Watch the above introduction to SumaGrow—What is its impact? How does it work? Why do I need it? Once you hear the benefits and “real-life” testimonials from the farmers themselves, you will certainly want to implement SumaGrow in your farm.
Category: Corporate
The SumaGrow Solution: Why Chemical Fertilizers Are Ruining Your Land
Let’s face it, chemical fertilizer is becoming more and more costly. It contributes to lowering the organic matter in the soil, adding to the acidity, and increasing phosphorus levels. Your land is precious. Watch Dr. Allen Williams talk with farmer, Mr. Dusty Taylor about how SumaGrow can protect your land, cut down on fertilizer costs and increase soil fertility:
Source: SumaGrow vs. Chemical Fertilizer
Improving the Soil: A Revolutionary Agricultural Technology Rejuvenates Crops Around the Globe From Its Home Base in Hattiesburg.
by Adam Bruns
Farmers face a dilemma: Synthetic fertilizer overuse has worn out the very soil it’s meant to enhance, often leading to a self-perpetuating cycle that means even more fertilizer applied to less and less arable land. The soil retains less water, continues to degrade, and agricultural pollutant runoff leads to ugly phenomena like “the dead zone.”
“Look at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and you’ll see about a million acres of something that looks like chocolate milk,” says Wayne Wade, co-founder and president of Bio Soil Enhancers, Inc. (BSEI), based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It’s an algae buildup caused by accumulated nutrient runoff.
Meanwhile, the world’s food consumers — i.e. all of us — face our own dilemma. Even as we face dwindling water and land resources for growing food crops, by 2050 we need to grow about twice as much to sustain ourselves.
Enter SumaGrow, a product developed by Wade and BSEI Co-founder and CEO Louis Elwell, III, from their work in microbial remediation for the waste management industry. It increases water retention of the soil, fosters crop productivity improvement of up to 20 percent, allows farmers to reduce fertilizer use by up to 50 percent, and helps grow food that tastes better. It won the Google-sponsored “Solve for X” competition. And when it won the award for product design and global marketing potential, John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, said, “We are talking about disrupting agriculture across the entire planet. I think that is a pretty good opportunity.”
Growth Medium
SumaGrow is the seed of a Mississippi company with rich global export and commerce connections: BSEI received Mississippi’s Governor’s Award for Excellence in Exporting in 2013 and 2015, and was ranked second and fourth, respectively, on the 2013 and 2014 Inc. 500 lists of fastest growing private U.S companies in manufacturing.
Housed in a production, lab, testing and headquarters complex that used to be a Sears warehouse and a Baptist church, BSEI recently expanded its R&D capabilities through The Accelerator, a tech-driven business incubator founded by the University of Southern Mississippi. In 2017, Mississippi public universities received $420.7 million in external research funding, which supported 2,407 projects.
Aimee Murry, BSEI’s public relations & marketing communications manager, says the state continues to help BSEI and others grow their global business ties, from new leads in Central and South America to Israel, several African nations and Vietnam, which today is home to BSEI’s largest customer.
“The Mississippi Development Authority and Mississippi are top notch as far as vetting the companies on the ground before we get to that country,” she says, “so when we go and meet business-to-business, it’s a qualified meeting. That makes a big difference.”
“They do a great job,” says Wade of MDA’s assistance to his team’s trade missions abroad. “And we have one of the most supportive governors in the country when it comes to private business.”
Murry says at a recent networking event at the U.S. embassy in Peru, one attendee asked an embassy official which other states did this sort of networking. His answer? Only Mississippi.
The company does its part too, bringing diplomatic, scientific and business people into Hattiesburg from around the world for training classes and meetings, and thus showing them what Mississippi has to offer.
Tastes Great
Elwell says the company’s R&D with USM has helped in concrete ways, such as an alteration to SumaGrow’s original formulation to increase shelf life. He calls The Accelerator “an intellectual resource, a good brain pool,” as well as a place with certain equipment useful to both BSEI and a craft beer maker down the hall.
Mississippi State University in Starkville contributes too: Dr. Randall Smith of the Mississippi State Extension Service has been a lead investigator analyzing real-world data from growers utilizing SumaGrow.
Elwell thinks a potential new designation of “SumaGrown” could eventually be more valuable than being labeled organic.
“The most common testimonial is, ‘These are the best-tasting tomatoes I’ve ever had,’ ” says Elwell. “We don’t have enough inventory yet to put ‘Sumagrown’ on meaningful amounts of consumer product, but some growers are putting it on their packaging.” Those happy customers include the respected Pigott family in Mississippi, known for their satsuma citrus.
