The Holganix Blog

10 Things We Took Away From Farm Progress & Husker Harvest

kkirschbaum@holganix.com (Kendall Kirschbaum) — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 14:52:18 GMT

We came. We saw. We talked soil. After attending the Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days, here are our 10 takeaways:

1. Agriculture is changing, and fast.

From technology to biologicals to data-driven decision making, both shows made one thing clear: agriculture continues to evolve. We're excited to be part of the innovation happening right now.

2. Farmers like to talk... especially when you bring up soil health.

Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days reminded us that some of the best conversations happen when you simply stop, listen, and ask questions. From crop performance to soil health to what's happening on the farm, we had conversations that went well beyond a quick "hello".

3. You can never have too much coffee. And beer.

Between early mornings, long days, and miles of walking, coffee officially earned its place as an essential piece of farm show equipment.

And when the coffee isn't quite cutting it, a farmer will never turn down a cold beer. Join us again next year for happy hour, and don't be late. The Busch Light goes fast around here!

4. "So, what exactly does Holganix do?" is still one of our favorite questions.

And honestly, we love getting the chance to answer it. These shows gave us the opportunity to explain what we're doing, how biological solutions fit into agriculture, and why soil health is becoming such an important part of the conversation.

Still wondering exactly what Holganix does? Click here to learn more about Holganix and how it can benefit your operation.

5. Make friends with someone who has a golf cart.

If you've never been to a farm show before, take it from us: bring or rent a golf cart! Walking around in 90-degree heat sounds fun... for about 10 minutes. Save your steps (and your sanity) and get the golf cart!

6. If you stand long enough, someone will hand you a t-shirt.

Between giveaways, swag, and promotional goodies, there was no shortage of ways to go home with more stuff than you arrived with. Sparkly blue cowboy hats, anyone?

7. The best part of the trade show isn't the booth. It's the people.

Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days brought together farmers, agronomists, dealers, partners, innovators, and industry leaders from across agriculture. For us, the real value was getting face-to-face with the people who make this industry what it is.

8. Farmers are always looking ahead.

As part of our booth, we looked back at 250 years of American agriculture and asked farmers to look ahead by sharing their hopes for the next 250. Their answers made a few things clear: they want to pass their operations on to the next generation, continue finding ways to do more with less, and achieve increased profitability.

9. You can talk about acres, products, and technology... but it always comes back to results.

At the end of the day, farmers want solutions that work. The conversation at both industry events reinforced how important it is to connect innovation back to real-world outcomes in the field.

Want to see the results growers are getting with Holganix? Check out the Product Performance Book here.

10. We're already looking forward to next year.

A few long days, thousands of steps, countless conversations, and a whole lot of agriculture later, we are closing out this farm show season feeling energized. There's a lot happening in this industry, and we're excited to keep the conversation going.

Whether you joined us as an exhibitor, a grower, or were simply there in spirit, both shows were one for the books. Until next year, Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days!

What Is the True Cost of a Supply Chain Interruption?

blandry@holganix.com (Ben Landry) — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:30:00 GMT

For a retailer, a missing product on the shelf may feel like a $4 miss at the point of sale. But the real cost ripples far beyond the amount from the consumer transaction. Products sourced from agricultural commodities face real disruption risk in 2026. Where can we start to unpack the value of supply chain resilience? Let’s start with the soil.

Last week, the key ingredient that I promised to bring home for family dinner wasn’t on the shelf. Eggplant parmesan and no eggplant, dang! I searched high and low, thinking perhaps the merchandising team moved it. No luck.

I thought about buying an alternative but in the end, I skipped it.

On the surface, that may feel like a simple problem: one product didn’t show up, for one reason or another, and the retailer missed my $4 eggplant purchase.

But what is the true underlying cost of a supply chain interruption? That question gets much more interesting once you look beyond the empty shelf.

The Ripple Effect

In the absence of their desired product, the shopper might choose a substitute. Maybe it’s cheaper. Maybe they like it better and never switch back. Suddenly, an empty shelf is no longer an inventory problem, it’s a customer loyalty problem.

Behind the scenes, the ripple effect is even larger. Procurement teams make emergency calls to suppliers and learn the stark reality: “Where are the eggplants? A global shortage from producers?!? From drought conditions?!”

