Residue Digestion: Putting Dollars Back in Your Pocket

Microbial technology is the next “big thing” in agriculture - that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Several big players in the industry are coming out with nitrogen stabilizers, biostimulants, residue digesters and more. However, BW Fusion is not just starting out. We’ve been in this business for 30 years while our competitors are just now entering the playing field.

Over three decades of research and development by Biodyne-USA has produced several top-of-the line microbial products we’re proud to star in the BW Fusion lineup today. The foundation of these products, and the cornerstone application our expert agronomists promote to all growers, is a residue digestion product that shows real results in the field - Meltdown.

Meltdown’s team of over two dozen unique microbial strains work together with organic acids and nitrogen (1-0-0) to degrade complex polymers such as cellulose, lignin, chitin and related compounds.

The physical evidence is clear. Tough, tire-popping corn stalk stubble crumbles away after Meltdown’s microbes eat away on the residue for a few months. In the spring, this results in uniform emergence and optimized stand due to reduced hair-pinning and planters slicing through residue rather than bouncing over it.

The microscopic evidence is also clear. Meltdown enhances the return of micro and macro nutrients from the residue to the soil. What was once idle crop stubble (and a physical tie-up of your investment dollars) is transformed into a source of nutrition for the next season.

Basically, Meltdown turns trash into treasure. So, along with the optimized stand due to less stubble, this powerful breakdown also drives the necessary CO2 cycling back into the plant and soil and promotes higher yields through healthier and more biologically diverse soils.

The best way to truly spot the magic of Meltdown is to pull samples in the field - which is exactly what we’ve done in this 2020 V3 Soil Sample. The chart above shows how various soil indicators and nutrients are positively correlated with the application of Meltdown.

The most common question we get from growers, though, is how do all these physical and microscopic benefits ultimately affect their yield?

These southern Illinois Meltdown trials help tell the yield story. Even without the zone notation in Trial 1, the Meltdown application can be easily spotted on the yield map as it produced a nearly 30 bushel gain over the untreated zones. In a separate field in Trial 2, we see a 16 bushel per acre advantage using Meltdown.

We know the results can speak for themselves. Find more trials and data in our Field Trials and Results guide. Or, give us the opportunity to walk you through it ourselves.