The market for too long has valued shelf life and appearance more than nutrition. Now, says Elwell, there’s a shift, driven by consumer awareness and demand for real food again. “We’re trying to find a way for the farmer to get paid for better taste” as well as better nutrition, he says. Restoring soil to its rightful state seems to lead to restoring rightful taste as well. Watermelon growers can tell the difference. Animals can too: Cattle will munch all the Sumagrown grass before they eat conventionally grown grass.
And because SumaGrow allows plants to essentially grow to their genetic potential, the BSEI photo album is bursting with photos of prize-winning produce.
When the company moved into The Accelerator in 2017, its sales growth was even more dramatic than that of a SumaGrow-assisted crop: 220 percent. Will the firm see further expansion in its near future?
“Of course,” says Wade. “We’ve been growing every year,” says Elwell. The pattern of steady reinvestment is familiar in the state: Among the companies expanding with support from the MDA is General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, with a $20-million investment in Shannon that represents the laser manufacturing operation’s 10th expansion in 13 years, and will boost the site’s workforce to more than 300. Milwaukee Tool is expanding in Greenwood, Jackson and Olive Branch, investing $33.4 million and creating 660 jobs. It’s the company’s fourth expansion investment in the state in six years.
As for BSEI, even the fertilizer companies are starting to see its value, which Wade and his partner describe in a way that serves as an apt metaphor for good economic development:
“The more organic the soil is, the less erosion you’re going to have,” Wade says of the company’s flagship product. “We’re actually improving the soil,” adds Elwell.
BSEI is the prize-winning fruit of the organic business ecosystem cultivated by the state of Mississippi, as it harvests a diverse crop of innovative firms.
Internet Source: Improving the Soil
Agrigain with SumaGrow: Making Your Soil Work For You
By Maura Keller
Mike Arnold, owner of Arnold Land and Cattle, is onto something. Spending the majority of his life in the cattle industry, Arnold understands what it takes to produce exceptional dairy and beef cattle. That’s why, three years ago, Arnold founded Agrigain, a company that offers the power of SumaGrow for today’s dairy farmer and cattleman, resulting in exceptional feed for their herds, as well as profitable, sustainable farming practices.
“I’ve been in the cattle business all my life,” Arnold says, “Before I got involved with Agrigain with SumaGrow inside, I watched the product being used for five years. I watched the tests and the trials because I needed to know that it really worked before venturing into starting a company that offers SumaGrow product. Our product can be used for both organic and conventional farm practices. We are reducing fertilizer by up to 50 percent and increasing yield from five to 20 percent.
If there is one thing Arnold knows a thing or two about, its cattle. In the past 20 years he’s backgrounded more than 50,000 cattle and successfully served as a Superior Livestock Representative for 25 years. When he came upon SumaGrow, a liquid concentrate microbial agricultural product designed by Bio Soil Enhancers, Inc. (BSEI), to promote soil and plant health, he decided to market the product to help other cattleman and farmers to meet their yield goals and improve their bottom lines.
Proven Results
And that’s where Agrigain comes in. Products containing SumaGrow, like Agrigain, have been shown to result in higher yields, as well as increased nutrient density in forages.
Agricultural consultant Chuck Grantham explains the beneficial microorganisms contained in Agrigain products are a key part of the product functionality as they stretch the overall plant health and soil health. By producing a healthier plant, the animals are able to take in more of the nutrients from the soil, which results in a higher quality product that the dairy cattle consume.
“In dairy, that means growing a feed that has a higher crude protein, higher total digestible nutrients, and a higher relative feed value. The higher the quality of the forage, the more milk production that these dairy farmers can expect,” Grantham says.
It also means that dairy farmers who use Agrigain products have reported higher stocking rates, higher average daily gains and healthier dairy cows with shiny hair coats. Mineral requirements for dairy herds may decrease as the livestock ingest more natural minerals in the plant from grazing healthier, more nutrient-dense forages.
According to Pam Barr, owner of Barr Farms, a diversified dairy farm in Mendenhall, MS, the cows can tell. “They will walk past a bale of untreated hay to eat the SumaGrown hay. It’s sweeter,” Barr says.
The Agrigain team works with each dairy farmer to determine the proper application protocols of products containing SumaGrow that are specific to the needs of each farm. When used in conjunction with current growing practices, growers can see a decrease in fertilizer inputs of up to 50 percent. The objective is to reach the producer’s production goals while reducing fertilizer inputs.
How?
