The Effect of Humic Acid on

Corn Grown in Sandy Soils

Summer 2017

Second Paper
August 4, 2017
ABM 493
Wilbur-Ellis Co.
Second Internship Report
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The Effect of Humic Acid on
Corn Grown in Sandy Soils

Table of Contents
Contents2

Abstract.3

Introduction..4

Background..4

Soil type and product...5

Method.7

Results.10

Discussion11

Conclusion...11

Recommendation12

Appendix14

References..15
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The Effect of Humic Acid on
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Abstract
In agriculture there is constantly a need to grow better crops on less ground. Some

farmers are trying to do this on ground that is not suitable to grow a high yielding crop. We are

sidedressing humic acid into a corn field to test its effects on the growth of corn as compared to a

control plot grown in virtually the same soil, without a sidedressing of humic acid. Our goal is to

grow a bigger plant in the same soil. I went into the field and took height and a circumference

measurement from corn stalks in six different locations and then took an average of their data to

decide which had better characteristics. I was able to determine from these measurements that

the plot where a sidedressing of humic acid was utilized, the corn did grow to a taller and thicker

state which is most desirable. It was concluded that humic acid did have an overall positive

effect on corn grown in sandy soils. I would recommend utilizing this product for a farmer that

has sub-par growing conditions and wants to improve his or her crop.
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The Effect of Humic Acid on
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Introduction

When people think of farming in the Midwest there are a few states that most likely come

right to mind. Nebraska, the Dakotas, Iowa, Illinois and maybe even Indiana are some of the

states that enter the mind when first thinking of serious production agriculture. Michigan is also

right up there when it comes to agriculture. Michigan produces an amazing variety of crops on a

year to year basis. Michigan does this while having soil in some regions that is not quite as

suitable for growing crops as its other Midwestern counterparts. The particular region that I will

be focusing on is the northwest tip of the mitten where the ground is not as suitable for growing

crops as it is in the other Midwestern states. I worked with a sales representative from Wilbur-

Ellis on this project. He is the one that came up with the idea to test the effect of side dressing

two quarts of Puric Prime Max into twenty acres of corn planted in sandy soils. The corn was

planted this spring and the application date was late June.

This paper will cover a little bit of everything when it comes to planting and growing

corn. I will speak of what type of corn was used in the plots and how we kept the control plot

separated from the trial plot. I will spend some time also talking about the product we used on

the corn, its background, details and why we decided to use this on our trial. Also I will cover

some of the faults of this product and possible alternatives that could be better suited for our

applications.

Background
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The Effect of Humic Acid on
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It is no secret that people have been growing corn for thousands of years. Over those

thousands of years our techniques for growing this crop have changed by leaps and bounds. The

techniques that we use today are incredibly different in ways that are unfathomable to farmers

even thirty years ago. We have variable rate technologies in our planters, Global Positioning

Satellites that drive our tractors for us, monitors and more electronics than you can even think of.

The agricultural world is ever changing which means there are always new advances in

technology and in growing techniques. That is where our plan for this project evolved from.

Soil Type and Product

Farmers in the Great Plains and the world renowned Bread Basket have been blessed

with great soil conditions for growing crops. These regions are known for their heavy, clay and

loamy soils that contain plenty of organic matter that are great for growing crops. We are

searching for a way to get better results out of the corn planted in the sandy soils of northern

Michigan. A humic acid may be the way to get better yield from corn grown in sandy soils.

Humic acid is a molecule that has a large number of positive and negatively charged

particles that work like magnets to hold the soil and its nutrients together(Smith, 2017). This is

where the basis for this project comes into play. Sand is a soil that drains very well. This means

that it does not hold water or nutrients for a very long period of time. This is largely due to the

physical makeup of the sand particles itself. Humic acid has been proven by universities and

some agricultural studies to aid crops the most in silty, sandy soils(Grow More). The other huge

factor in sand being a soil that drains well is the lack of organic material. Organic material refers
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to the remnants of animals and plants that have decayed over the years and have left a type of

residue within the soil(Fawy, et al.). Organic material hangs up in the sand and draws moisture

and nutrients making them more readily available to the roots of the plant. The breakdown of

these organic materials makes a nitrogen based compound that makes the soil more rich for the

crops growing in it(Fawy, et al.). Humic acid has the ability to hold nutrients near the roots of the

corn for a longer period of time making it available for the corn to take in. This is how humic

acid can conceivably make up in some ways for the lack of organic matter in the sandy ground.

