Redox Grows – Details, episodes & analysis

Those in agriculture face daily challenges. In Central Oregon, grower Rob Galyen not only persevered through drought, he also fought and won against an insidious and unlikely foe for his age: fast moving cancer.   

Through his family support, fortitude and an aggressive treatment program, Rob is now cancer free. 

Rob said it his family was his anchor through grueling treatments, including 36 sessions of radiation.

“They’re the reason to my why, plain and simple” he said.

Galyen’s crop mix includes specialty seed crops, wheat and hay. His nutrition program includes Redox. 

Quantification is crucial to successful farming. With The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) granting certification to Mainstay® Si, Redox Bio-Nutrients is the only company with two certified biostimulants. 

Last fall, TFI certification was given to Mainstay® Calcium 2.0.

Redox Lead Agronomist John Kelly comments on the importance of the independent and rigorous certification, and the beneficial role Mainstay® Si plays for crops. 

Golf popularity is on an upswing, and a crucial part of a positive experience is maintaining premium quality turfgrass.

The Redox TurfRx team works with superintendents throughout the U.S. and internationally, providing next generation technology for superior results. 

New additions to the team will help secure still more positive collaborations. 

“It all starts at the beginning with the technology we’re using and the philosophy of plant charge balance,” said Chris Toporski, Redox TurfRx Northeast Agronomist. “If we can get that plant moving in the right direction using those secondary metabolites to really make everything work efficiency, then we can reduce stress on the plant and on the playing surfaces, so the superintendents can take that time to focus on other things.”

TJ Winzeler, the Redox TurfRx Southwest Agronomist, is helping superintendents maintain courses with several challenges, most notably water.

“Down in the Southwest every drop of water that’s used is tracked,” he said. “Every drop of water that’s used is owned by someone and gets paid for by someone. It’s the number one limiting factor in being able to grow any sort of medium and being able to expand your business, in some cases.”

Commonalities between all golf regions, and all of agriculture, is finding the ability to do more with less. Redox TurfRx technology is backed by more than 30 years of research and proven results to do just that.

Every year, thousands who work hard to make sure golf experience is the best it can be get together for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Show.  For the first time in nearly 40 years, the event was held in Phoenix, with thousands from throughout the U.S. and overseas on hand.

The conference and show are a great opportunity for those in the industry to ensure the industry remains strong, including making the superintendent’s job easier.

“Our members they’re on the front line” remarked GCSAA CEO, Rhett Evans. “They certainly know that, without the golf course, there is no business or game of golf. It begins with them. The pressure to be able to be more sustainable, to manage costs, and to meet the expectations of golfers is extremely high.”

This show provided an excellent opportunity for the Redox TurfRx team to meet with current and prospective customers, as well as our network of retailers.

There’s a positive feeling for the year, with a surge in golf popularity, due in part to people seeking outdoor alternatives during Covid outbreaks.

Superintendents also have plenty of success stories regarding Redox technology.

“It took me 22 years before I found Redox, so I struggled with challenges from day one,” said Dean Piller, longtime Superintendent of the Cordova Bay Golf Course in Victoria, British Columbia. “I started with a very simple program with Redox, using their Fairway product, which is a really great soluble carbon source. Then I added some PeneCal, and that really helped reduce the amount of heat stress, the soil started to work better for me, we cut back on the nitrogen so there’s much less clippings, so the whole system became easier to maintain.”

Piller said after more than a dozen years, based on the results he has seen, “we are fully committed to Redox in all of our fertility programs.”

“Once I started using Redox, it changed the dynamics of my soil greatly,” Scott Dulina, Director of Golf Course Maintenance at Champion Turf Club at St. James in Port St. Lucie, Florida. “I had poor infiltration prior to using Redox, and it has greatly helped me in my spray programs- not only in my greens, but I was able to take my greens program and expand it into further areas."

Additional attendees at the show featured in this podcast are Mory Ogata with Axxion in Japan, a key partner with Redox, and Frank LaVardera with Audubon International, who is working with golf courses far and wide to help them be as environmentally friendly as possible.

U.S. farmers have made dramatic productivity gains over the generations, which is in large part due to advancements in research.

Dr. Gifford Gillette, lead researcher at Redox Bio-Nutrients, said he expects even more scientific advancements to help growers in the coming years.

“I couldn’t be more excited for the agricultural community, in general, with the work that we’re doing,” he remarked. “I’m grateful that we have a situation at Redox that values science and puts the resources necessary to do it in a quality fashion."

2023 was a monumental year for Redox research, including 44 off site field trials, with 21 different crops in 15 states, as well as 78 trials on the research farm, greenhouse and grow in boxes, covering 24 crops.