They start searching for replacements, maybe from other suppliers. Once available again, suppliers may be on the hook to expedite shipping or risk contract underperformance. Finance absorbs higher costs or lower margins. Legal teams may have to revisit purchase contracts if the issues persist.

And the replacement itself may create other more persistent tradeoffs in consumer behavior. Is it more expensive? Lower quality? Imported from farther away? Inconsistent availability?

Suddenly, the cost of missing eggplants is spread across time, people, logistics, margin, customer behavior, and risk for the supply chain, extending well beyond the shelf where the problem was first visible.

Following the Supply Chain Back to the Farm

Consumer products may fail to be in stock for all kinds of reasons. Weather delays can cause shipments to be delayed, or a safety recall can halt inventory. A retailer could simply underestimate consumer demand for a specific product.

But agricultural supply chains have deeper, more unpredictable layer of risk: Crops depend on nature, and nature can be volatile. Sometimes, crop yields fail.

Persistent drought can significantly reduce harvest results across affected regions. Water can become too limited or too expensive to use for irrigation. Fertilizer prices can spike, forcing growers to make difficult input decisions that sacrifice yield. Weather patterns can disrupt planting windows and create stress on the crops at exactly the wrong time.

We saw this in 2024, when droughts across West Africa caused shortages in cocoa and shot futures prices skyrocketing by 66%¹. And we’re seeing it today with unrelenting heatwaves in European markets, where this year’s grain forecast dropped by 9 million tonnes².

Unlike a shipment delay, a crop that failed cannot be expedited overnight. That is where the conversation about supply-chain resilience starts to move upstream in the system and puts the farm into focus. And the farm depends on soil.

Soil Needs a Seat at the Table

For companies that depend on crops, healthy soil is not just an environmental pledge. As we’ve written before, ⁠soil is infrastructure - part of the foundation behind their product supply and revenue engine.

Healthy, biologically active soil can hold more water, cycle nutrients more effectively, and support crops through periods of stress. Those outcomes matter agronomically to growers because they can protect productivity. They also matter to food and beverage companies because resilient farms can support more resilient sourcing networks.

Regenerative agricultural practices do not make drought, inflation, geopolitical conflict, or logistics problems disappear. But investments toward resilience at the farm level can help reduce exposure. That brings soil health into focus not only for sustainability teams, but also for procurement, finance, operations, and enterprise risk leaders.

Building More Resilient Supply Chains

As a company in agriculture, we hear these sentiments shared daily in conversations with our growers. They are managing tighter margins, unpredictable weather, expensive inputs, and under pressure to keep producing yields reliably season after season.

At Holganix, our flagship product Bio 800+ starts on the farm, helping growers improve soil function and build greater resilience into their operations. In partnership with our science & data team, those farm-level outcomes generated by healthy soils can become investible building blocks for companies looking to create stronger connections to the agricultural supply chains they depend on.

That connection is becoming increasingly important for companies trying to strengthen their impact on agricultural sourcing and measure return on investment. Holganix is already creating measurable business and sourcing value with producers, while giving companies an avenue to direct capital towards resilience and environmental outcomes.

The Bigger Price Tag

Back to my missing eggplants. We ended up having breakfast for dinner, my favorite backup option.

The lost sales are easy to measure. Everything else that ripples out behind the scenes is much harder to put a price tag on. Let’s invest in avoiding those fire drills as a pillar of how we do business. Let’s start with investing in soil.

Stay rooted!

How One California Almond Grower Increased Soil Organic Matter by 1% in Just One Season

rpatel@holganix.com (Ritu Patel) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:45:00 GMT

Sometimes the biggest changes in an orchard happen below the surface.

California almond growers face increasing pressure from limited water supplies, rising input costs, and soils that become harder to manage year after year. For Caleb Johnson of Johnson Farms Almond Shelling in Denair, California, improving the health of his orchards meant taking a closer look at what was happening underground.

Like many growers, Caleb had spent years watching crop residue accumulate. The assumption was that all that residue was helping build healthier soil. But over time, he realized something was missing.

"With water becoming a big deal here, and the organic matter increases that we have seen, it seems like really for years and years we have been building up residue and never done anything to make it organic matter. We thought we were making organic matter, but we weren't making organic matter; we were just making residue."

