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David Geiger: we’re gonna take a look at some seed treatment options that exist in the world of farming, specifically next generation modernized new seed treatments. And to do so, we have with us Brandon Meiners. With us Brandon, thank you so much for joining us on the Iowa Ag Podcast. You are with Midwestern BioAg. And just as the first question, what is Midwestern BioAg? Give me a description of what you guys do.

Brandon Meiners: Awesome. Well, thank you first and foremost, foremost, uh, David, for having me on. Uh, so Midwestern BioAg, we have actually been around for over 43 years, uh, here in the Midwest. Uh, we were founded under the principles of fertilizer innovation and soil health. Okay. So, uh, over the last 40 years, we have been responsible for a number of fertilizer innovations from dry fertilizer to liquid fertilizer with a focus on fertilizers that are non-harmful to soil biology, that improve soil structure, promote soil health, um, so really soil biology and, you know, creating resilient farms or you resilient soils for farmers to improve profitability, you know, in the long term. So

David Geiger: when you, you mentioned. Long term and non-harmful processes. Why did you guys decide to go in that direction?

Brandon Meiners: Yeah, so you know. The story can’t really be told without talking about our founder, Gary Zimmer. So Gary Zimmer, he is very well known in the ag space, kinda actually worldwide. Um, he is known as the father of biological agriculture. Now, that’s not because of like a bug and a jug situation that we sell, you know, biology. Uh, he is known for that because, um, he has been, uh, responsible for, um, or the really the focus being on changing the soil environment so that biology can actually thrive. So, number one, fix the soil environment. Number two, know how to feed biology in the soil. And with that, you know you’re gonna have soils that can manage water better, right? They’re gonna have more air and water infiltration. You’re gonna just gonna have more resilient soils that can handle stresses, uh, better throughout the growing season. Right? Uh, plant health is gonna improve. Um, ultimately yields improve. And, you know, with that, again, it’s an impact that stays there for multiple years and, and throughout generations. So really building that soil health, that foundation of the, of the farm, um, you know, instead of, again, you know. We have a lot of these, um, you know, we have, uh, let’s say compaction issues or high salinity issues and things like that where there’s not a lot of solutions in agriculture. So really, he, he wanted to create a company that brought solutions for these problems that could really, again, change the soil structure, which not a lot of products out there can truly impact the soil on that level. We can feed a plant with a good nutrition. You know, fertilizers in general will provide nutrients that are available that can maybe feed that plant and make it healthy for a season. But they don’t have an impact on the soil itself. So that’s really the foundation that Gary created, uh, for Midwestern BioAg. And we’re continued to innovate with products as we go and we’ll discuss, you know, one of those innovations today that still fits within those values of Midwestern BioAg.

David Geiger: Absolutely. And I did want to. Touch on that, but before we get into that, I wanted to bring it even more locally, right? Yeah. We have Midwestern BioAg. Obviously, that indicates you guys have some sort of focus in the Midwest. We’re based in Iowa here. Tell me about the relationship of states and why it may be necessary to focus on. How states can be different geologically or Yep. From a soil perspective.

Brandon Meiners: So, so one of the, I would say one of the things that Midwestern BioAg has done that’s been different than anybody, uh, really in, in, in, in the agricultural industry in general, is that, um, we’ve always been a custom. Based fertility program company for growers. So we know that soil types change from farm to farm. You can have a farm in one spot in 10 miles down the road. Uh, that farm has completely different soil types. You maybe even a different, uh, weather pattern. Correct. And so how that one farm should be treated from a fertility standpoint, a management, uh, practice standpoint is completely different than somewhere else. And so we’ve really built, uh, this foundation within our organization of being able to. Address different regions. So, you know, again, we, we talk about the Midwest, but within the Midwest we have, again, from Minnesota to Illinois is completely different. We have, we were planting into cold, let’s say wet soils in Minnesota. Uh, versus, and we might, you know, have a value from let’s say a, an in-furrow phosphorus popup that we see a tremendous result or return from. But then you get down into Illinois and they’re not necessarily planning those same conditions. The soil type’s not the same. And so, you know that, that same exact input. May not have the same impact on that farm, and so we’ve really prided ourselves in making sure that what we bring to the table. Uh, can impact growers in different regions, but that we’re, we’re making these recommendations custom to their region, their soil type, their farm need. And so that it really, truly brings, uh, an ROI, you know, a and a positive impact to each and individual grower throughout these different regions. And yes, our focus, uh, David has been, you know, here in the Midwest for 40 years. Um, we really started focusing first and foremost on dairy farms. So we’ve obviously gone into corn, soybean rotations, different crops like that. But now today we are actually, uh, rapidly growing into, you know, the western plains, the high plains into more arid environments. And, you know, as we kind of talk moving forward, well, you know, the technology we’re gonna talk about today has got a big impact in those regions also. So.

