Case study · Sorghum

Sorghum tolerates drought but plateaus on low-calcium ground. Fix the foundation, keep slow-release N flowing to heading, finish with foliar micros.

Region Southern grain-sorghum acres · low-calcium, drought-prone ground
Scope Grain milo · calcium foundation + heading-stage finish
Outcome AgriTec on-farm · 80 bu/ac control → 110 bu/ac full program (+38%) on Southern milo

The numbers behind it

The sorghum trial that proves it works.

AgriTec on-farm · 2023. Documented field results from Southern sorghum acres.

YIELD LIFT

+0%

vs control plot

BEST PLOT

0 bu/ac

Full program

TREATMENTS

all outperformed control

CONTROL

0 bu/ac

Control

Calcium-led program lifts grain sorghum yields.

The local challenge

Grain sorghum earns its keep on dry, marginal ground where corn won't pencil. But that same ground is often low-calcium and acidic, and drought tolerance doesn't fix a fertility ceiling. When pH and Ca base saturation are off, the crop tolerates the season and yields to its floor, not its potential.

Nitrogen timing is the other gap. Standard urea or UAN loses 40–60% to volatility as the industry norm, and it front-loads N the crop can't use until heading. Sorghum's demand stretches from boot through grain fill.

What AgriTec documented on-farm

On Southern sorghum acres, the calcium-led program was run against an untreated control in 2023. The control made 80 bu/ac; the full program made 110, a +38% lift on documented field results.

The mechanism is simple: Pro-Cal opens the foundation so the rest of the program stops getting wasted, 10-20-10+ places balanced N-P-K with micros at planting, and Nitro-Maxx+ carries slow-release nitrogen through heading without the volatility loss.

Why the liquid program holds through drought

Calcium-corrected soil holds and releases water better, which is exactly what a dryland crop needs in a hot July. Nitro-Maxx+ is biology-backed slow-release N that feeds through the long demand curve instead of flushing early and stranding the crop at grain fill.

YieldMaker at heading drops kelp and micros onto the flag leaf when the head is filling, the cheapest finish pass sorghum has.

The program · three tiers

Good · Better · Best.

GOOD

Foundation + balanced starter

Pre-plant · broadcast

Pro-Cal

3 gal/ac

Foundation Ca + pH
At planting

10-20-10+

4 gal/ac

Balanced N-P-K + micros

Outcome

Opens the soil and starts the crop on balanced nutrition, the base of the on-farm program.

BETTER

Add slow-release N to heading · RECOMMENDED

Pre-plant · broadcast

Pro-Cal

3 gal/ac
At planting

10-20-10+

4 gal/ac
Top-dress

Nitro-Maxx+

8 gal/ac

Sustained N through boot + head

Outcome

The tier that reached 110 bu/ac, with sustained nitrogen carried through the reproductive window.

BEST

Full season · foundation to flag leaf

Pre-plant · broadcast

Pro-Cal

3 gal/ac
At planting

10-20-10+

4 gal/ac
Top-dress

Nitro-Maxx+

8 gal/ac
Heading · foliar

YieldMaker

1 qt/ac

Kelp + micros at fill

Outcome

Highest yield response with a finish pass at heading. Best fit for irrigated or high-management milo.

Logistics · Free shipping on tote orders. Dryland or irrigated, we'll match the N rate to your yield goal and build the ROI around your milo price.

The process

From your soil test to your program. Five days, max.

No back-and-forth, no upsell calls, no rate cards. Send the lab report, get a custom program. Free.

01 Same day

You send your soil test

Snap a photo of the lab PDF, upload a CSV, or email the file. We accept anything: Midwest Labs, A&L, Waters, Servi-Tech, you name it.
02 Day 1–2

An agronomist reads it

Not a sales rep. A real agronomist trained on the soil science. They look at every column: pH, base saturation, micros, organic matter.
03 Day 3–5

We write your program

Field-by-field plays with product, rate, timing, and the rationale behind each call. Multi-tier (good/better/best) so you choose the spend.
04 When it lands

You get the document

Same kind of multi-page program you just flipped through: branded, redaction-free, priced to today's market. No charge. No catch.

We built that one for free.

Want one for your fields?

Send us your soil test. An AgriTec agronomist will write the same kind of program for your acres. No charge, no call tree, priced to today's market.

Send our agronomist your soil test → Sorghum system page

Sorghum tolerates drought but plateaus on low-calcium ground. Fix the foundation, keep slow-release N flowing to heading, finish with foliar micros.

The sorghum trial that proves it works.

The local challenge

What AgriTec documented on-farm

Why the liquid program holds through drought

Good · Better · Best.

From your soil test to your program. Five days, max.

You send your soil test

An agronomist reads it

We write your program

You get the document

Want one for your fields?