That realization led Caleb to focus on improving soil biology with Holganix Bio 800+. What began as a new approach has since become a standard practice across approximately 3,500 acres of his operation.

A Measurable Difference Below Ground

After incorporating Holganix Bio 800+ through his irrigation system, Caleb began noticing changes, not just in the appearance of his orchard, but in his soil test results.

For a California almond grower, increasing soil organic matter by nearly one percentage point in a single season represented more than just a number on a soil report. It meant building soil that could better retain moisture, improve structure, and support healthier root systems for years to come.

In a region where water is one of agriculture's most valuable resources, Caleb believes improving soil biology has become an important part of helping every irrigation event work harder.

Measuring Healthier Soil Below the Surface

For Caleb, the improvements aren't just visible; they're measurable. One of the tools he uses to evaluate soil health is a soil penetrometer, which measures resistance within the soil profile and helps identify compaction that can restrict root growth and water movement.

Before using Holganix Bio 800+, resistance was commonly encountered at just 6 to 8 inches below the surface. As Caleb continued improving soil biology over the following years, the difference became increasingly apparent.

Today, in many areas of the orchard, the penetrometer can be pushed nearly to the T-handle with minimal resistance, indicating improved soil structure and reduced compaction.

Healthy soil isn't just something you can see; it's something you can measure.

Healthier Soil, Stronger Trees

The benefits Caleb has observed extend beyond the soil itself.

As soil biology improved, he noticed healthier soil structure that supported stronger root development and more vigorous trees.

"Once you ruin your soil health, the tree health kind of goes with it. When soil biology is working, you see a lot of benefits from it. You see the physical structure of the soil isn't hard, isn't packed; it kind of crumbles in your hand."

That healthier soil has also translated into one of Caleb's favorite sights each spring, the first flush of green across his orchard.

According to Caleb, trees treated with Holganix Bio 800+ "green up sooner, with new growth that comes earlier, faster, and stronger than before."

Watch Caleb's 1-minute video featuring his soil health journey. Hear firsthand how improving soil biology has changed his orchard and why he believes healthy soil is the foundation of healthy trees. If you’re reading this blog via email, click here to see the video.

Almond orchards are a long-term investment, and Caleb believes building healthier soil today will continue paying dividends for years to come.

By improving soil biology, increasing organic matter, and creating better conditions for water infiltration and root growth, he's building a stronger foundation beneath every tree.

When asked whether he would recommend Holganix Bio 800+ to other growers, Caleb doesn't hesitate.

For Caleb, nearly a 1% increase in soil organic matter wasn't simply a positive soil test; it was proof that healthier soil can create lasting improvements throughout the orchard.

Building Trust in Soil Carbon: Why Scientific Rigor Is Unlocking the Full Value of Healthy Soils

rmoolgavkar@holganix.com (Radhika Moolgavkar) — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:45:00 GMT

Healthy soils are one of the world’s most valuable natural assets.

They store nearly three times more carbon than the atmosphere, improve water retention, strengthen food production, and help farmers build more resilient businesses. The benefits of healthy soils extend well beyond the farm, supporting stronger supply chains, healthier ecosystems, and more resilient communities.

The opportunity has always been there.

The challenge has been building the scientific confidence to measure those outcomes consistently and reward them appropriately.

The introduction of Isometric’s Improved Soil Management Protocol, represents an important milestone for the future of high-integrity soil carbon.

Building Trust in Soil Carbon

Soil has enormous potential as a climate solution, but realizing that potential depends on trust.

Organizations investing in climate solutions need confidence that every environmental outcome is measured rigorously, verified independently, and backed by transparent science.

That’s exactly what frameworks like Isometric’s are designed to provide.

At HGX, we’ve always believed that healthy soils can become one of the world’s most powerful climate solutions, but only if they’re supported by rigorous measurement and transparent verification.

That’s why we’ve invested in direct soil sampling, laboratory analysis, satellite monitoring, and independent third-party verification. Our goal has never been to simply generate carbon credits. It’s been to build confidence in the environmental value that healthy soils create.

