Meristem products are cutting costs and boosting yields in the rich, black soils of northern Iowa where every bushel counts.
Saratoga Partnership farms nearly 20,000 acres in three states, with 13,000 acres in northeast Iowa. All those acres bring high stakes and the expectation of consistent performance.
“We are production driven. We work hard to try to find ways to grow more bushels. That’s hard to do without spending more money, but Meristem gives us the opportunity to do that,” said Jackson Dohlman, the crop production manager for Saratoga Partnership. “What I think separates Meristem is they have a passion for bringing innovative alternatives to the producer with the focus on how to get profit out of their acres. I like the ability to work with their products that cover a portion of my cost portfolio at a lower price, but do not give up on performance.”
Watch a video with Dohlman here: https://bit.ly/459OEAR.
Meristem’s patented Bio-Capsule™ delivery system powers Excavator® AMS with Cyclestrike™ LR and Hopper Throttle® MaxStax™ advanced planter box treatment copacks that have become production staples for Saratoga Partnership.
“The Bio-Capsules are a great way to get those live biologicals not only on the seed, but also into the ground and on the residue where they need to be to do their work. I think for us the biggest challenge here in Iowa is managing the diseases and pests in the corn-on-corn environment. The Excavator AMS product is a good fit because, with our strip-till, we have a lot of residue sitting on top of the ground. In conjunction with that, we have cover crops growing,” Dohlman said. “We like to use the Excavator AMS product in the spring. It works as a great surfactant in our weed control. Then it helps break down all the residue and we are feeding back nutrients to the growing crop.”
At the planter, Saratoga uses Hopper Throttle MaxStax Corn and Soybean.
“On corn, MaxStax gives us the opportunity to provide different products for disease control, fertility boosts and growth enhancements at a really reasonable cost. MaxStax helps us get to that next level of yield, but not break the bank,” Dohlman said. “We plant naked soybeans — that’s the ability we have now with the MaxStax. We like to plant our beans early in the season when you really shouldn’t be planting anything else. We can put MaxStax on there and have the confidence that we’re getting the control we need. If we have to replant, we’ve had very good experiences with replant policies from Meristem. That just gives us more confidence to go out early and use naked beans with the MaxStax.”
Meristem products are used on Saratoga’s Minnesota and Missouri acres as well to cut costs and boost production.
“Meristem products work in Iowa, they work in Minnesota and Missouri too,” said Mitch Eviston, Meristem founder and CEO. “Large acreage or small, farmers around the country are finding ways to produce more bushels for less with Meristem.”
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