 and the versatility of it is, Matt, you know, we sell activated carbon. That's what we produce, that's what we sell, okay? 00:18:14 We sell liquid carbon complex, and it's activated carbon technology. So for Matt's standpoint, um, he has little organic matter. 00:18:22 However, like he said, it's, it's, it's soil on top of the ground. Well, below those, below 00:18:27 that top soil is there's a clay layer, um, that's trapping an exponential amount of, of, uh, macros and micronutrients that will never show up on a soil test. 00:18:38 Um, and without a proper tool such as activated carbon, it will never access it. So on mat soil, we would, we would customize a, a, uh, 00:18:49 a system that will provide enough organic matter, uh, activated carbon to protect and efficiently use the, the nutrients that we're applying, 00:18:59 as well as over time, it will work from a chemical standpoint to reduce and oxidize, right, add or remove electrons, uh, from nutrients 00:19:10 to the clay particles, and bring those into availability. From a Kelly Garrett standpoint in Iowa, uh, 00:19:16 that we would have a different approach. Um, he has tons of, He did it. When you look at 00:19:21 high organic matter soils versus low, it's certainly a, the way I look at it, it's a bigger target. 00:19:28 You know, Matt's, Matt's farm's a bigger target. There's a lot of places we could hit on that target. Kelly's might be a little more of a, you know, 00:19:35 small bullseye type approach where you've gotta, you've gotta get it right to see that return. It certainly makes it more challenging, 00:19:41 but, um, still can see the benefits nonetheless. Got it. How do I use your stuff, Matt? 00:19:48 How did you use their stuff? I mean, they come in the door. Yeah, you heard about 'em, 00:19:52 and then all of a sudden you hunt 'em down in the airport. By the way, Brad, I get it. 00:19:57 We're all in the business of selling stuff. When people stalk me in airports, I'm creeped out by it. I'm surprised that you actually do business with Matt, 00:20:03 but he, he stalked you in an airport. Actually, we're picking up our luggage at the same carousels, how that, how that happened. 00:20:11 But, uh, as he said earlier, it's a liquid product. So, you know, there's multiple ways to put it out from foliar to, to, uh, you know, 00:20:18 in like a streamer bar or different, different ways like that, that we're using it. Uh, you know, we're trying several different ways. 00:20:25 Brad's really good with coming up with a program, a specific program. You've seen his outline for this podcast. 00:20:31 You see his organization on the podcast. I mean, and, and that's the cool thing about the company. It is, it is, uh, it's customizable to your soil. 00:20:41 You know, it's not a one size fits all. This is what we're making. This is the price of it, you know, and that's what it's gonna be. 00:20:47 It, you know, and, and they're able to do things differently depending on what the farmer needs. By the way, if you're listening 00:20:53 and you're not watching, I just held up, he sent a three page email of bullet points to make sure we, and we've gotten through, um, only some of it. 00:21:00 Um, and this is in between almost wrecking an airplane. I mean, the kid, the kid is very, uh, very diligent and, and thorough. 00:21:07 All right, how do I put this on? If I want to use this, I wanna experiment with this. It's gotta test the soil, right? 00:21:12 It doesn't go on the foliar, it's not going on the plant. It's going down to the soil. Right? 00:21:16 You can certainly apply it foliar. Um, but I mean, soil is the targeted application, you know, like, like that said, he used a foliar, 00:21:23 but, um, running it in a, you know, semi banded concentrated type application on the soil, you know, and that is, 00:21:31 I do this at time of planting, Certainly use at time of planting pre-plant. Kind of the, the easy window is, um, you know, 60 days 00:21:40 before planting up the 30 days after, you know, we want to get it, get it on the soil, allow it a little bit of time work by 00:21:46 Putting it out there. Is this a, is this a I have to make a special trip for this? Or is it going along with something else? 00:21:52 In most cases, it's going, uh, uh, it's being applied with something else. Um, in most cases, 00:21:59 Such as, Let, let's say you have a p and k, uh, program and a budget Yep. Uh, already in mind, we can kind of go into the economics, 00:22:07 because that's very important right now. Yes. Um, you know, we could look at a salt test with you Mm-Hmm. 00:22:12 Uh, we can determine our yield goals, and then we can see from a salt test, we can, we can understand, we can get a good idea on the amount 00:22:21 of nutrients that we can actually extract out of the soil using in activated carbon technology. So it may be that we are 00:22:30 reducing the amount of P and K that we're applying, and within an application of 60 days of planting, whether it's 30 ba days before, up to 30 days 00:22:39 after, we will find an operation that you are currently doing. And our activated car carbon will 00:22:47 coincide with that application. So if you're doing a pre-plant, burndown, if you're applying a, um, a, uh, a pre-emerge herbicide, 00:22:56 if you have liquid application on your planter, whether it's in furrow two by two, two by zero surface bandit, um, if within 30 days 00:23:06 of planting you're gonna be knifing in UAN on a corn or cotton crop, uh, all the above. And there's no compatibility issues with any of this. 00:23:13 No compatibility, compatibility issues. And how much am I putting on, like, just so from a standpoint of the material handling. 