As soon as the combines stop running this season, preparation for next season begins.

Preparation shouldn’t start with anything other than Meltdown. This powerful residue digester puts the stubble left behind in fields this fall to work, driving nutrient cycling for next year’s crop. It’s time to let our biology and soil work for us to help achieve our goals.

Behind the Biology

Meltdown is carefully formulated with 30 strains of diverse microbes, each designed to carry out a specific function. Many of the microbial functions focus on degraders.

Cellulose, lignin and chitin make up the thick outer lining of corn stalks—the rigid exterior that makes the stalk nearly impossible to budge. Waxy degraders eat on the outside of the stalks, paving the way for cellulose, lignin and chitin degraders to get in and break down the stalks.

As those degraders break down the stalks, they open up more holes for air and water to penetrate through. When the stalks are broken down, they are reverted back to their most basic state—nutrient rich organic matter.

This organic matter provides value to your soil by building water extractable organic carbon, which is key for nutrient availability.

Dynamic Duo

When we pair Meltdown with HumiCal, we see even more noticeable improvements to soil structure. The calcium from HumiCal provides the soil with more oxygen, which creates a better environment for Meltdown’s microbes to live in (along with the additional microbes from HumiCal and other BW Fusion products).

The better the microbes’ environment, the better they’ll perform for your crop. It’s just that simple.

See the Proof

Mason Claude, BW Fusion Agronomy Research Lead, put soil biology to the test at our Iowa research plot.

In the chart below, you can see that higher soil WEOC levels directly correlate with higher HT3 levels, a.k.a. higher nutrient availability.

Now, notice how these soil test levels correlate with yields in the maps below.

The acres shown on the bottom of the map, which correlate with the “CRP” column in the chart above, had the highest WEOC, HT3 and yield responses. The West and East sides of the top portion had less impressive stats.

These data trends prove the impact that better soil biology has on the yields you see at harvest.

Now let’s look at how BW products make that better biology happen.

The chart below illustrates BW Fusion’s impact on HT3 and WEOC, comparing untreated acres to acres treated with Biocast Plus and Meltdown. That’s a 43% increase in nutrient availability!

On top of the many soil and crop health benefits, Meltdown even benefits your equipment. You’ll have an easier time running your finisher through the field, with the disc flowing right through the stalks, rather than navigating the minefield of tire-popping stubble. Additionally, you’ll have less hair pinning and more consistent stands.

Making the Most of Your Meltdown Application

Ready to get Meltdown in your fields and see these benefits for yourself? Here are our recommendations for Meltdown application.

In a perfect world, Meltdown would be applied by itself as soon as possible after harvest. However, we know that’s not always possible.

The next best option would be to apply Meltdown with your herbicide, 2-3 weeks after harvest. If that’s not possible either, don’t sweat! You can apply Meltdown as late in the year as you need to, as long as you have 48-72 hours straight of daytime temperatures above 40°F for the microbes to settle into their new home.

If you utilize tillage practices, you can either apply Meltdown 7-10 days before tilling to give the microbes time to get established, or apply it after your tillage passes.

P.S. Check out our blog on How Water Quality and pH Impact Product Performance to learn more about how to make the most out of your product application!

Contact your local BW sales rep to put your stubble to work!