David Geiger: Brandon bringing this together between what you were talking about, of trying to have more sustainable versions of, uh, inputs, as well as having that focus on specific soil areas. Iowa has had a pretty big focus on. A regenerative focus of making sure soil stays on the land and there is a conservation minded approach when it comes to here. And I know other states are doing that as well. Yeah. But I wanted to break that down. Is. This level of focus necessary and helpful in your mind when you talk to both farmers and folks that may not be interested or may not know much about the farm?

Brandon Meiners: Yes. So, um. Regarding the regenerative ag topic in general. So I do a lot of speaking at events kind of throughout the Midwest, and a lot of times it’s focused on regenerative ag. Um, obviously many people have their definitions of what regenerative ag means at the end of the day for us, you know, we, we define it again, uh, regenerative ag is like, are we truly impacting the soil itself? Building soil structure, making that soil, you know, more healthy, where it can, it can handle heavy rains, it can handle. You know, drought situations, right? Like we’re we’re truly building humus levels in the soil. And so really for Midwestern BioAg, like our focus, whether, you know, especially let’s say in Iowa where these, the, the level of, let’s say, regenerative practices are increasing, um, there’s, there’s two things that we focus on. Number one is the inputs that the farmer is using meets their needs from regenerative side of side of it. So if there is an input that they may be using that has a negative effect on soil structure, negative effect on soil biology. We want to bring a solution to them that can let say, replace that with a product that does not do harm to soil biology. That actually truly, uh, you know, builds soil structure, builds soil health in that process. Um, and then the other side is management practices. So we really, really pride ourselves on being able to. Educate the grower, uh, advise on, you know, proper tillage practices, whether that be in a no-till situation, a minimum tillage situation, a, a strip till, uh, situation. But understanding that each one may have a drawback. And how do we mitigate those, those drawbacks? How do we, you know, uh, manage that farm so that it’s not just inputs, right? It’s management plus inputs to achieve true regenerative ag.

David Geiger: With that in mind, let’s move to this new innovation. You guys have introduced a new product, launched it, it’s called HydraPrime. Mm-hmm. Tell me about that and what it does.

Brandon Meiners: Yes. So HydraPrime is our new seed treatment. Um, first and foremost, it was built on our Bio-Gel technology. So our Bio-Gel technology is something that is fairly new to Midwestern BioAg. It’s been about, been about around about four years. We have developed multiple different versions of products off of this, this technology and this technology. Bio-Gel is really named because it’s a bio stimulant and a hydro gel. So you have a food source for biology as I go back to our foundation, right? We want to create an environment that biology can thrive in, but also be able to feed that biology. So this provides a very. Strong, you know, uh, good food source for biology. At the same time, the gel portion is, um, a hydrogel sense that it’s going to manage water, so it’s gonna retain water throughout the growing season. Uh, if there’s ample moisture there, it’s gonna help manage that water better for the plant so that plant can, uh, basically take that water up when it needs it, it can manage it better. Um, so that technology that we’ve built an in-furrow product on, we’ve built a UAN side dress application product on. We now have taken into the seed treatment world, and this was, this was, uh, really brought about because of farmer innovation. So love farmers because they’re always thinking outside the box. They’re always looking for something else that they can bring value to their farm. And we had some growers that, uh, were already using the Bio-Gel technology and they said. Man, this might be a great, you know, great tool as a seed treatment. So they did, they took one of our other products. They actually applied it as part as a seed treatment. They called us up halfway through the season and said, you guys gotta get out here and see this. Right. So we went out and we’re like, geez, like there is a massive impact on crop health here. Like, what’s going on? So that really took us down the road of we, we better get serious because these farmers are asking for this. So again, you know, we wanted to take all the right steps, right? So. Go through the process, make sure that we understood the, you know, the logistics behind seed treatment, the handling of it, that it can be applied properly, that it can, uh, handle the abrasion testing, the lubricity testing, all the things that are necessary to bring this to a true product launch. But really that’s where it, it stemmed from so.

David Geiger: Break down this seed treatment process, how exactly is this applied to the seed? What, how does it go about before it even gets to the farmer in this case?