Behind every environmental asset is a farmer making long-term investments in healthier soils. Across our Farm Possible program, we’ve seen growers improve soil health, strengthen the resilience of their operations, and create measurable environmental outcomes. High-integrity markets help ensure those efforts are recognized, measured consistently, and rewarded appropriately.

Looking Beyond Carbon

While carbon is often the headline, healthy soils deliver far more.

They improve water resilience, reduce input dependency, strengthen agricultural supply chains, and create new economic opportunities for farmers. Carbon is one measurable outcome of a healthier biological system, but it isn’t the only one.

As environmental markets continue to evolve, scientific rigor will be essential for helping organizations invest with confidence and helping farmers receive recognition for the value they’re creating.

Building the Future

For us, this announcement is about more than a new protocol.

It’s another step toward a future where healthy soils become one of the world’s most valuable natural assets, improving farm profitability while strengthening food systems, water resources, and climate resilience.

Building that future starts with trust.

From Pricing Risk to Building Resilience: Notes from London Climate Action Week 2026

tweaver@Holganix.com (Tim Weaver) — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:45:31 GMT

There were nine days of London Climate Action Week—75,000 people, more than a thousand events, and conversations that brought together finance, food, technology, government, and agriculture in ways that would have seemed unlikely just a few years ago.

London spent the week in record June heat: schools closed early, offices emptied, and in a moment no satirist would dare invent, a session on extreme heat was cancelled because the venue was too hot.

A banker I met put the whole week in one sentence: "Our clients have stopped asking us how to price their climate risk. They're asking where they can buy resilience at scale and quality today."

That shift from pricing the problem to shopping for the solution was the story of London. And the most interesting place to find that solution may be eighteen inches beneath our feet.

Risk Walked Into the Room

For years, climate conversations revolved around targets, disclosures, and future scenarios. This year felt different. Physical climate risk wasn’t being debated anymore. It had already arrived. Conversations about water security, fertilizer supply, crop availability, and insurance weren’t hypothetical anymore—they were operational.

When resilience shows up in person, the discount-rate debate gets short.

The Bottleneck Has Inverted

Here is the structural surprise of the week: the money is no longer the missing piece.

Across investor meetings, there was no shortage of interest in financing climate and nature solutions. What was in short supply were investment-ready assets: outcomes that are measurable, verifiable, and durable enough to earn institutional confidence.

Agriculture sits squarely at the center of that opportunity. Healthy soil is one of the largest untapped real assets on the planet. It serves as a yield stabilizer, a water regulator, a carbon store, and an input hedge, sitting under 2 billion acres of working land. The challenge has never been whether those benefits exist. It’s been proving them consistently enough that markets can value them. You cannot underwrite what you cannot measure.

Prince William’s message was clear: the solutions exist. The challenge now is scaling them with measurable results.

When Procurement Starts Asking Different Questions

The sharpest urgency in London came from an unexpected department.

With geopolitical instability squeezing oil, gas, and fertilizer supplies, the food and beverage conversations had a new center of gravity. Sourcing leaders weren't asking how to decarbonize their growing regions. They were asking how to de-risk them, how to reduce the fossil-input dependency of the farms they rely on before the next price spike, not after.

The Growers Had the Best Line of the Week

The quiet structural change in London: farmers were in the rooms as primary sources, not photo opportunities. Sessions were built around farmer-led research and grower testimony, and their message should reassure every CFO who has ever winced at the word "regenerative."

They didn't change practices to save the world. They changed practices to pay the bills. Lower input dependency. Water that stays in the root zone through drought. Yields that hold through volatility. One UK farmer described a regenerative journey that began a decade ago not with idealism but with an unpayable invoice.

It’s the same arithmetic we see every week at Holganix across millions of acres. When healthier soils deliver measurable economic returns, adoption doesn’t depend on ideology—it makes business sense.

What London added was seeing the rest of the value chain finally catch up. Farmers want stronger margins. Food companies want reliable supply. Banks want investable assets. Governments want food security. Different motivations. One asset. Nobody in that alignment needs to share values. They need to share soil.

(Left to right) Lily Buffett, Tim Weaver (Chief Strategy Officer, Holganix), Jason Knauf, and Bryan Hansel (Chief Commercial Officer, Holganix) during London Climate Action Week 2026.

