Anuvia Supports Senate Farm Bill Sustainability Incentives

Anuvia Plant Nutrients supports the recent Senate Agriculture Committee action to pass a Farm Bill with incentives to promote soil health and reduce carbon gas emissions.

“We commend the committee’s Farm Bill recommendations to encourage renewable resources and efforts to improve soil health, air and water quality. At Anuvia, we are pioneering high-efficiency, bio-based fertilizer to help farmers meet environmental and soil health goals,” says Amy Yoder, Anuvia CEO. “While we continue to witness the benefits of on-farm technology improving yields and diminishing pests and disease, we must pay closer attention to the environmental impact of our successes.”

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Yoder cites the Senate Agriculture Committee provisions for a USDA pilot program. Payments would go to participating farmers who adopt production practices and set a protocol for measuring carbon levels and soil health advances. The intent is to determine the benefits and lead to wide-scale adaptation of these practices on farms nationwide.

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Since its launch in 2016, Anuvia has several initiatives in place to demonstrate the viability and effectiveness of bio-based plant nutrients. Anuvia’s SymTRX is an enhanced-efficiency, multi-nutrient, slow-release specialty fertilizer made to fit the needs of crop production, while also adhering to the highest standards of sustainability and environmental stewardship.

“Our research and on-farm trial data show that when using Anuvia technology, crops require less nutrients for the same yield,” says Yoder. “In fact, SymTRX will increase yield by more than 5 per cent using a comparable rate compared to a conventional fertilizer.

“Net greenhouse gas emissions associated with SymTRX production and application are significantly less than with a conventional inorganic fertilizer. When Anuvia products are part of a blend, the carbon footprint can be reduced by as much as 26 per cent in multiple crops compared to urea alone.”

Ronnie Helms, a rice farmer and research contractor/consultant, Stuttgart, AR, says farmers in the area like what they see with SymTRX. Many have accepted the bio-based fertilizer as a viable product and commonly use it on corn, rice and wheat.

“We’ve done trials using Anuvia’s research protocol and our own on-farm trials,” says Helms. “The numbers are positive – 6- to 8-bushel per acre yield increases – whether used early pre-plant or postemergence at the 3- to 4-leaf growth stage in rice.

“The uniform size and density of granular SymTRX is another benefit for quality control and quality assurance in application.”

Helms also values the environmental benefits of SymTRX. “Anytime you can increase yields, reduce nitrogen loss and greenhouse gas, it’s a plus. With this fertilizer, you’re not releasing greenhouse gas that turns into nitrous oxide, which is detrimental to the environment. It’s a sustainable crop input that creates plant biomass and sequesters carbon.”

Dustin Harrell agrees that SymTRX offers significant benefits for sustainable crop production. Harrell is a professor and Extension Rice Specialist at Louisiana State University AgCenter, Rice Research Station, Crowley. Among his various trials, his research has focused on using SymTRX as a bio-based fertilizer application compared to conventional inorganic fertilizers.

“SymTRX is clearly a fertilizer that rice farmers can substitute for a traditional inorganic fertilizer. It provides some nitrogen to the soil immediately, plus offers a portion of the nitrogen with some slow release,” says Harrell.

“When we tested SymTRX to gauge volatility, we didn’t experience any losses,” says Harrell. “From an air quality standpoint, it will reduce some of the volatility losses associated with urea. Also, the organic portion of SymTRX places organic matter back into the soil – something you don’t get with inorganic fertilizer.”

In 2018, the Anuvia technology will be applied on approximately 600,000 acres, positively impacting yields, air quality, water quality and soil health. Anuvia recently partnered with Smithfield Foods to use materials to create sustainable fertilizer from renewable biological materials collected from manure treatment systems at Smithfield’s company-owned and contract hog farms.

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