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“I don’t sell something unless I’m sure it’s going to work,” explains Gilson Martin, owner of Star Dairy, a Holganix distributor to farmers in Pennsylvania. “We started testing Holganix Agriculture in 2011. We liked what we saw and the rest is history.”

Star Dairy has been selling dairy nutrition, soil fertility products and consulting to predominantly Amish farmers since 1994. Holganix Agriculture has been his first compost-type or bionutritional product he’s carried because traditional compost and compost teas haven’t been economical on a large scale.

“I’ve always been interested in biological products,” says Gilson when we asked why he decided to give Holganix Agriculture a shot.

“I liked the variety of organisms that was in Holganix Agriculture and thought it worth trying out. Any time I can do something other than use a chemical, I’m happy.”

Over all, Gilson’s clients on Holganix programs have seen an increase in plant vigor, yield, brix index and a reduction in disease.

Increasing the Brix Index

After using Holganix Agriculture for one year, Gilson’s clients have seen an 82% average increase in brix index (in % sucrose) in peas, sweet corn, raspberries, strawberries, tomato, watermelon and alfalfa.

Typically, the higher the brix, “the more minerals in the plant and the better the flavor,” explains Gilson. “Also, a higher brix plant should be more disease and insect resistant.” 

"[My customers] don't want to grow tomatoes without Holganix Agriculture!"

Last spring, Dr. Neidermyer, Director of Plant and Soil Science at Holganix, reached out to Gilson to create a Holganix test on tomatoes.

“I discussed the idea with my farmers that grew tomatoes but no one was interested in doing a test that involved a control! That’s because they knew that without Holganix Agriculture, the control tomatoes were going to be of lesser yield and brix as well as see an increase in disease. They don’t want to grow tomatoes without Holganix Agriculture!”

Gilson explains that with Holganix agirculture, “I’ve seen results in six months. You won’t see instant results but you are going to grow better, healthier crops!”