What We Packed in our Bags to Carry Home

London’s theme was “cooperation in a fragmented world.” I left thinking the bigger story was convergence.

Healthy soil has become one of the few places where business, agriculture, and climate interests are beginning to align.

That’s a meaningful shift.

Soil is no longer just part of the sustainability conversation. It’s becoming infrastructure.

As the conversation moves from London to Climate Week NYC, COP31, and Davos, the question is no longer whether resilient agriculture matters. It’s how quickly we can build it at the scale the moment demands.

Because the resilience economy isn’t forming anymore.

It’s placing orders.

How to Unlock Up to 30% More Nitrogen Already in Your Soil

rpatel@holganix.com (Ritu Patel) — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:00:01 GMT

For years, farmers have fed their crop from the top down: with fertilizer, field passes, and more inputs. But with the surge in prices these days, inputs are getting harder to justify.

The good news is that growers are already sitting on a bank of nutrients stored in their soil. The problem is unlocking it.

That’s where rhizophagy comes in. This natural, biological process can free as much as 30% more nitrogen from the soil.

What does that mean for the crop?

Better nitrogen efficiency
Reduced fertilizer needs
Stronger root systems
Improved stress tolerance during dry conditions
Better resilience overall

And maybe most importantly, it means more return from every dollar spent on inputs.

How Rhizophagy Works

In the rhizophagy cycle, plants work together with beneficial microbes in the soil to gather nutrients. Think of those microbes as tiny nutrient miners living around the roots.

The plant actually pulls microbes into the root, extracts nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, and then sends surviving microbes back out into the soil to repeat the process.

It’s a nutrient delivery system built by nature.

How to Know If Rhizophagy is Happening in the Soil

Healthy biological systems often show up as:

More root hairs
Better root mass
Improved soil aggregation
More active rhizosphere soil around the roots

Modern Farming Can Interrupt the Process

Intensive farming practices can disrupt the rhizophagy cycle over time.

Heavy synthetic use, aggressive chemistry, and limited biological diversity can reduce microbial activity in the soil. When that happens, the plant loses part of the natural nutrient partnership it was designed to use.

The crop becomes more dependent on outside inputs because the soil biology has stopped functioning naturally.

Biologicals Support the Rhizophagy Cycle

That’s why we created Bio 800+, to put life back in the soil. With over 800 species of microbes, Bio 800+ helps support the rhizophagy cycle by:

Introducing beneficial biology
Creating an environment where microbes can thrive
Supporting biological activity around seedling roots early in the season

Healthy soils are not just dirt holding fertilizer. They’re living systems. And when they’re balanced:

Nutrients cycle more efficiently
Roots explore deeper
Plants handle stress better
Inputs work harder
Soils become more resilient over time

That’s good for the crop, good for the farm, and good for the future of agriculture.

How Healthy Are Your Roots This Season?

Dig them up and find out. The 2026 Roots Competition is your chance to see how your root systems compare with growers across the country and showcase the results of your soil health efforts. Strong roots are often the first sign that your biology is working, nutrients are cycling efficiently, and your crop is better equipped to handle stress throughout the season. Enter the 2026 Roots Competition today and show us what's happening below ground: https://www.holganix.com/2026-roots-competition.

Build Soil, Build Legacy: The Profitable Power of Year-Round Soil Health

dstark@holganix.com (David Stark, Ph.D.) — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 18:24:02 GMT

What if your soil could do more than grow crops – what if it could build your legacy? American farmers are turning to soil health not just to reduce costs and improve yields, but to create thriving, resilient farms that regenerate value year after year, it’s about leaving the soil better than we inherited it.

Maintaining healthy soil is more than an agronomic best practice – it's a strategy for unlocking consistent profitability on your farm. Thrivability runs deeper than sustainability - it's about actively regenerating your land, improving profitability, and ensuring your farm doesn’t just survive, but flourishes.

It's about building something enduring. When we invest in soil health, we’re creating a legacy. We’re giving the next generation of farmers richer soil, stronger ecosystems, and more profitable land than when we inherited it. That's the power of a thriving farm.

When soil health practices are stacked together—like cover crops, no-till farming, crop rotation, and microbials—their combined effect is exponential. The result? Living soils that feed your crops, support your bottom line, and strengthen your farm’s future.