Agrigain products help improve fertilizer efficiency thus reducing the amount of applied nutrients required. The microorganisms contained in SumaGrow were specifically selected for their abilities to improve nutrient mobilization, unlock soil bound nutrients, and sequester nitrogen. Different concentrations and application rates may apply based on various factors such as soil condition and crop type.
“Agrigain products will help anything with a root system and can be used on all sizes of crop production,” Arnold says.
Arnold recommends performing soil tests when using Agrigain products because a soil analysis will show the fertility and mineral density of the soil and indicate what Agrigain products will best benefit a farm’s operation to meet production goals and animal health and well-being.
So what does this mean for animal performance?
In a study of beef steers’ summer grazing performance, the research indicated that the animals that grazed on SumaGrow treated sorghum plots had a cost advantage of +$101.45 over the conventionally fertilized plots. SumaGrow grazed cattle gained an average of .27 lbs per day more than the cattle grazing the untreated plots, and the SumaGrow treated pasture could handle two animals more per unit than the conventionally fertilized fields.
Conducted by Murray State University in Western Kentucky, the primary focus of this study was to determine the effectiveness of different methods of alternative pasture inoculations compared to traditional nitrogen fertilization. Thirty-two cross-bred steers were divided into four equal groups that weighed an average of 628 pounds at the beginning of the grazing period. BMR sorghum was planted no-till at a seeding rate of 19 pounds per acre. The four groups of steers were moved to fresh grazing paddocks when approximately 50 percent of the available forage dry matter in each paddock had been consumed.
The SumaGrow treated plots of BMR sorghum, showed a higher Average Daily Gain (ADG), a higher Animal Unit Month (AUM), and a significant cost advantage when compared to the nitrogen fertilization, raw milk, and a control (no treatment).
The ADG for the steers grazing the SumaGrow treated forage showed an additional gain per steer of 40.5 pounds for a 150-day warm season grazing period when compared to either the fertilizer only or the control group.
In calculating AUM, which for this trial was defined as the number of beef steer that one acre of forage could support for every 30 day period, once again the SumaGrow treated forages were significantly greater than the fertilizer only or control treatments.
Per acre cost analysis for the treatment and application costs indicated an advantage of $101.45 per acre for the SumaGrow treatment compared to the control. The SumaGrow had the best overall performance with higher ADGs, increased AUMs, and better return on investment.
Improving Soil Water Efficiency
“Everything above ground is dependent on what’s going on below ground. So the fertility of the soil is paramount,” says Chuck Grantham, agricultural consultant at SumaGrow. “When you have an increase in soil fertility, you have an increase in the water holding capacity of the soil. So instead of running off or standing, the water is held within the soil leading to increased water holding capacity therefore retaining vital nutrients that are available for the plants. This is key when evaluating the water stress that is occurring across the agriculture industry today and what is predicted for the future.”
Every state in the US is predicted to experience water stressors within the next ten years and uncertainties well beyond that. As thousands of acres are left fallow as drought conditions prevail in some parts of the country, wet and muddy farmland has frustrated other producers and delayed planting and harvesting. Both conditions will adversely affect producers’ crop production and earning potential.
“It has made a significant difference with drought tolerance,” says Barr, who has been using SumaGrow products for three years. “We planted our rye grass around October and had such a dry season that my neighbor’s fields didn’t germinate. They are literally across the street from our fields. Our neighbors told me that we were the only ones around that grew any grass.”
As Arnold further explains, it is because the biologicals in Agrigain increase the soil’s fertility and nutrient efficiency that plants and forages produce longer, denser root systems that capture untapped water and nutrient resources. This produces the healthy, resilient and higher-nutrient crops and forages.
“This winter we had some ice and our grass recovered much quicker than the neighbors. It’s also convenient because we can mix it with our herbicide applications so we have to make only one pass over the fields,” said Barr.
The Future is Here
There have been unprecedented shifts in agricultural production in recent years. From polarizing policies to the growing concern over the environmental impact of conventional agricultural production, the agricultural industry has seen a dramatic increase in the emphasis on using products and procedures that will positively impact the environment.
Agricultural industries and publications all now increasingly publish informative material that stress a healthy community of microorganisms are essential to improving soil health and reducing the environmental and economic impact of agriculture while meeting our global nutrition demands.
While many in agribusiness may be newly aware of the benefits of agricultural biologicals, BSEI has been recognized for being in the forefront of this biological movement for almost a decade, nationally and internationally. Consider way back in 2011 when SumaGrow was highlighted in “Bison World.”