Humic acid really helps crops take in the nutrients they need to excel. Possibly the most

important nutrient that it aids in uptake is iron. Iron can oxidize in the soil which in turn makes it

a form that cannot be taken in by crops(Smith). The humic acid keeps the iron from oxidizing

and keeps it in a form that makes it more easily absorbed through the cell walls(Smith). This

makes humic acid a huge contributor when it comes to growing any type of crop and especially

corn. The iron helps the crops produce sugar which then translates into more growth and all

around energy within the crop(Smith).

There are however some down sides to using a humic acid. The first downside to using

humic acid being that it can be a fairly messy product to use. Humic acid is a black liquid that

can really discolor the tanks on your spraying equipment. The other problem is that it can tend to

turn into a gummy substance. This really turns into a problem when you get to the bottom of the

tank in your sprayer where all the gummy substance tends to settle. This in turn can clog up your

sprayer and cause lots of headaches and problems when it comes to being crunch time when you

really need to be getting things done. This is where fulvic acid could be a good substitute. Fulvic
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acid has a lot of the same good effects that humic does but without the mess. Fulvic acid is a

clear substance that does not discolor or plug up your spray equipment. It has also been shown to

dramatically increase the spread of roots in certain situations(Lenssen, Wright). Some growers

tend to utilize fulvic acids over humic acids for this reason. Humic acids can also only affect

certain parts of the plant in some studies. It has been found that when using with ryegrass, the

root material is greatly affected but there was no associated change in yield(Lyons, Genc).

The next problem with humic acid has to be its effect on different types of soils. Humic

acid can actually have a detrimental effect on your crop when it comes to particular soils. As

stated earlier in this paper, humic acid has the ability to improve the uptake of minerals by the

plant. This normally would be a great thing. Some soils however contain minerals that can be

damaging to the health of the plant. Corn that is grown in soils with high salinity can show signs

of the detrimental effects when using humic acids(Fawy, et al.). This has been shown to happen

for a few reasons. The increased amount of toxic ions taken in by the plant can cause some stress

and even decrease the yield of whatever crop you are trying to grow and aid with the addition of

humic acids(Fawy, et al.). Humic acid is also not a feasible option for some applications. Where

you have good soil that is balanced with good nutrients, you will see no additional effects on the

crop. This just goes to show that humic acids do have some down sides.

Method

This is the section of the paper where I will elaborate on what exactly the project revolves

around. I am working for Wilbur-Ellis this summer on an internship doing scouting in fruit
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orchards and vineyards. While I spend my summer looking at fruits, my real passion is with row

crops because of my background in dairy farming. That is why I ended up doing a project that

involves corn. I approached one of the sales representatives with the proposition of helping with

any project that may be in motion. He said that he was working on a plot of corn where the

grower was willing to go through a trial to see if an application in the form of a sidedressing

would improve the quality of his corn crop that he was trying to grow in sandy soils.

First I will touch on the type of application. Sidedressing is a way to apply fertilizer

between the rows of corn(Sidedress Application). This can be done in a few ways. These are the

two most common ways of sidedressing a fertilizer between corn rows. The first way to sidedress

is with a sprayer that has little tubes coming off of the boom that allows the applicator to drop

the liquid fertilizer, in an ideal situation, right on the soil between the corn rows(Sidederss

Application). This is not as favorable in some situations because you can lose some of the

fertilizer directly onto that plant. That fertilizer does not do anything for the plant if it does not

get onto the soil itself. The other problem is that the fertilizer can burn the crop. The chemicals

used can sometimes be harmful to the crop and stunt its growth and even reduce yield in severe

situations. There is a second way to sidedress fertilizer.