According to a study by the Soil Health Institute, implementing these practices can increase net farm income by $51.60 per acre annually for corn and $44.89 per acre for soybeans.

Healthy Soils Build Carbon

Soil isn’t just dirt—it’s a living ecosystem, a carbon vault, and a powerful engine of farm profitability. Healthy soils pull carbon from the atmosphere and channel it to the rootzone, where it fuels crop growth and resilience. As carbon levels in the soil rise, so does productivity. And beyond agronomic benefits, carbon-rich soils can unlock new revenue streams, with carbon credit estimates ranging from $10 to $100 per acre annually.

Soil Health Practices

Microbials: Nature’s Workforce

Healthy soil starts with microbes – the invisible workforce that powers your land. Bacteria, fungi, protists, and other microbes drive soil functionality, including fertilizer efficiency, soil structure, organic matter, water-holding capacity, and more.

They also make no-till farming possible by breaking down residue and cycling nutrients. In healthy soils, nearly every nutrient your crop consumes passes through a microbe first.

Adding microbial inoculants to your soil boosts the population of beneficial microbes, improving soil health and plant growth. Holganix Bio 800+ Revive contains a consortium of over 800 species of beneficial microbes that enhance soil health, reduce the need for fertilizer by up to 40%, break down residue, and improve crop yields.

No-Till Farming: A gentle way to work with nature

No-till farming keeps plant residue on the soil surface, which protects against erosion, retains moisture, and provides a habitat for microbes. These residues become food for microbes, which break them down into usable nutrients.

Research shows that no-till farming increases soil organic matter in the top several inches of the soil. Further, farmers implementing no-till can significantly reduce soil erosion rates. According to a study by the University of Illinois, a complete shift to no-till may reduce soil loss and sediment yield by more than 70%.

Cover Crops: Living Armor for Soil

Cover crops act as living armor, preventing soil erosion, enhancing structure, and increasing nutrient content. Studies have found that cover crops reduce soil loss by up to 75% when compared to fallow fields. Their roots also create natural channels in the soil, improving water infiltration and reducing runoff—by as much as 90% in some studies. They work while you rest.

Crop Rotation: Nature’s Built-In Resilience

Rotating crops helps break pest and disease cycles and increases nutrient availability. One USDA Agricultural Research Service study demonstrated that rotating crops increased long-term yield stability and decreased crop losses during a drought by 14-90%. Rotation isn’t just variety - it’s resilience.

Water Management: Thriving Through Drought

Healthy, functional soils hold water like a sponge. Each increase in organic matter can store up to 20,000 gallons of water per acre. During dry periods, this water reserve is critical for sustaining crops without extra inputs.

The Stacking Effect

Each practice has its benefits—but stack them together, and something powerful happens.

Cover crops in a no-till system add organic matter while preserving soil structure. Microbials enhance the fertility and moisture retention of that same soil. Over time, these practices build a self-sustaining ecosystem that reduces input needs, increases yields, and strengthens profitability.

Healthy soil leads to healthier crops—more resistant to pests, more efficient at using water, and more reliable under seasonal stress. It’s so much more than sustainability; it’s thrivability.

From Maintenance to Momentum

When you commit to building soil health, you're not just preserving your land—you’re regenerating it. You’re unlocking year-round profitability, resilience, and opportunity.

And more importantly, you're leaving the soil—and the farm—better for the next generation.

Now is the time to thrive.

Show Us Your Roots! Enter the 13th Annual Holganix Roots Competition

rpatel@holganix.com (Ritu Patel) — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 09:45:01 GMT

Healthy soils build strong roots, and strong roots build better crops. If you've been using Holganix Bio 800+ products to improve soil health and root development, now is your chance to show off your results.

The 13^th Annual Holganix Roots Competition is officially underway, and we want to see what's happening below the surface.

This year is especially meaningful as America celebrates its 250^th anniversary. While we honor the nation's past, we're also looking ahead to the future of agriculture. At Holganix, we believe healthy soils and strong root systems are the foundation for the next 250 years of sustainable farming, and that future starts from the roots up.

Submit photos or videos of your roots between now and August 3, 2026, for a chance to earn recognition, exclusive prizes, and bragging rights as one of the best root growers in your state.