“A new organic soil microbial introduced by Bio Soil Enhancers, Inc. shows significant promise for increased forage and crop yields, improved brix levels and significant or elimination of chemical and forms of fertilizer.” (Bison World, 2011)
“Bottom line,” says Arnold, “We are reducing nitrate runoff because we are putting something back in the soil. We know which microbes work best in the soil, and which ones do not. That’s why we are so far ahead of anybody in the industry.”
For more than a decade, SumaGrow biologicals have been in production, following more than 20 years of research and development by BSEI. Ongoing research that includes numerous field trials from universities, third parties, and specialized testing facilities, demonstrates the benefits of using agricultural microbials for higher yields, lower input costs, and improved water-holding capacity of the soil.
Specifically, using Agrigain, SumaGrow inside products help repopulate the soil with beneficial microorganisms that work in the root zone of the plant to help retain water and nutrients for the plant’s use. This supports higher yielding and hardier crops.
“At the end of the day what we really want to do it is leave it better than we found it,” Arnold says. “At Agrigain we realize it is about maintaining a healthy balance, and if we don’t do something soon—because we have fertilized with mostly harsh alkaline commercial fertilizer for so long—we aren’t going to get as good of results as we want, both now and in the future.”
Internet Source: Agrigain Article
Meet Our Scientific Team
Many people have asked who is behind the development of SumaGrow so we put together a brochure of our scientific team.
Here is a link to a PDF file: SumaGrow Scientific Team
SEEDSTOCK Article: Too Good to be True?
Too Good to be True? Not so, says Founder of Yield Boosting, Fertilizer Reducing Soil Enhancement Product
July 5, 2012 | Noelle Swan
Lou Elwell makes some mighty big claims about Bio Soil Enhancers, Inc.’s SumaGrow, a sustainable and organic microbial formula designed to enrich and rehabilitate soil. He will readily tell you that SumaGrow’s 10 microbes work together to increase crop yields, significantly reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, and improve the water retention of the soil. He started singing that tune in 2009, but says he ran into skepticism. “It became obvious that our story sounded too good to be true,” Elwell says, adding many customers suggested that he might as well be selling snake oil at the county fair. So, in 2010, he started looking for third-party confirmation to lend some validity to his claims.
Since, Elwell says that he has had SumaGrow field tested in 20 states and examined by five different universities. One study conducted by the department of molecular biology and microbiology at the University of Michigan confirmed that application of SumaGrow reduced the need for both pesticides and fertilizers, while enhancing crop productivity and improving soil health. The SumaGrow website points to field trials all over the country detailing promising yields for a variety of crops including, alfalfa, corn, cotton, forage/hay crops, lawn/garden, soybeans, and vegetables.
Creating SumaGrow
Elwell says that he has been cultivating microbes for 20 years, first under the name Bio Solutions Franchise Corp. Bio Solutions remediated waste from restaurant grease traps, boasting 42 service locations at its height, ranging from fast food restaurants to some of the swankiest restaurants in the country. When Hurricane Katrina hit, it took the factory’s roof with it. By the time the factory was operational again, Bio Solutions had lost several customers. Those lost accounts lost combined with accounts they had lost while pushing clients to move from remediation to recycling forced Elwell and Wade to rethink their company. Elwell says that Bio Solutions is still around serving those customers that stuck with him through the rough times, though he no longer actively promotes the original business. All his energy and investment lies in Bio Soil Enhancers, Inc and the cultivation of microbes for agricultural purposes.
Bio Soil Enhancers, Inc. is a research and development company and manufacturer, which licenses the SumaGrow formula to independent distributors across the country and the world. In the early years, Elwell says that he and his business partner Wayne Wade funded the venture entirely. Since, they have brought in strategic investors that are active collaborators in the company.
Elwell said that one reason for creating a business around soil enhancement was that the science had already been established indicating that live microbes play a key role in soil performance. Intentionally making these microbes work for the farmer in an accessible and profitable way, however, was another story. “Getting those microbes from the petri dish to the greenhouse is an achievement, but getting them from the greenhouse to the field is a herculean achievement.
Microbes are live, albeit simple, animals. Some strains are compatible with one another and others are not, Elwell explains. The scientists working in his factory and labs have experience cultivating large-scale microbe populations and learning to deal with the intricacies of microbe interactions, he says. The result is a formula rich with 10 different microbes that live together and perform multiple functions. Elwell says that while there are competitors that offer microbial soil enhancers, most of them rely on a single microbe.
