ALPINE G22 starter no doubt does in most cases completely change the way a farmer must think about starter phosphate.  And a couple of the most common remarks are “I wish I could use it on my own farm to try it out with my own equipment”. Or, “it sure would be nice to try this before I invest in this new starter program”.

Farmers have in most cases been to a meeting and heard current users talk about the agronomic and machinery advantages, believe what they are hearing, and in most cases just need to have a hands-on experience of their own.

Questions such as, How will it perform against my current starter program?  What is this kit all about? Is it hard to put on my drill? Is it hard to calibrate?

So in the spring of 2015, I built a demo wagon to mimic a full-scale drill/farm set up.

This setup allows a grower to try ALPINE G22 starter right beside his current Phosphate program without slowing down seeding.

The main questions of drill set up, calibration, and comparison to what he is currently using, are all answered by shutting off the farmer’s current starter program and replacing it with ALPINE G22.

This demo unit also allows other on-farm trials such as the ease of use of additional micronutrients, that can be mixed with the ALPINE G22 and placed in-furrow directly with the seed.

Just an example of what differences we are seeing.  Very defined strips in the field where ALPINE G22 was used against the previous system on this farmer’s field.

This is just a great example of a farmer being able to try ALPINE G22 on his own farm with his own equipment, so they are no surprises when he fully converts his phosphate program to ALPINE G22.

– Chad