Every grower who submits an entry will receive a Limited-Edition Holganix 250^th Anniversary Roots Competition Hat. Throughout the season, we'll recognize standout roots from across the country, and at the end of the competition, top entries will compete for the title of 2026 Holganix Roots Champion and take home our Holganix Cooler.

When you submit, tell us a little about what you're seeing in your roots and whether you did anything differently this season to achieve those results.

Ready to Dig?

Submit your photos or videos here: https://www.holganix.com/2026-roots-competition

The best roots tell a story. We can't wait to see yours.

Reduced Nitrogen Programs in the Field: A 2025 Corn Trial Shows What Soil Biology Can Do

mmalone@holganix.com (Maddie Malone) — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:15:01 GMT

Farmers are in a critical period of decision-making. Fertilizer prices are at an all-time high, and growers are weighing whether cutting back on fertilizer is worth the risk to their crop performance.

Exciting new field data suggest that when soil biology is active in the system, nitrogen rates can be reduced without compromising plant health and productivity.

To support informed decision-making, we evaluated how pairing Bio 800+ with reduced nitrogen rates impacts both soil nitrogen availability and plant tissue nitrogen.

Trial Overview:

A 2025 corn trial in Northwest Ohio compared standard and reduced nitrogen programs, with and without Bio 800+ Revive. This was the first season Bio 800+ Revive was applied on this ground.

Treatments included:

100% fertilizer (control)
100% fertilizer + Bio 800+ Revive
80% fertilizer + Bio 800+ Revive (-20% N)
60% fertilizer + Bio 800+ Revive (-40% N)

Bio 800+ Revive was applied in-furrow at 0.5 gal/acre. Measurements were taken at key vegetative stages (V2, V5, V8) to assess both soil available nitrogen (Haney) and plant tissue nitrogen.

Soil Available Nitrogen

In the image above, the data demonstrates how biology impacts nutrient availability. The increased biological activity that comes along with the application of Bio 800+ is playing a role in nutrient cycling.

Rather than the crop relying solely on applied fertilizer, microbes mineralize and mobilize existing soil nitrogen pools.

As a result, nitrogen remains available throughout key stages of crop development, not just early in the season.

At the V2 stage, most treatments showed similar nitrogen availability, indicating adequate early-season fertility for crop establishment.

By V5, Bio 800+ treatments began maintaining higher available nitrogen levels, even at reduced fertilizer rates, suggesting increased microbial nutrient cycling.

At V8, this trend continued, with Bio 800+ treatments sustaining nitrogen availability later into the season when crop demand increases.

Takeaway: Soil nitrogen availability sustained, or increased, when treated with Bio 800+, even with 20-40% less nitrogen fertilizer.

Tissue Nitrogen

Maintaining adequate tissue nitrogen during vegetative growth is critical, particularly at V5 and V8 when nutrient demand increases.

At V2, tissue nitrogen levels were relatively consistent across treatments as the crop established early growth.

By V5, Bio 800+ treatments maintained comparable tissue nitrogen levels despite reduced nitrogen fertilizer rates, indicating improved nutrient uptake efficiency.

At V8, tissue nitrogen levels remained stable in the Bio 800+ treatments, showing that reduced fertilizer applications did not limit nitrogen availability within the plant during critical growth stages.

Takeaway: In Bio 800+ treated fields, tissue nitrogen levels were maintained under reduced N rates. Reduced application rates did not translate to reduced nitrogen within the plant.

Together, these results point to a system that is not only agronomically effective but also economically advantageous.

Reducing nitrogen rates by 20–40% resulted in estimated savings of $50–$80 per acre, based on current fertilizer prices. Importantly, these cost reductions were achieved without a corresponding decline in measured soil or tissue nitrogen.

These findings support a systems-based approach to fertility management, where soil biology contributes to nutrient availability alongside applied inputs.

For growers considering nitrogen reductions:

Start with incremental reductions (e.g., 20%)
Pair reduced fertility with biological inputs
Monitor both soil and tissue nitrogen throughout the season

This approach allows for a measured transition away from highly fertilizer-dependent systems toward more biologically supported nutrient cycling.