Brandon Meiners: Sure. So as a seed treatment, as you know, HydraPrime is a seed treatment really is. No different than most of the seed treatments in the industry. Really what HydraPrime is, is it’s a direct replacement as a polymer in a, a normal system. So it can be a replacement for a, a typical polymer, or it could be an addition on top of that, but again, it would be applied, um, you know, at a certain ounce per uh, a hundred weight. Uh, just like any other kind of seed treatment product, um, that is out there, um, it handles, you know, uh, the same, there’s no like challenges. There’s no like, plugging issues with it. So really it’s just a nice, like, it’s gonna be an easy plug and play for anybody that’s out there that’s doing seed treatment. So, if it’s a local retailer, if it’s a, you know, a, a, you know, a seed company that, you know, independent seed, uh, dealer that’s got his own, uh, seed treatment, uh, equipment. So again, just really, it’s a nice easy plug and play into a, uh. You know, anybody’s, uh, current, uh, program

David Geiger: polymers. Let’s continue following it down. This Yeah. Rabbit tail for Yeah. Folks who may not be as familiar with the pro process. Uh, that’s just something that’s placed on the exterior of a, just as an example, a corn or a soybean seed before it’s planted.

Brandon Meiners: Yeah, so, so, uh, in most seed treatment, uh, formulas today, there is a polymer that is there and it’s mainly meant for adhesion. So you got your actives, you’ll have a fungicide and insecticide, you might have a biological, that’s part of that seed treatment formulation. There’s so many in the industry today that have these different actives, right? And they’re gonna use a polymer of some sort to adhere that to the seed to kinda. You know, first adhere and then also help maybe with like, lubricity, uh, just so that again, it’s, it’s flowing through the planter well, you know, uh, those kind of things. Um, what’s unique about ours is that ours can be plugged in, like it’s a polymer, but it’s bringing a completely different value than just adhesion. Okay, so where HydraPrime comes in is that it brings in that hydrophobic, uh, piece to it, which means that it, it actively draws water into the seed, and it’s very aggressive at drawing water into the seed. Um, so that plant, that, that seed’s in the ground, one of the typical issues that, uh, growers are gonna have is uneven emergence because you have varying moisture levels throughout different soil types on a farm. The, the whole purpose of the HydraPrime is to be able to manage that water more, uh, uh, consistently so that those seeds germinate at the same time and they emerge at the same time.

David Geiger: That is extremely interesting to think about. When you talk about the drawing water into the seed aspect, the initial thought I have is, you know, when you go out to the pool or you’re in the water, you’re in the tub too long and your skin gets a little wrinkly, your, your skin is absorbing actively water. Sure. In a way. And it can be, you know, it depends on who you are. It could be faster or slower. Yeah. But. Seeds do the same thing. Yep. That’s how they draw in and start that growing process. How, how does that work? How do you make it go in faster? Explain that.

Brandon Meiners: Yeah, so, so our base Bio-Gel technology, we, we, we have a very unique organic acid that we use. Um. That, uh, really has never been introduced in agriculture before. That is extremely hydrophobic. Okay? So this is an organic acid that is actually a part of natural plant, plant processes. And, uh, that, you know, again, is actually part of root exudates. So I can kind of think about a root exudate and what that like, that kind of slimy substance. It’s around the roots and it holds onto soil. Um, it also draws moisture in root, exudates hold moisture next to that root right? And so we’re, we’re taking that same type of organic acid technology. And applying that in a situation where we’re going to draw and not just draw moisture, but hold moisture. That’s the big part, right? So. As, uh, with a seed treatment, we draw that moisture into the seed and around that seed, and then all of a sudden now that water is actually held there in place and it keeps it from drying out, right? So it’s gonna keep it there for an extended period of time, creating kind of like a micro environment, right? Which is really unique. We almost want to trick the plant into thinking that it’s in a better environment than what it actually is. Um, so that’s what really kind of sets the HydraPrime and that technology apart from anything else that’s out there.

David Geiger: So can you dive a little deeper? I think you mentioned it in one of, uh, your comments earlier, but why is it more or less important to have a seed that can absorb water in a more efficient or quicker way?

