Micronutrient Innovations: Expert Perspectives on Crop Nutrition
September 5, 2025 Good things come in small packages. While it’s unlikely that whoever first voiced that cliché was referring to micronutrients, it certainly applies. With each passing season, the understanding and use of micronutrient products continues to grow along with the crops they support. CropLife interviewed Tryston Beyrer, Crop Nutrition Lead at the The Mosaic Company, to learn how the company shares its expertise with retailers and growers.
Tryston Beyrer, Crop Nutrition Lead, The Mosaic Company
CropLife: What were your expectations for micronutrients in 2025 and were they met?
Tryston Beyrer: Our expectations were that fertilizers containing micronutrients would have high demand and we saw through MicroEssentials (SZ) with zinc and Aspire with boron that demand was high for these products in preparation for establishing a strong foundation of nutrients prior to crop establishment this spring. Like 2024, 2025 has some geographies (e.g. southern Illinois Indiana) that are prime examples of greater weather extremes (too wet) make it difficult for field operations, which is leading growers to look to fertilizer and micronutrient options that can provide more consistent responses under an array of weather scenarios. MicroEssentials and Aspire have multiple forms of sulfur or boron respectively to help increase nutrient availability to the crop.
CL: What factors influenced how the micronutrient segment faired this year?
TB: 2024 had record corn yields in the U.S at 179.3 bu/ac and most estimates are indicating that we should exceed that again in 2025. With higher yield, plants have greater demand on the soil and have greater micronutrient removal that needs to be replenished. Additionally, many crop prices are suppressed year over year and while growers are looking at all line items to make cuts, many progressive growers recognize that when commodity prices are high, yield is a luxury but when crop prices are lower, yield is a necessity. With greater yields and yield potential out there, passing on a micronutrient application may be detrimental to a grower’s bottom line as micronutrient deficiencies have become more common.
CL: How has the role of micronutrients changed over the past couple of years?
TB: The role of micronutrients is as vital/essential as they ever have been from a plant physiological standpoint, but the frequency of micronutrient deficiencies has been increasing. Above average yields have continued to remove more nutrients, and greater recognition is being given to, for example, The Soil Test Summaries from The Fertilizer Institute indicate that over 65% of Zn samples have declined between 2015 and 2020.
CL: How has science/technology behind micronutrients changed over the past several years?
TB: A lot of attention has been given to micronutrients that can tank mix with other trips across the field through a sprayer, but this may be a temporary fix, especially for micronutrients that are not mobile within the plant. Companies like Mosaic have focused development of micronutrients that would be taken up through the roots to provide season-long availability. Some of the keys of successful products such as Aspire have been multiple forms of nutrients that release at different rates, and micronutrients that can be formulated within macronutrient fertilizers to create a more consistent and even distribution of the micronutrient so it is more available to all the plants. Pairing micronutrients with other essential macronutrients (e.g. P, K, S) can provide balanced nutrition for crop nutrient requirements.
CL: What trends are currently driving the micronutrients marketplace?
TB: Some of the same comments as question #4, but I’d add that there are a lot more micronutrient options on the market. Growers and agronomists are looking for products that add value and cost effective ways to deliver these nutrients to the field.
One trend that high yield producers are utilizing is that boron requirements may be much higher than what many would expect based off of crop B removal or uptake. This warrants experimenting with higher B fertilization rates that has been positively correlated with higher yields. Regardless of your yield goals, B is one of the micronutrients that should be applied on an annual basis since it is mobile like nitrate and sulfate.
CL: What are the biggest challenges to growing the micronutrient market?
TB: It’s often easier to say that something doesn’t work compared to demonstrating that practices (micronutrient applications) do work. Part of this is understanding the yield limiting factors out there and whether all 17 of the seventeen essential nutrients are being addressed. Growers and agronomists past perceptions of inconsistent results and ability of data to statistically detect the yield increases that often occur. Many times one replicated trial or poorly implemented field side x side trials does not show the yield responses that are likely occurring across broader acres, different environments (even within field), or are not set up in a way to accurately detect the differences occurring.
CL: What are the biggest opportunities for the micronutrient market?
TB: Combinations of traditional micronutrient sources with biologicals. There are several products on the market that interact with traditional micronutrient sources to improve micronutrient use efficiency. For example, both Mosaic Biosciences products PowerCoat and BioPath work along these lines.
CL: What are your expectations for the 2026 season?
TB: With lower projected commodity prices, growers are going to reevaluate all aspects of their crop production budgets and make sure spending is where it provides the most value. Micronutrients are just as important/essential as macronutrients, they are just needed in lower quantities. 2026 will be a year where growers cannot give up extra bushels.
Looking for (micronutrient) products that deliver cost effective plant essential nutrients will be imperative while also looking at the total value that that product brings. Mosaic has developed several tools such as our online grower and retailer value calculator to help growers and retailers evaluate the value that different fertilizers have and can be found at www.cropnutrition.com.
CL: What else do our readers need to know about the micronutrient market?
TB: Mosaic has a number of different resources to help educate growers and agronomists about the role of micronutrients in plants and the value that can come from providing balanced crop nutrition as part of their fertility program. Yield trends will continue to increase and management practices such as higher plant populations (that have smaller root systems) will continue to drive the need for micronutrients to become a routine part of a fertility program. Go to www.cropnutrition.com to learn more.
Aspire and MicroEssentials SZ continue to be staples in the market to provide balanced crop nutrition (BCN). The Mosaic Biosciences division that focuses on biological nutrient solution has brought several new products to Mosaics portfolio such as PowerCoat and Biopath that can help increase the plant uptake of several nutrients (including micronutrients). Embracing soil biology and combining with balanced crop nutrition (BCN) is a way to move to Advanced Crop Nutrition (ACN) recommendations to get the most out of your fertilizer and increase your Return on Fertilizer Investment (ROFI).
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