00:23:20 Um, so I'm thinking about the listener that's like, okay, maybe I could experiment with this, doing it, like you said, 00:23:25 with, uh, my UAN or at time of planning, how much do I need in general? I get it there. It's gonna be different for math than it is 00:23:31 for Kelly, than it is for Temple, whatever. But what do I, in general, what's a rough approximation? How much am I putting on per acre? 00:23:38 So if we're using our activated carbon complex, which is a 26% active concentration, uh, we're gonna, we're gonna put on a gallon to two gallons. 00:23:48 Okay. So if it's gonna be banded, we'd like to go at minimum of a gallon. If it's gonna be broadcast, we'd like 00:23:53 to go at minimum of two gallons. If we're gonna develop a fertility program that is going to bring the same elements as the two 00:24:02 Gallons per acre, Two gallons per acre. Yep. Okay. Doesn't seem like a lot. All right. Got it. Okay. Go ahead. 00:24:09 If we're gonna utilize a program that, uh, you know, for soybeans, so to speak, that, uh, the same program that out yielded 00:24:18 and broke Matt Miles' record, all right. That was a, that was a four gallon per acre program of a customized activated carbon p and K blend. 00:24:27 All right. That was four gallons of planting. And then we had an additional activated carbon k and activated carbon boron foliar application of a gallon. 00:24:37 So the, the total volume per acre and that standpoint was five gallons per acre. So we can go as little as a gallon, we can go as high as, 00:24:46 you know, six gallons. Um, it really, it comes down to economics at that point and, and what we're willing to spend. 00:24:53 Right. And then economics, because you talked about it, how much am I paying per gallon? Yep. So depending on the product, it'll range from 10 00:25:04 to 14 bucks a gallon. Okay. So I'm gonna be putting, if I did a two gallon, uh, I might be putting 20 to $28 out per acre. 00:25:12 And on a, since everybody talks, ROI, and especially in low commodity environment right now, the experiments that you've done with Matt Miles, 00:25:20 you're talking, you've gotten a, a two or three to one payback, right? You you're asking me. Yeah. Yeah. 00:25:26 It was a, on that trial, on that specific trial on the rice, it was a 10 bushel increase if you choose six 50 for rice. 00:25:33 And we're getting, we, we got seven for it that year. Yeah. Uh, you know, at $65 an acre, uh, revenue versus a 20, 00:25:41 you know, around a $20 investment. So yeah, Three to one, Over three to one, three to one. You, oh, it opened my eyes. 00:25:48 And we got trials there this year. We just hadn't gotten through the data yet. I kind of wish that, that, 00:25:52 this would've been a little bit later from, from my purpose, because I think there's gonna be things that we can see, 00:25:57 and we did it with the streamer bar on the band, um, you know, on some of the programs we did with Brad this year, 00:26:03 A stream Bar, as Matt mentioned, Damien, that was, uh, kind of an on top of his grower standard uhhuh. Um, you know, when, when we, when we start at the front end 00:26:12 and developed the program, you know, we'll see, we'll see higher returns. 'cause we're, we're addressing the inefficiencies 00:26:18 and getting the timing exactly right. The application. Right. So we get a even, even better result. 00:26:23 Right. I, I, I think it, what I'm hearing here is it's something you're gonna dial in a little bit. Streamer bar, but what's a streamer bar? 00:26:29 That's, that's kind of my version of a two to two. Uh, it's the four streams that go right on top of my 38 inch bed. 00:26:36 Got it. Right, right, right. Okay. So it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it sprays it, it sprays it out, but it puts it in a pretty precise, uh, 00:26:45 set on top of. Yeah. And by the way, if you're listening and you're saying, what's he talking about, uh, 00:26:50 Matt does almost all flood irrigation, I think is what I would call it. But he calls it something different. Furrow irrigation. 00:26:55 Uh, in furrow irrigation. Anyway, most everything he farms is on raised beds. That's why he's talking about stream beds. 00:27:00 So if you're listening to this and you're in Ohio, you're saying, what the heck's he talking about? Now I just explain it to you. 00:27:05 Um, I'm sorry I went right to the money. But that's the important part here. And I guess what I'm wondering is, this is one of those, 00:27:11 because it's kind of, we're walking down a dark hallway. I think you guys, if we have you on a year 00:27:17 or two from now, we're gonna have more of these experiments where we're going to dial it in even better. 