Brandon Meiners: Yeah, I think, I think most farmers that are listening to this, they understand that the mo, the most critical point of the growing season is at planting. Right. And I think everybody understands that, you know, uh, plant spacing, you know, and not having doubles and skips in the field are obviously Im, you know, important to, you know, uh, making sure we ensure. You know, cap or like capitalizing on our, our best yield opportunity. But one thing that has been talked about a lot here, I think over the last five years in agriculture and understood better, is that emergence and uneven emergence is actually probably more, uh, negatively, uh, there’s a more negative impact to the overall yield from that side of things. And so. Why is there uneven emergence? Right? Well, every single farm, every single field has varying soil types that are gonna have varying amounts of, uh, organic matter in the soil. It’s gonna be able to hold water in different ways, right? So you’re gonna have a dry area of your field, you’re gonna have an area that holds like, you know, too much moisture. Well, at the end of the day, it’s, it’s, you know, water temperature and biology that determines when that seed germinates, how fast it sets roots, and how fast it emerges out of the ground. So, you know. Every farm is impacted by this. Okay? So where HydraPrime comes in is to create that consistent, uh, water management across the board, right? So even if you have a low organic matter soil, but there’s some moisture there, it’s gonna draw that moisture in, create that microenvironment for that seeded germinate. At the same time or more consistently with an area of the field that might have a higher organic matter level and more moisture that’s available at that spot. But that way we can get that even emergence coming out of the ground. You know, so we, you know, just to kind of go back a little bit, we do see a little bit earlier emergence, but what’s more impactful is the even emergence across the field because we, we, again, we have consistent moisture management across the board.

David Geiger: Brandon, just to bring all this together. Yep. New technology like this is something that is. A huge part of how agriculture, modern agriculture works today. Mm-hmm. Why is it important to continue this level of innovation to you specifically, and why is it important at a state level and, uh, just as an example here in Iowa, why would it be important for us to continue to follow the science and look at innovations like this new technology?

Brandon Meiners: Well, I’ll tell you, um, at the end of the day, we have farmers probably take on more risk than anybody in this world, and that risk has some of the biggest impacts from a financial standpoint. Uh, you know, especially a financial standpoint, especially in our markets today than, than probably any other industry that’s out here. So for farmers. What really boils down to is they need to be concerned about what can they do to manage risk on their farm, to ensure that they’re continuing to have consistent profitability. You know, I’m gonna, I’m gonna say, I’m gonna take a step off to the side for a second. We talk about sustainability and regenerative ag. You know, I’ve, I’ve been in very much a critic of sustainable ag for a long time, even though. I, my master’s is in su uh, sustainable food systems. Okay. But the problem is, is that so much gets talked about about the environment, uh, side of things, but very little gets talked about the economical sustainability. Right. And we see that that’s a massive challenge. You, you can’t be sustainable unless you’re profitable. Okay. So these innovations that are coming out such as HydraPrime or, you know, we have our, our, our carbon based dry fertilizer. There’s a lot of innovations from a lot of other good companies that are out here. At the end of the day, it’s to help the growers, the farmers out here manage risks to ensure that they get consistent crops, consistent yield year after year, despite the uncontrollables. Right. We saw it this year, right? The, the weather this year that we had. Set it up for a massive amount of disease pressure throughout the Midwest, right? And that had some massively negative impacts on these growers. So what kind of innovations can we come up with, you know, for growers or not, not just our company, but our companies, um, you know, that are out here that can again, help these guys to manage that level of risk that is the unknowns that are coming, you know, at them year after year after year.

David Geiger: Brandon Meiners is joining us with Midwestern BioAg, talking about sustainability, HydraPrime, their new innovative product, and also the many parts of agriculture, how it affects both, as you mentioned, economically and from an environmental standpoint. Right. Brandon, thank you so much for joining us today.

Brandon Meiners: Yeah. Thank you David.

David Geiger: By the way, if you did have a chance to talk about your, your product there, could you give us a place to go to if folks wanted to learn more about it?

Brandon Meiners: Yeah. Um, I’ll tell you what, right. Um, the timing is kind of good here, but, uh, I would say go check out our social medias on Facebook or, uh. You know, we we’re on Twitter, Instagram because we just released the HydraPrime video that shows the technology in real time, and it is extremely, extremely impactful to see. Um, so I would highly encourage you to go check that out first and then obviously. Give us a call or, you know, come to our website and hit, you know, hit us up on our contact page. Uh, we’re, we’re just extremely excited about this. Like, we think this is gonna be, again, one of those technologies that in a way is groundbreaking to agriculture. So very excited.

David Geiger: Brandon Meiners, thank you so much again for joining us on the Iowa Ag Podcast.

Brandon Meiners: Appreciate it, David. Thank you for having me.