Gillette said priorities for 2024 include more study in the promising area of improving nitrogen efficiency, as well as water use efficiency in agriculture.

Already faced with many risks that come with working in agriculture, Jake Wenger was confronted with a massive challenge. In 2021 his son, Jaden, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

The same resilience that has sustained their longtime farm family was key to Jaden’s recovery.

“Resilience is bred in who we are as farmers,” Jake said. “So many times, we take health for granted.  That was one for our family that changed in a hurry.”

Only 12 years old at the time, Jaden successfully emerged from this nightmare and has resumed normal activity. To get there, he had to endure 224 days in the hospital, 219 doses of chemotherapy, 166 blood transfusions, multiple bacterial infections, and fungal pneumonia.

Family members credit perseverance, prayer, and expert medical care for this priceless gift.

After graduation, Jaden hopes to attend Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where his father and grandfather, Paul, graduated. Following college, he wants to return to the family farm and continue their farming legacy.

In the meantime, Jaden said he hopes to be an inspiration to those who are suffering and in despair.

“I think I can tell my story and help people get through their challenges, and to show that there really is daylight at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

As Redox re-entered direct sales to assist the turfgrass industry, a major positive development involved getting a team with incredible knowledge and passion.

That hurdle was cleared with the hiring of Tom Breiner and Jeep Hogue, who have a combined 80 years in the industry.

While Hogue will work with customers in the Southeast, Breiner has the Northeast territory covered.  The latter said he’s excited for this opportunity, and the benefits of the TurfRx product line tie in well with keeping golf courses healthy, thus lowering some of the major concerns felt by superintendents.

“Sound agronomy is always a big challenge, and it relates to labor,” Breiner said. “Plants that are optimally grown with proper nutrition require less daytime watering, which is a real labor eater. A sound approach to dealing with agronomic issues can have lasting benefits."

Breiner has more than 50 years of experience in the golf turf industry, including 20 years at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club, New Jersey’s largest golf facility. He played a significant role in this course becoming the state’s first Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

He said interest in sustainability is finally taking off in the turf industry.

“It’s becoming a more accepted concept, because it works,” Breiner said. 

Farmers are a critical link to food production, but many others are also needed to keep farms producing at their best.

Allan James of Mid Valley Ag has helped farmers for decades, and recently won Certified Crop Advisor of the Year for the Western Region.

He said while many changes have been seen with mechanization and fertilization, there are still many more advancements to come.

“Changes in the fertility are coming,” James said. “We’re going to see new products. We’re going to see different combinations of products, and the biostimulant type of products are going to be part of that, because they complement fertilizer and fertilizer complements them. We hope to be able to provide the grower with even better crops and less need for fertilizer, by using biostimulants."

James works in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, which is a remarkably productive area. San Joaquin County has more than $3 billion in crop value each year, with top crops including almonds, walnuts, cherries, and wine grapes.

Georgia is widely known as the Peach State, but blueberries have risen to become their most valuable fruit crop.

Despite being grown and harvested in a fairly short window, the crop needs year-round attention to get the best results.

With some of his crop struggling, Michael Taft at Mixon Farms in Waresboro sought out a solution. Through trials of Redox Bio-Nutrients products, he saw significant gains in brix and yield. Sugar levels in the trial fields nearly doubled compared to other blocks of the same variety. Additionally, yields increased by about a ton per acre when compared to his conventionally-grown blueberries.

As a result, Taft said he’s shifting solely to Redox products for his 900-acres of blueberries in 2024.

“As long as I’m the farm, we will always have Redox on it,” Taft said.

Blueberries are grown in many parts of the U.S. Georgia is one of the leading states, as well as Washington, Michigan, and Oregon. 

Modern Agriculture is as much about business acumen as it is about tending to fields and orchards. That’s where Damian Mason comes in. Mason hosts the wildly popular podcast, The Business of Agriculture, which provides a lively, in-depth look at fundamental farm issues that often don’t get a lot of attention.

Mason uses comedy and a self-described acerbic approach to handle issues like farm succession, soil health, ag real estate and regenerative ranching.

Mason believes the relative affluence of the American consumer provides a huge opportunity for those in Ag, if producers understand what the public wants and how to get it to them.

“We still have a commodity mindset, because we produce commodities,” he remarked. “The consumers aren’t necessarily commodity minded. They’re not thinking ‘how cheap can I get this gallon of milk for’? They’re thinking ‘how can I get milk that makes me feel good’? There’s opportunity in this industry to get more margin.”

A Purdue University graduate, Mason left his sales job with a Fortune 500 company to branch out on his own to put his creativity to better use. He’s a published author, keynote speaker and carries out a weekly podcast, among other enterprises.

Redox Bio-Nutrients will be a sponsor of Mason’s The Business of Agriculture Podcast in 2024.