Why the Growers Program and Rhizophagy
FOURTH OF A SERIES
The discussion of the Growers Program is suitable for anyone who is interested in growing plants in an environmentally efficient manner that results in healthy plants for feed or fiber while allowing the guardian of that plant to be able to obtain economic benefits from tending that plant. Most plant tenders (farmers) realize that plant production is mostly the result of the environment the plant is placed in at any particular time. The farmer has the ability to modify this environment to affect the plant's outcome; however, the cost of the modification is usually a very critical factor in this decision process. Therefore, all farmers realize that environmental modifications carry economic risk and so it is important for the farmer to place the plant in a lower risk environment.
The Growers Program is not a cure all miracle or a "snake oil" approach; rather it is an accumulation of scientifically sound principles tested by farmers since 1955. The Growers Program mindset recognizes the past success of the farmer questioning the Growers Program and suggests that the farmer can use any or all parts of the Growers Program (mindset) to help them be better at the craft we call farming.
The Growers Program was introduced by Growers Mineral Corp. in 1955. The founders-Dr. Victor Tiedjens, Joe Henry and George Ward-felt that the concept of the Growers Program would be a great benefit to farmers. The original logo of the company "Our Research is Your Profit" is very applicable to today's farming. Since 1955, the key goal of the Growers Program has been to help farmers make more profit from their farming operations.
The Growers Program was designed to create a superior rooting media for plants and to stimulate the plant with small amounts of clean, balanced nutrition at critical stress periods in the plant's life. This approach creates a better soil and plant microbiological environment which results in a very efficient plant from the standpoint of health and production.
Important points of the Growers Program are: 1. Provide a good growing medium by ensuring adequate calcium in the soil; 2. Supply necessary nutrients to the plant by applying balanced high-quality water-soluble plant nutrients at the correct time; and 3. Put in comparison plots and yield check to verify desired results.
Two of the important points of the Growers Program address directly the foundation of the rhizophagy cycle.
1.Provide a good growing medium by ensuring adequate calcium in the soil.
The element calcium (Ca) has been recognized for many years for its ability to aerate soil by its chemical, physical, and biological characteristics. The increased oxygen (O) exchange in soil by the addition of the element Ca immediately allows the growing plant to have access to the O necessary to create the super oxide necessary for the rhizophagy cycle. Plant biologists say if the soil is limited in O content from compaction or excess water content rhizophagy efficiency is severely limited. Also, plant biologists speculate that O used in rhizophagy can be harvested from the atmosphere above the soil; however, doesn't it make sense that an O source closer to the root zone would improve rhizophagy efficiency.
2. Supply necessary nutrients to plant by applying balanced high-quality water-soluble plant nutrients at the correct time.
Plant biologists believe soil microbes contain many nutrients within their cell walls that can be used as feed by the plant cells. Therefore, any fertilizer that is clean enough to be used as a food by the soil microbes would eventually be available to the plant through the rhizophagy cycle. So doesn't it make sense that the more pure and balanced the soil fertilizer is, that those nutrients would be consumed more efficiently by the soil microbes; therefore, enter the rhizophagy cycle more quickly than a mineral source that contains impurities which would impair the nutrients consumption or utilization.
This would suggest that since the nutrients in Growers Mineral Solutions (GMS), which is registered as a phosphorus feed supplement for animals, would enter the rhizophagy cycle more quickly. The success of GMS as a feed supplement particularly for ruminant animals demonstrates the effectiveness of GMS nutrients for microbiological life. (Ruminant animal feed goes first to the animal's rumen which is dominated by microbiological life.)
Thus, the design of the Growers Program, Ca, and clean, balanced nutrition, correlates very well with the basic needs for the success of the rhizophagy cycle.
The conclusion of the scientific article "Endophyte Symbiosis: Evolutionary Development, and Impacts of Plant Agriculture" seems to agree with the mindset of the Growers Program:
"Plants have evolved with microbes since they conquered the terrestrial environment. In the harsh new terrestrial environment, plants relied on symbiotic microbes to get the nutrients they needed to survive. We still understand little about how plants manage their soil and internal microbiomes, but it is clear that plants generally internalize or absorb beneficial microbes into their cells and tissues. Wild plants grow by using their internal microbiomes as a source of nutrients. Many of the commercial agricultural practices currently in use have a large potential to disrupt the microbial endophytes of plants and thereby increase plants' dependency on agrochemicals, especially nitrogen fertilizers. We need to gain a better understanding of how these endophytic and symbiotic associations have evolved in plants, how they function, and how they are regulated. It is imperative to develop data on how we can manage and manipulate endophytic associations in crop plants to maximize their benefit to crops (resulting in better plant health and higher crop yields) and minimize agronomic practices that negatively impact the environment and plant health."
This is an excerpt from the Spring Growers Solution (2026) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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