Fred Nichols’ Insights on Microbiome and the Biologicals Boom

Recently, CropLife interviewed several industry experts, including Huma’s Chief Marketing and Chief Sales Officer, Fred Nichols, to discuss the rapid growth of biological products in agriculture, including biostimulants, biopesticides, and biofertilizers.

Fred answered important questions about the microbiome’s role in soil health, industry’s understanding of it, and the new innovations being developed for sustainable farming. He also highlighted the importance of creating healthy microbial ecosystems to boost soil health and improve crop productivity. Below, let’s take a closer look at his answers to key questions to understand the current state of microbiomes and what it means for farmers and retailers.

Q1. How would you characterize the importance of the microbiome?

It’s all about adding life to the soil. We want to build underground ecosystems – communities of microbes, fungi, bacteria, worms and more – to promote soil biology all year long, so these ecosystems can rapidly populate and flourish with limited interruption. We do that with our carbon-based solutions. This is what creates a symbiotic relationship between crops and the microbiome.

Cultural practices such as cover crops, crop rotation, tillage, rotational grazing and manure play crucial roles in creating strong microbiomes. But so do the fertility products you use, and just as importantly, the products you don’t use.

Q2. How would you characterize the industries understanding of the microbiome?

We’re seeing it grow as growers take a carbon-based vs. salt-based approach to farming. Carbon-based products increase the efficiency and effectiveness of fertilizers, stimulate and grow microbe populations. Bulk, salt-based products weaken the microbiome and lead to a greater dependency on these very same synthetic products.

Q3. How much more is there to learn about the microbiome?

As an industry, we’re probably just scratching the surface. One area we’re exploring is soil exudates. When it comes to the roots, it’s easy to see them operating as a one street: with water and nutrients going inside the plant. But we’re finding that it’s a busy two-way street. Root exudes make your microbiomes thrive. They add greater biodiversity to your soil and stimulate microbes. We’ve seen this when our carbon-based humates are applied to the soil. Root exudes, along with decaying plant material, serve as the glue that holds soil particles together.

Q4. How has your approach to soil health products changed in the past few years?

Farmers and retailers clearly have better tools than ever to monitor and measure their microbiomes. We’re using them, too. We’ve recently used the Haney test to show how our carbon-rich products can significantly improve microbial activity in a matter of days. These tools help dispel the myth that soil health improvements are time-consuming and costly.

We emphasize that soil health is not a general practice. It’s a highly customizable approach based on specific soil profiles, goals and practices. For example, if a grower applies manure, we can offer a solution to prevent it from tying up in the soil and improve nutrient uptake. Conversely, our Fertil Soil activates bacteria to rapidly change soil structure in low OM soils, while Zap rapidly reclaims biological balance in degraded soils.

The push toward low-carbon biofuels and sustainably grown crops markets represent exciting opportunities within the ag industry. They can provide additional financial incentives to focus on the microbiome, as nutrient use efficiency becomes the name of the game. Our carbon-based products are dramatically improving NUE. For example, our Super Phos is 10-15x times more efficient than conventional phosphorus sources. As a starter fertilizer, just two quarters of Super Phos can replace five gallons of 10-34-0 with no difference in yield. By replacing anhydrous ammonia, urea or UAN, our Super Nitro can lower CI scores by 10 points. We’re identifying how our products can capitalize on these revenue streams and educating growers and retailers.

Q5. How do you decide to focus your research regarding the microbiome?

It’s in our name. HUMA is literally the first name – and first four letters – in humates, the organic compounds that hold the key to soil fertility. Soil health has been at our core for all 51 of our years. As the world leader in humic solutions, all of our products are carbon-based, versus salt-based. Our proprietary Micro Carbon Technology is the most efficient way to deliver crop nutrients, both to the roots and leaves.

Q6. How do you convey the importance of a healthy microbiome to retailers/growers?

There’s a growing thirst for knowledge when it comes to soil health. Many growers realize that what they’ve always done is not sustainable. Not financially sustainable, that is. It’s time to stop working the soil and start working with it.

Q7. In your opinion, how has the perception of the microbiome (from retailers and growers) changed in the past few years?

What happened in 2022 opened growers’ eyes like never before, as they opened their wallets like never before. This motivated them to actively search for alternatives. Consequently, we’re seeing an unprecedented interest in our carbon-based, humic products.

We’re experiencing a paradigm shift when it comes to soil health. It used to be that farmers would take a defensive approach. They viewed their soil primarily as a something that needed protected, generally via soil conservation methods. And this is still important. But now, farmers are going on the offensive when it comes to soil health. They are proactively looking for practices and products to optimize nutrient bioavailability, reduce crop input costs, improve water infiltration and moisture retention, and ultimately improve yields. We’re helping change mindsets so that growers focus on farming the soil and not just the crop.

Q8. Have you delivered any new products to improve the microbiome in the last year or so (if so, please describe briefly).

We do have exciting new products in the pipeline. But we’re seeing plenty of new opportunities emerge for existing products. For example, our carbon-rich biostimulant, X-Tend, has long been a popular foliar product, as it dramatically improves fertilizer uptake and efficiency. But in a recent study, we applied X-Tend in-furrow and saw a 34% improvement in the Haney test score after just five days over the control. We’re also seeing it serve as an excellent nitrogen inhibitor. So just like retailers and growers are rethinking their product strategies by focusing on the microbiome, we are too.

Q9. What else do we need to know about microbiome or your organization’s approach to the topic.

We play well with others. While we don’t introduce living organisms into the soil, we rapidly activate, feed and grow microbial populations within the soil. We are an excellent partner with many biological products. We’re always interested partnering with retailers and manufacturers to understand how Huma products can make their products better.

For more insights and to read the full article by CropLife, click here.