00:27:22 Because right now, when you say it's, it's customizable, it almost, that makes it a lot more complex. 00:27:27 And also, do you see yourself getting to where you have better results to where you can say, based on your soils, this is 00:27:35 what you do, this is what you do, this is what you do. Because right now, it, it's, it's, you don't, it's not quite as uniform as we'd like it to be. 00:27:40 Is that an accurate, uh, assessment? Yeah, it, it's an accurate assessment. Um, you know, so the, obviously the more, um, 00:27:52 experiences you have, the, the varying geographies, so on and so forth, uh, yeah, we'll have, we'll, 00:27:58 we'll definitely have more experience. Um, currently we do business in about seven states. So, you know, it ranges from high calcs, 00:28:06 extremely sandy soils to, um, you know, alluvial, high magnesium, heavy clay-based soils in, in, uh, you know, southeastern Louisiana and sugarcane country. 00:28:16 So it's definitely, um, been tested and, and tried on on many different acres. Um, as you said about it being somewhat complex and, 00:28:26 and customizable, it definitely is. Um, we work directly with the farmers that are gonna use our, use our products, um, 00:28:35 and implement our systems. Um, so it is, um, you know, it, it's not an Amazon type approach. 00:28:41 You can't just go buy it. Uh, if you're looking for a carbon source, I would say sure. Our activated carbon is, is definitely that. 00:28:48 Um, it's, uh, it's, it's probably the most concentrated, not probably, it is the most concentrated liquid form of, 00:28:53 uh, of activated carbon complex out there. So, Brandon's out in Colorado, you're in Louisiana, you're selling the stuff in seven states. 00:29:01 I'm in Indiana, how do I get your stuff? Well, the easy, the easiest way right now, Damien, would be to go to activated.ag. 00:29:09 You can reach out to us through there. Um, whether you wanna submit soil samples, just, uh, you know, send us a message or email to 00:29:16 where we can get in contact with you. Um, that would be the, the best way activated. And you can, uh, certainly reach us through there. 00:29:25 And then, you know, myself, Brad, direct, Direct to farmer, or do I have to go through a retailer Direct, direct to farmer? And we talk about the 00:29:32 Comes in, comes in on shuttles, or even a tanker. That's correct. So if Matt starts using a bunch of it, he's gonna send one of his semi guys over 00:29:40 with a 8,000 gallon tanker, and you're gonna pump in full and then send him home. We'll, we'll, we'll deliver it. 00:29:45 We'll, uh, do customer pickups. We can, uh, we can do it all. I like it. What did we, uh, not cover, Matt, 00:29:52 from the farmer's perspective, the future? Is it, in the future, five years from now, is this gonna be like one of those things? 00:29:58 Like, remember, remember when this was a new idea? Now look, we know we need activated carbon. Yeah, yeah. And carbon's, 00:30:05 the carbon's the new, the new Deal. I mean it, and you know, it, we, we used to concentrate on macros, then we finally 00:30:12 drug ourselves into concentrate, concentrating on my macros and micros. Mm-Hmm. Now we're just starting to, to see, okay, 00:30:19 there's more out there than that. And that's one thing I like about their company, extreme ag is looking at the next level, you know, 00:30:26 where's the next level to go? Mm-Hmm. Uh, I think Brad and and Brandon have proved, you know, what they can do. 00:30:32 And they've had, I'm sure they've had some mistakes. They've had to go back, refine something or do something different to, you know, 00:30:37 to kind of fine tune this program. But it's exciting to see, you know, where we think we might can do more with less. 00:30:44 And, and I'm, I'm ready to dive into my data and, and I've gotta have it done before the, the web, the data webinar. 00:30:49 So it's coming up pretty quick, you know, to kind of see where, where we've been on this. 00:30:53 But we've always had trouble and, and, and Brad Farms rice too, but we've always had trouble getting rice to really react 00:31:01 to any additional inputs, you know, additional things that would increase yield. Uh, it opened my eyes there, 00:31:07 and of course, as Brad said, you know, it, they, they blow my state record out of the water, uh, you know, with this stuff. 00:31:14 So it's not, it's not just a, you know, fly by the night deal. I mean, they put a lot of work and time into this and, 00:31:23 and, uh, it looks like it's going to, you know, prove to be positive. For sure. 00:31:27 Brad, last word, by the way, he's, he's talking about glowing stuff right here. But I think that the point I said from the farmers 00:31:37 perspective, five years from now are more farmers gonna finally realize, like, God, remember we even think about this. 00:31:41 I didn't know about Borons importance until I met Chad Henderson. And, uh, we came home with extreme ag, 00:31:46 and now this is the next thing. Yeah. I, I think five years from now, um, this will be, uh, this will be more prevalent on, on many different forms. 