The Benefits of a Residue Digester

The Benefits of a Residue Digester

As we all prepare for harvest we want to make sure you have the proper understanding to the benefits to your soil and bottom line of using a Residue Digester. 

The main purpose of a residue digester program is to:

  • Digest crop residue and increase beneficial organism populations
    • When residue is broken down by non-beneficial anaerobes those nutrients can easily be lost.  These anaerobes also release methane gas into your soil, instead of Carbon Dioxide.
    • When residue is broken down by beneficial aerobes/anaerobes those nutrients will remain in the soil for next year.  These beneficials will also release CO2 into the soil which is the main driver of plant growth.
  • The amount of NPK left in 200 bushel corn residue is 90-45-220 respectively.  If you use today’s fertilizer prices, your residue is worth well over $100 per acre today.  This figure also doesn’t include Secondary, Micro, and Trace minerals that also get returned to the soil.
  • Increase all nutrients in the soil
  • Improve soil tilth
  • Decrease chance of overwintering diseases – ie Tar Spot, Diplodia, Anthracnose, etc.

We know your focus right now is getting the crop out of the field and into storage, but get a head start on your 2022 crop with our current program.   The sooner the application the better because warmer temperatures will greatly speed up the breakdown process.  It is best to spray the digester 1 day to 1 week after the field is harvested when temperatures are below 90 degrees.  Many customers will spray 100-200 acres first thing in the morning waiting for the dew to burn off to ensure timeliness of application.  We also offer custom application if needed.

If we are delivering to a storage tank, make sure to vortex the Bio Max every 12-24 hours and that your tank is inside in the shade.  Be sure to flush your sprayers out with sanidate before harvest starts and keep sprayers clean throughout harvest.  Flush booms out with water after spraying and if the sprayer is going to be sitting for a while might look to flush with sanidate.  Make sure to flush water through system after sanidate is used.

 The program will consist of the following products on a per acre basis:

  • 3-5 gallon of Bio Max
  • 8 oz Advanced Guard
  • 8 oz Bio Redux
  • 8 oz Liquid Tri Kelp
  • 8 oz BAC
  • 4 oz of Oceanic Pacific Gro

 Due to impacts of transportation and availability of raw materials we want to make sure we can fulfill your needs.  Please let us know how many acres you are planning to apply the Agribio Systems digester program to.

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