St. Joseph, Missouri
January 4, 2001

A soybean seed inoculant that has demonstrated yield increases of more than two bushels per acre in field trials is now available to soybean producers in a liquid form.

The liquid inoculant, NOD+™, contains the TA-11 Nod+ Bradyrhizobia bacteria strain, which has been tested and patented by its developer, the USDA’s Agriculture Research Service. Urbana Laboratories, St. Joseph, Missouri, has been granted exclusive distribution rights. This is the same strain that is used in other previously released Urbana products such as Rhizo-stick™, Mega Prep™, Frozen Prep XP™, Rhizo Flo™ Granular, and Traditional Humus.

When tested against traditional soybean inoculant strains in more than 200 trials in 14 states, the TA-11 Nod+ strain showed an average of 2.2 extra bushels per acre and produced a positive response 70 percent of the time compared to 50 percent for the traditional inoculant. Note that this does not imply that a yield advantage occurs every time inoculant is used. Almost all the field trials were performed on acreage where soybeans were grown previously and inoculants were not thought necessary.

According to Greg Waibel, Urbana Laboratories’ General Manager, NOD+™ provides the highest concentration of bacteria of any liquid inoculant on the market today, with 3 billion (3 x 10⁹) viable cells per ml and over 1.1 million rhizobia per seed. "NOD+™ is available in a 3 liter bag in a box packaging and will treat 2,500 pounds of seed or 6 acres when applied in-furrow," said Mr. Waibel. "We consider it a real yield-boosting breakthrough in soybean inoculant, capable of producing as much as 9 to 10 dollars extra profit per acre. The unique qualities of this liquid inoculant include the use of our TA-11 Nod+ patented Bradyrhizobia strain as well as being the industry leader in cell concentration." Nod+™ will be available in limited quantities this season.

Urbana Laboratories also reports that its traditional liquid soybean inoculant, Liqui-Prep XT™, has been reformulated with a higher concentration of rhizobia bacteria, providing 2 billion (2 x 10⁹) viable cells per ml. "Liqui-Prep XT™ is positioned to compete with all of the other liquid inoculants available in the market at a reduced cost, but with similar anticipated yield results," Mr. Waibel said. The product is available in a 1,920 pound size for planter box application and 7,800 pound size for bulk application.

Company news release
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