Data tells a story, but our growers tell it better. Check out our recent blog featuring a Nebraska farmer who successfully reduced fertilizer inputs.

Cutting Fertilizer Without Cutting Yield: One Nebraska Farmer's Journey to Healthier Soil

rpatel@holganix.com (Ritu Patel) — Wed, 20 May 2026 09:30:01 GMT

Farming in southwest Nebraska is not getting any easier. Global fertilizer markets are under pressure, input costs continue to elevate, and water matters more every year. Growers need ways to improve yields without spending more money.

That is what pushed Tim Varilek from Lamar, Nebraska, to start looking at soil health differently.

Tim is a third-generation farmer who raises corn, soybeans, popcorn, alfalfa, edible beans, wheat, millet, and pasture grasses. He is also a Holganix farmer dealer in Nebraska. What started as a way to lower fertilizer costs has turned into a major change across his farm.

“I tried Holganix Bio 800+ Revive because I was looking for something to help cut back on my fertilizer bill,” says Tim. “Holganix really did an amazing thing that first year.”

Starting Small and Seeing Big Results

Like many growers, Tim did not jump all in right away. The first year, he treated half the field with Holganix Bio 800+ Revive and left the other half untreated.

The results were hard to believe.

“The first year we used Holganix Bio 800+ Revive, I did half of the land with the product and the other half as a control,” says Tim.

That was enough to get his attention.

Cutting Fertilizer by 40%

Tim did not slash fertilizer overnight. Instead, he slowly reduced his rates each season. By cutting fertilizer about 10% each year, Tim has now reduced fertilizer use by roughly 40%.

“I’ve also reduced my fertilizer by 40% from where I was a few years ago, which pretty much cuts my fertilizer budget in half because of the high fertility costs,” says Tim. “It makes me happy and my banker happy.”

Even with lower fertilizer rates, Tim's yields have continued to improve every season. He estimates he is saving $80 or more per acre.

Healthier Crops and Better-Looking Fields

One of the biggest things Tim noticed was how much healthier his crops looked.

His corn stayed greener longer. Magnesium deficiency spots started shrinking. Emergence has improved. Roots became stronger.

“In addition to reducing fertilizer, root health, corn emergence, and edible bean size have all improved,” Tim says.

He has also seen fewer residue issues in the spring.

“With Holganix Bio 800+ products, we get high yields and reduced residue issues in the springtime,” Tim explains.

Improving Soil Health

For Tim, the biggest change may be what is happening below the surface.

“Before Holganix, my organic matter was 0.6 to 0.9. Now they are saying it’s at 2%,” says Tim. I can’t even describe how awesome it has been.”

As soil biology improved, Tim says compaction became less of a problem, too.

“Compaction is certainly a lot less of an issue with Holganix Bio 800+ products,” he says.

Tim has also started moving away from conventional tillage.

“We are working on going no till,” says Tim. “We had been conventional till in the past, but we have moved to strip tilling. I really found that with the microbial life from Holganix Bio 800+, the time to recover from one tillage pass has been such a huge difference.”

Saving Water in Nebraska

Water is always top of mind in Nebraska. Tim says healthier soil has helped his fields hold moisture better and improved irrigation efficiency.

He has been able to stay under 12 inches of irrigation water while other growers around him are pushing past their limits. Healthier soil structure and better root systems are helping crops make better use of every inch of water.

Helping Crops Recover from Stress

Tim also uses Holganix Bio 800+ products to help crops recover from weather stress. “I use Holganix as a fix on crops that are damaged from wind or hailstorms,” he says. Because his crops are healthier overall, Tim says, “I don’t apply fungicides anymore. Fungicides just put a Band-Aid on the problem.”

Watch Tim’s Story

Watch Tim’s 1-minute video featuring his soil health journey. If you’re reading this blog via email, click here to see the video.

For Tim Varilek, it all started with trying to lower fertilizer costs. Five years later, he says the results continue to improve every season.

See What Holganix Could Do on Your Farm

Want to see how Holganix products can help your farm thrive? Use our ROI calculator for a quick snapshot of what the transformation could look like on your operation.

Whether you are looking to reduce fertilizer costs, improve soil health, save water, or grow healthier crops, the calculator can help show the potential value for your acres.

Try the Holganix ROI Calculator