October 2020 - 9

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Peak nutrition in Penn
®
Fifth-generation farmer Kegan Wright is
grateful for his investment in technology since
taking over the family holding at Rochester
Mills, Pennsylvania, nine years ago. It's little
trouble to pull out his phone, open the
necessary app and run a quick check on the
data, before adjusting the ventilation and
shading in his high-tunnel greenhouse from
wherever he happens to be at the time.
But right now, he's wishing the latest
addition to his 'high-tech' high-tunnels at
Pine Valley Farms - an automatic, remote
watering system, planned as a winter
upgrade project - was already installed.
" Every day these last few weeks, I'm
constantly running around to set the
irrigation right, " he says. " During summer in
these parts we usually expect temperatures
to reach the low 80s, but it's been in excess
of 90 degrees for some weeks now.
" Everything's so dry. We've been going on
for more than a month without rain. It hasn't
been this dry for some years. "
Wright's 300-acre farm includes more than
100 acres of mixed vegetables, field-grown
as well as the protected crops within the
greenhouse. Since he took charge in 2011,
he's increased the acreage and started to put
his own stamp on the unit, and not only with
technology. Wright's approach to agronomy is
to leave nothing to chance.
" It's incredible to see what a plant can deliver
when it's at peak performance, " he says. " But
to get it to that level demands careful, close
attention. You can't afford to second-guess
nutrition; you've got to be able to recognize
what a plant needs, when, how and why.
" Get that right and it's easy to get your crop
producing at maximum output. "
Wright's efforts are suitably rewarded.
Pine Valley Farms' produce supplies four
warehouses and multiple grocery stores.
That would be enough for most producers,
Call 559-661-6138
but Wright's not done: he also owns three
roadside markets, which he says have done a
'phenomenal' trade this year.
" I think COVID has encouraged shoppers to
seek out local suppliers, but despite concerns
about visiting grocery stores - social
distancing, masks, etc. - store business is
up too. That's probably because restaurants
have been shut down; people are not eating
out but at home. "
Wright has an unerring focus on yield and
quality that he knows can only be achieved
with a solid approach
to managing crop
nutrition. His search for
a range of nutritional
products whose use
and application he could
tailor to his needs and
his varying crop portfolio
prompted him to seek
a meeting with Dean
Konieczka, an agronomist with Californiabased
crop nutrition specialist OMEX®
.
" Someone who's literally growing everything
from A to Z - asparagus to zucchini - needs
products that are reliable, effective and,
above all else, flexible in use and application, "
notes Konieczka. " You don't want to be filling
your chemical store with stacks of different
products for each crop.
" Not only is it expensive to keep inventory like
that, but it increases labor costs and the risk
that a crop could receive the wrong treatment,
or even one that's unapproved, " Konieczka
points out.
" Because Kegan is so hands-on with his
agronomy, he knew exactly what problems
he needed to solve. We could quickly identify
what products were most suited to his needs
and which added the most value to his
nutritional toolbox. "
Wright has been particularly impressed
with Cell Power®
SizeN®
Visit www.omexusa.com
Ca. A stabilized
amine nitrogen, it employs a unique delivery
mechanism developed by Levity CropScience,
OMEX®
's British technology partner.
" It's made a huge difference to our hightunnel
tomatoes, " he says. " Previously they
were grading out at 5x6 and 6x6, but the
plants that received SizeN®
out fruits that graded at 4x5 instead.
" We're using it as soon as they come out
of blossom, fifty-fifty between foliar and
the irrigation system. There really is no
comparison with what went before - the
amine nitrogen delivers a massive boost to
the size of the fruit. On top of that, we've
got the calcium addition to prevent blossom
end-rot. "
Kegan Wright
Wright says he's becoming increasingly
reliant on foliar applications because of rising
humidity. " When the weather's humid, the
crop's evapotranspiration starts to drop off.
This reduces the water uptake through the
roots and so there's lower uptake of vital
nutrients too. "
Yellow squash and zucchini have also shown
a marked response to SizeN®
, Wright notes,
with treated crops setting up to five fruit a day
(yellow squash) and between two and three a
day for zucchini.
" What you have to remember, " Wright points
out, " is that in increasing the availability
of one nutrient you'll often raise the
performance of the plant to the point where
it needs a corresponding increase in another
nutrient - potassium, for example - in order
to make the most of the extra opportunity it's
been given.
" But when you get everything right, it's just
amazing what a plant can deliver. "
Learn more at www.omexusa.com.
The product names and brands referenced
here are registered and trademarks of OMEX®
Agrifluids, Inc. © OMEX®
have been turning
Agrifluids, Inc. 2020.
Email omexusa@omex.com
VGN | OCTOBER 2020 | 9
http://www.omexusa.com http://www.omexusa.com
October 2020

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