Putting Microbes to Work
According the SumaGrow website, much of what the microbes found in SumaGrow do is convert resources naturally found in the soil into a form that can be used by plants. A certain percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous, and minerals such magnesium and calcium can lie locked in the soil and Elwell says SumaGrow can change that. Beyond that, the website boasts that SumaGrow can help to maintain an optimum ph, even under extreme environmental conditions.
If SumaGrow does half of what it claims to do, it could have tremendous potential for sustainable farming. Because fertilizers kill microbes, Elwell recommends that farmers cut back their fertilizers by at least 50% when applying SumaGrow, adding that the plants should perform better than they did with the full fertilizer regimen. Currently, a portion of the fertilizer that is applied to most crops leaches phosphorous and nitrogen, two key culprits in the formation of dead zones in bays, gulfs and lakes.
Elwell says that the roots of plants grown with SumaGrow are bigger, deeper, and broader than conventional roots. Bigger roots not only support more productive plants, but they better equip plants to deal with fluctuations in rainfall. Roots that reach deeper take longer to dry out as soil tends to dry out from the surface down. They are also better at finding their own water sources than shallow roots.
Additionally, Elwell says that the microbes in SumaGrow can gather sandy soil into clumps that are better able to retain water while also breaking down clay that might get water logged and contribute to root rot or fungal growth. By altering the absorbency of the soil, Elwell believes that SumaGrow can both enhance drought tolerance and help to reduce runoff.
It is not hard to see why SumaGrow has been compared to snake oil. The list of purported benefits to the plant, farmer, and environment goes on and on. Elwell recognizes this and continues to commission studies and trials to support the product.
Testimony from the Field
Jodie Cammack, a former USDA employee, who worked on field trials for organic rice was so impressed by the results of SumaGrow that when the USDA announced that his office was moving, he opted to stay in Beaumont, Texas and sell SumaGrow himself. In a telephone interview, he talked about the first time he tried out a gallon of SumaGrow on his rice crops. “At the end of the season I started to calculate these [crop] weights and was just amazed at what I saw.” He added that when he first saw the numbers he went back and reweighed everything himself to make sure there had not been any error.
In 2011, the press started to notice a growing crowd of cheerleaders like Cammack were throwing their support behind SumaGrow. By year’s end, Popular Science had named Bio Soil Enhancers a grand award winner in the Best of What’s New for 2011 and the company had turned its first profit.
Internet Source: Seedstock Article
SumaGrow Peer Reviewed Journal Article
This article was written by Dr. Lalithakumari Janarthanam who served for six years as our Director of Research & Development (now retired). In the U.S., we are not allowed to make any biopesticidal claims, so the article title and abstract are copied here with a link to the article below, without comment:
Bioprotectant with multifunctional microorganisms: A new dimension in plant protection
ABSTRACT In the present investigations it is proved that the inoculation of multifunctional microbial formulation to the soil improves soil quality, soil health, plant health, growth, yield, and quality of a broad spectrum of crops reducing chemical fertilizer and pesticide input. These microbial populations consist of selected species including plant growth promoting rhizo-bacteria, N2-fixing bacteria, Phosphate solubilizers, phytohormone producers, plant disease suppressive bacteria and fungi. To make it very simple a different dimension as „Bio Protectant” is given in this presentation to the collective synergistic effects of beneficial microbes stimulating soil, plant and environmental health reducing chemical fertilizer and pesticide application. A healthy plant does not require unwanted, poisonous chemical pesticides. Review of literature is focused in multiple ways on the growth promoting ability along with the biological activity of beneficial microorganisms. The present SumaGrow-F2 formulation contains multi-functional Rhizobium species, Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus, and Trichoderma spp. The recorded novel benefits of SumaGrow-F2 formulation in the Green House and Field are discussed here as microbes increasing plant health, soil health, and root health of a broad spectrum of crops. Not only can it eliminate almost all insect infestations and reduce fungal or bacterial infection, it also creates a healthier environment for plant growth. The result is healthy crops with a corresponding increase in the yield of fruits or vegetables or grains. Modern trend is to look for inspiring intelligent multi-functional microbial Plant protectant or bio protectant for sustainable agriculture.
Here is the article:
Bioprotectant with multifunctional microorganisms – A new dimension in plant protection JBiopest
Video to Promote the State of Mississippi
Bio Soil Enhancers, Inc., the manufacturer of SumaGrow products, has won several awards from the State of Mississippi for exporting, including the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Exporting, which is designed to recognize Mississippi companies for their success in maintaining or increasing export sales.
Due to Bio Soil’s exporting success, the company was asked to make a promotional video promoting the State of Mississippi:
sumagrow.info 