SCIENCE@home

Soil‐applied carbon‐based biostimulants differentially affect maize and soybean grain yield and quality

Connor N. Sible,Jared S. Fender,F. Below

Published 2025 in Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment

ABSTRACT

The use of carbon‐based biostimulants (e.g., humic acid [HA] and molasses/yeast extract [MYE]) to enhance grain yield and/or quality of maize ( Zea mays L.) and soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is increasing. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine if MYE or HA use can consistently influence grain yield and quality of maize and soybean across site‐years and (2) ascertain if these applications are profitable. Treatments consisted of an untreated control and two commercially available products, one MYE and one HA, applied as either a broadcast soil application or to the seed furrow at planting of maize and soybean in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Maize yield was higher with in‐furrow applications compared to preplant broadcast applications, culminating in a 3‐year average yield increase of 310 (HA) or 370 (MYE) kg ha −1 and respective return on investment of $29 or $63 ha −1 . Maize grain protein concentration increased with both the broadcast HA (+1.7 g kg −1 ) and in‐furrow MYE (+1.8 g kg −1 ) applications, netting an increase in protein production of 40 and 50 kg ha −1 , respectively. Conversely, there were no consistent effects of HA or MYE applications on soybean grain yield or quality, netting an average loss of $51 ha −1 . These data suggest that soil‐applied MYE or HA can increase grain yield, protein production, and profitability of maize but did not have a measurable agronomic or economic value when applied to soybean grown under the non‐stressed field conditions observed here.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2025

  • Venue

    Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment

  • Publication date

    2025-12-01

  • Fields of study

    Not labeled

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1002/agg2.70281
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-39 of 39 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

  • No citing papers are available for this paper.

Showing 0-0 of 0 citing papers · Page 1 of 1