Columbus, Ohio, USA
January 23, 2025
Meristem Crop Performance® today announced the next formulation improvement of EXCAVATOR® AMS powered by CYCLESTRIKE™, a powerful consortium of microbes held in the patented BIO-CAPSULE® LR designed to keep biology vigorous until the point of impact.
“It’s time to take up to $50 out of your synthetic fertilizer spend and unlock the plant nutrition you already own,” said Mitch Eviston, Meristem Founder and CEO, in announcing the new formulation. “And you can do that better than ever with EXCAVATOR AMS powered by CYCLESTRIKE.” He says that since Meristem launched EXCAVATOR five years ago, he’s seen a lot of me-too products enter the market, “and that’s why we’ve pushed EXCAVATOR AMS up another notch with CYCLESTRIKE.” With it, Eviston says, “you are truly getting it all: a great consortium of microbes kept vigorous in BIO-CAPSULE LR plus the best surfactant, water conditioner, and nitrogen to speed decomposition. This is the very best residue breakdown product on the market.”
“One of the things we're seeing in our research is microbial blends that go after residues more effectively,” says Connor Sible, Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. “And combining these biological mixes with the nitrogen sulfur sources such as AMS tends to be synergistic, and you are getting a one plus one equals three scenario.” WATCH Dr. Sible Here.
No-till farmer Nick Fries, of Summit View Ag near Norwalk, Wisc., says residue used to be an every-season struggle. “But with EXCAVATOR we found a product that has helped us manage that over the past four years.” He’s done a lot of trials during that time.
“Comparing fields we treated to untreated, you see a big difference in stand count and stand quality of soybeans,” he says. “Not only soybeans, but your corn-on-corn acres.” Fries says residue management with EXCAVATOR has become a big deal for him in pursuing higher corn yields. “When we degrade those stalks, we can get better seed-to-soil contact to get better emergence and a more even stand in our corn-on-corn, and I’m also looking for those nutrients to boost the next crop.” CYCLESTRIKE, says Fries, seems to be another step-change in speedy stalk degradation.
“We used EXCAVATOR AMS with CYCLESTRIKE in an application in November on some acres, and the difference between treated and untreated is night and day,” he says. “EXCAVATOR is a great product, and as Meristem has improved it, so have the results. CYCLESTRIKE is a simple process: Unscrew your jug cap, screw the CYCLESTRIKE capsule on, push a button down and release the microbes into the EXCAVATOR AMS.”
Chris Thrasher, Meristem’s Director of Innovation and Product Management says CYCLESTRIKE will be co-packed with another Meristem innovation: BioUp™, a solution formulated to neutralize the negative effect chlorine in city water has on biologicals of any kind.
“Chlorine is hard on biologicals, and we’ve worked with many farmers who’ve confirmed a difference in efficacy when they fill their rig from a water source in town compared with well water at the farm,” he explains. “BioUp is the remedy for that and every box of EXCAVATOR AMS with CYCLESTRIKE will carry it. Growers will simply use the kit-provided BioUp to treat their water before adding other products to the tank.”
While Meristem’s “Biology Is Fertility” approach is drawing favor from many who are adopting more regenerative agriculture concepts at the field level, Eviston says the Meristem mission remains clear: “We’re all about helping farmers raise more bushels for less.”
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