The second method of sidedressing corn is to use an injector pulled by a tractor and place

the fertilizer directly into the soil via the disc openers(Sidedress Applications). This seems to be

the better option and is the method that we used for this particular project. This method allows

the applicator to put the fertilizer directly into the ground without the risk of losing anything with
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The Effect of Humic Acid on
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the wind or by landing onto the leaves of the crop and not reaching the soil where it needs to be.

These are a few good reasons as to why this was the best option for our project.

Keeping track of this project has come to be a bit of a tough task. This is the kind of

project where you do not see the advantage to right off the bat. The advantages to using humic

acids in a sidedress application really are not seen until you can get the yield numbers back. That

is the one downside to this project. With that being said, I have done enough leg work to say I

have gathered the information I need to write this project and have an outcome to discuss at the

end.

For this project we had a plot of corn that totaled forty acres. There is a driveway that

runs the full length of the field that splits the forty acre field into two, twenty acre plots. Both

plots have a similar soil type as I have found by looking up the area on the United States

Department of Agriculture website. This ensures that the two plots are going to get a fairly

similar base to begin with. On the left side of the driveway was the control plot that would be

grown with normal farming practices. The right side was the plot where we would be doing our

experiment. In this plot we utilized sidedress application to put 25 gallons to the acre of 27-0-0-1

which is a Calcium-Ammonium-Nitrate.

Along with this product we applied two quarts of Puric Prime Max. Puric Prime Max is

the Wilbur-Ellis humic acid product. This is the main focus of the project. Puric Prime Max is a

humic acid solution developed by Wilbur-Ellis. This solution is developed to increase the

micronutrient uptake of most crops and can even be used through irrigation if not sidedressed

like in this application(PURIC PRIME MAX 1-0-2). A good attribute to using a product like
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The Effect of Humic Acid on
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this is where you have depleted a lot of the resources in the ground you are trying to grow crops

in. This humic acid can start to bring your soil back to life in a way and let it begin to build the

nutrients back up. Puric Prime Max can also be used as a type of stabilizer. If the corn you have

planted gets a little too tall and you can no longer sidedress with an injector, this product can

lend a hand. It can be mixed with nitrogen and be sprayed over the top of the corn and it keeps

the nitrogen from burning and stunting the growth of the corn.

Once the humic acid was sidedressed into the corn I could begin my data gathering. I

decided the best way to monitor growth was to go into the plots once a week and take some

measurements. I took measurements from three stalks, in three different locations throughout

each side of the driveway. This gave me numbers to compare from the control plot and the test

plot, across a broad range of both fields. Each week I would take a measurement from each stalk.

The first measurement was the circumference at the base of the corn stalk. This would give me

an idea of how possibly how much nutrient is being put into the base and gave me an opportunity

to look over the entire plant to check for coloring. The next measurement would be from the base

of the stalk where the roots are somewhat exposed, to the tip of the flag leaf. The flag leaf of

corn is the very last leaf to branch out at the top of the stalk and gives you generally the highest

point. From this measure I believed that I could see a different in the amount of nutrients taken in

by seeing if one plant grew faster and higher than the other.

Results
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The results to the test were not quite conclusive. After all the measurements over the

three week test period, the results did not show a positive effect across the board of sidedressing

humic acid into the corn field. The measurements showed that the corn in the humic acid plot

were thicker in the stalk and taller at the flag leaf in two out of the three areas when compared to

the control plot. This was quite encouring considering the amount of time and effort put into

research and not to mention the hours spent walking a corn field in rain and 85 degree weather.

Discussion

The corn in the humic acid plot overall did a better job of growing. The table in Figure 1

of the Appendix shows the actual results. This table gives an average height and circumference

of the stalk in different areas of each plot and at a different date throughout the growing season.

Plots 1, 3 and 5 contain the sidedressing of humic acid while plots 2, 4 and 6 are the control plot.

