Bio-Gel DG

We are in our 28th year of certified organic potato production. To say it can be a challenge would be an understatement. We are always looking for new ways to maximize the efficiency of our growing system and fertility program. I had heard of products in the past similar to Bio-Gel DG (Bio-Gel), but none were allowed for organic production, so I was very excited when I was introduced to Bio-Gel. What about this product intrigued me the most? Potatoes are notoriously sensitive to environmental changes that vary to one extreme or the other outside of the potato plant's "comfort zone", i.e., either too dry or too wet. The potato plant's relatively small root system and the fact they are grown in elevated hills means they cannot access as large a volume of soil for nutrients and moisture like a corn plant, for instance, and they tend to succumb to drought stress easier. Bio-Gel promotes resilience in the soil/root/plant system in several ways: 1. It helps retain crucial moisture reserves in the root zone where the plant can access it. This helps prevent the onset of drought stress by retaining rainfall or irrigation water where the plant needs it. It also ensures an adequate supply of moisture to support nutrient cycling and biological activity (which also supports nutrient cycling). 2. It acts as a "nutrient sink" to help retain nutrients in the root zone where they can be accessed by the plant, for example, inhibiting nitrate leaching. 3.In addition to helping retain moisture to support biological activity, Bio-Gel also directly feeds and supports native and applied soil biology in the plant's root zone. In organic farming you need to make informed and hopefully wise decisions when it comes to inputs and soil/crop management strategies to promote your soil health, fertilizer efficiency and crop performance to give yourself a production edge, and Bio-Gel DG covers these several bases all in one product. We apply Bio-Gel in-furrow directly onto the seed piece as part of a tank mix with our other liquid planting products. By simply following the directions, I have had ZERO problems with mixing, compatibility, gelling, plugging or any other issues with using Bio-Gel. I do usually add some hot water to the barrel when I mix a batch because it makes this dumb ol' potato farmer feel better, but I don't feel this is absolutely necessary. We have not tried it as a foliar application yet, but that might be something to consider. This will be our 3rd year using Bio-Gel. We did on-farm Bio-Gel trials last year (2024), but didn't see a significant yield difference. HOWEVER, the first half of summer was EXTREMELY wet, with flooded fields and delayed field operations, so I would not hang my hat on ANYTHING based on last year's results alone. We are scheduled to do more trials again this year. I am looking forward to the results. We used it for the first time in 2023, however not in any field trials. We applied Bio-Gel to everything. 2023 was EXTREMELY DRY, one of the worst droughts we have had in many years, with basically no significant rainfall from snow melt until late July. We hilled the 2nd week of July and started irrigating right after.(See pictures) Believe me when I say, I saw NO drought stress anywhere in our potatoes even after having gone probably 6-7 weeks with essentially no water. And they looked good. Healthy and growing well despite the drought. If they had been stressed, we could have seen it in the leaves. The only thing we did differently was to add Bio-Gel to our fertility program, so even though I can't prove it, I'm convinced it is what gave us such positive results. Our size was great and yields were the highest we've had in recent years, even despite the drought, further convincing me of Bio-Gel's positive effects. We couldn't even fit all our crop into our warehouse. I'm not sure what the ROI would have worked out to, but it probably paid for itself several times over. Bottom line is this: I feel Bio-Gel can contribute significantly to the resilience of our cropping system, helping to mitigate environmental stress on the plants, which should result in a healthier, more productive crop year-to-year, with higher yields and crop quality. I feel that Bio-Gel will contribute to a steady improvement in the moisture and fertilizer use efficiency and potato quality and yields on our organic farm.

This will be my 3rd year using Bio-Gel DG on my farm. We farm some very sandy soils, so we applied this in the furrow over top the seed, and the uniform emergence in our sandy soils was unbelievable. We have also utilized this in an early foliar application, and it gave our soybeans a considerable kick to help them grow through some very dry and hot conditions in the month of July. When using this in the furrow on soybeans, we were anywhere from 5 to 7 bushels higher for yield, versus where we did not use it in the furrow. We also grow food grade soybeans, and the product increased our protein content by over a point, which is substantial when getting a premium on food grade beans. For any organic growers out there, that have the ability of in the furrow application or foliar application, I strongly recommend the product from an overall suppression of weeds around the row in the crop. I can't put an exact theory behind it, but our fields are so much cleaner since we began using this product in-furrow and foliar, it almost acts like a sealant over the top of the soil after making a foliar application after a cultivation pass. It is very easy to tank mix, and it mixes well with other products. A great carrier for other liquid products.