00:31:55 Um, maybe not with activated carbon, but using the right formulation of, of nutrients and, uh, carbon based system. 00:32:03 Uh, what we do is we build an activated carbon based system, whether we're fully offsetting 00:32:09 or displacing your synthetic program, or partially, we have guys right now that are seeing five, six years of using activated carbon 00:32:18 as their sole fertility source from a p and k and micro standpoint, yeah, their soil tests are the same as they were whenever we originally stored. 00:32:25 So that's kind of the fine logic. They were using 250 pounds of, of volume of synthetic fertilizer. 00:32:31 Now they're using 50, they're having increased yield averages, and their soil components are improving, 00:32:38 and their nutrients, nutrient pools are not being depleted. So we'll build a system. 00:32:44 It's more than just activated, uh, carbon. It's more than just a fertility system, multiple modes of action. 00:32:49 And, uh, I mean, in most cases, we guarantee it. We'll stand behind it. Um, we're not going anywhere. We're very confident in what we do. And, um, that's, you're 00:32:57 A farmer and you're a farmer yourself. I'm a farmer. Yep. Damian, one thing I wanted to kind of add to that, you know, Brad touches on a lot 00:33:04 of really good things there about the customizable piece, you know, from the economics. 00:33:08 Those are so important right now because we take that approach, because we work directly with the farmer ship direct. 00:33:13 Um, we're able to not put, we put things in there. You need not put things you don't and be very cost conscious and, and make sure that return is, is one that makes sense. 00:33:24 And it's not just, I mean, we, we can sell you stuff to add bushels all day long, but if you're not making money, then uh, 00:33:29 then nobody wins. I Like it. I think for fertilizer companies and ag retailers aren't necessarily gonna be your fans, 00:33:37 but aside from that, uh, I think you're gonna find some fans out there in, in the farm, in the farm country. 00:33:42 That's the goal. That's the goal. All right. His name is Brad. His name is Brad Benson. He is joined by Brandon Laws there with a company called, 00:33:48 uh, activated Carbon Technologies. If you wanna learn more, go to Activated ag 00:33:54 Activated ag joined by Matt Miles, apparently the second biggest soybean producer, uh, yield wise in Arkansas, 00:34:02 because we've heard about that enough. I mean, given the guy a complex, by the way, he has actually won the record, 00:34:07 uh, multiple times down there. And, and you know what, he's number one in my book anyway. I'm Davey Mason. You heard Matt talk about data 00:34:14 and, uh, results from trials this year, meaning 2024, depending on who you're listening to. This. On November 7th and December 12th, we are going 00:34:23 to have the year end webinars. We're gonna split 'em in two for trial and yield results and, um, sorry. 00:34:28 Field days and lab results. To get this information, you have to be an Extreme Ag member. To be an extreme Ag member. 00:34:35 You go to Extreme ag.farm, you sign up, you can listen to all of our podcasts for free. All the videos we shoot at these field days are free. 00:34:41 The stuff we do at Commodity Classic is free. But if you want to take it to the next level to get direct access for question answers, 00:34:47 with people like Matt and the other Extreme Mag guys, you can become Extreme Ag member. If you want the year end results, the trial data, the labs, 00:34:55 the, the, all of the analysis and the commentary, you've gotta be a member. You can then hear that at the November 7th 00:35:01 and the December 12th webinars this year, every year we do a year end webinar. It's only for members to get that result. 00:35:08 You, even if you're a member, you can, uh, get special offers. Like the last two years, uh, members have gone 00:35:13 to Commodity Classic for free, uh, thanks to Nature. So the point is, become an Extreme Ag member. It's only seven $50 a year, seven $50 a year, 00:35:20 and we have a special going right now between now and mid-December. If you sign up, you get 18 months for the price of 12. 00:35:26 That's only $41 and 60 cents a month. You know what, it's a lot of information that you can use to benefit your farming operation 00:35:32 for $41 and 60 cents a month. So I implore you to go and check that out. Uh, extreme ag.farm. 00:35:38 If you wanna learn more about these guys right here, Brad and Brandon, go to activated ag. 00:35:41 Till next time, thanks for being here guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks a lot. I'm Dave Mason with Extreme Ag cutting the Curve. 00:35:47 That's a wrap for this episode of Cutting the Curve. Make sure to check out Extreme Ag Do Farm for more great content to help you squeeze more profit out 00:35:55 of your farming operation. Cutting the curve is brought to you by Simon Innovations. Don't let your sprayer's limitations hold you back. 00:36:02 Visit simon innovations.com and upgrade your sprayer's capabilities. 00:36:06.645 --> 00:36:06.865
Growers In This Video
See All GrowersMatt Miles
McGehee, AR