At the end of the data gathering period it shows that the corn in two out of the three humic acid

locations ended up being taller than that of the corn in the control plot. The reason for the corn in

the other location being bigger could be for a multitude of different reasons. My conclusion is

that when looking at the field itself spot 4 is the lower point. When compared to spot which is

right across the driveway you can see a considerable difference. Spot 3 is located on the top of a

sand hill where the soil is going to have the highest content of sand in the entire field. The lower

point is usually where minerals collect, thus producing a better area to grow crops which would

back up this theory.

Conclusion
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This is a project that I believe can be very helpful to the everyday farmer. There are a lot

of areas across the United States and even worldwide where the conditions to grow crops are not

very suitable. With the constantly increasing population of the world there will someday be a

problem of feeding everybody with the land we have. That is where tests like these are so

crucial. If we can find ways to produce more crops on the same amount of land that we are

farming then we will be able to slowly work towards keeping the hungry mouths of the world

feed.

This test that we did can prove that we can grow better crops in marginal soils. The corn

grew thicker and taller where it had access to a humic acid solution. This is not only good for

humans, but, also good for animals. If we can grow corn that is taller and thicker then that

translates into more tons per acre of feed for our livestock. The farmer can reduce his number of

acres needed which will save him money while being able to provide the same amount of feed

for his livestock.

Recommendation

As stated in this paper above there are some good and bad points to using humic acid in

your fields. Although you may see some ill effects of humic acid, you will also reap some of the

benefits. If I were a farmer that had a lot of sandy ground that was not up to par on its nutrients, I

would recommend using a humic acid to improve your crop. It has been proven to bring more

nutrients to the plant and help it thrive in not so perfect ground. There are however some
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downsides to humic acid. It can get expensive to use this product if you had to use it on a lot of

acres. The return may not be high enough to warrant spending the money to acquire and then

apply the product. It can cause problems with your sprayer and even be harmful to your health if

proper safety precautions are not followed.

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Appendix
Figure 1

Humic Acid Sidedress Project

Spot 1 Spot 3 Spot 5
Height 66.25 58.33 52.33
7/12/17
Circumference 3.75 3.58 3.25
Humic Height 86 81.83 78.33
7/19/17
Plot Circumference 3.83 4.5 4.08
Height 103 97.67 97.75
7/26/17
Circumference 4.08 4.5 3.92
Spot 2 Spot 4 Spot 6
Height 54.5 56.67 53.25
7/12/17
Circumference 3.67 3.5 3.33
Control Height 76.33 82.78 82.58
7/19/17
Plot Circumference 4.08 4.5 4.58
Height 98 101 97.33
7/26/17
Circumference 3.92 4 4.08
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References
Fawy, Hassan, and Hussein Khaled. "Effect of Different Levels of Humic Acids on the Nutrient

Content, Plant Growth, and Soil Properties under Conditions of Salinity."Soil and Water
Res. (2011): n. pag. June 2011. Web. 24 July 2017.

"Grow More | A Symbol of Quality." Grow More A Symbol of Quality. Grow More, n.d. Web. 24

July 2017.

Lenssen, Andy, and David Wright. "Humic and Fulvic Acids and Their Potential in Crop

Production." (n.d.): n. pag. Field Crop News. Iowa State University Extension and
Outreach, 2013. Web. 24 July 2017.

Lyons, Graham, and Yusef Genc. "Commercial Humates in Agriculture: Real Substance or

Smoke and Mirrors?" MDPI. MDPI, 2016. Web. 24 July 2017.

PURIC PRIME MAX 1-0-2. PURIC PRIME MAX 1-0-2, Wilbur-Ellis,

ag.wilburellis.com/Products/pages/PURIC_PRIME_MAX_1-0-2.aspx.

"Sidedress Application." Whole Farm Management Turtorials. Cornell University, n.d. Web. 02

Aug. 2017.

Smith, Harley. "Humic or Fulvic Acid: What Kind Are Your Plants On?" Maximum Yield.

Maximum Yield, 17 July 2017. Web. 24 July 2017.