Nutrien Ag Solutions launches its 2025 Hometown Yield Challenge

Mar 24, 2025
By Andrew Joseph
Assistant Editor, North American Content, Farms.com

Photo above shows the harvesting golden wheat. Photo copyright: jodie777/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo

Nutrien Ag Solutions has launched its second year of the Hometown Yield Challenge, and is again available to growers in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Nutrien Ag Solutions is the retail division of Nutrien Ltd., a leading global provider of crop inputs and services.

Enrollment is open until April 11, 2025. Interested growers will need to work with their local Nutrien Ag Solutions Crop Consultant to sign up and nominate their community organization of choice.

At the end of the challenge, the community organizations of choice for the top two yielding farming operations will each receive $20,000. The community organizations chosen by the three runners-up will each receive $5,000 at the end of the challenge.

Program enrollment for Year Two comes on the heels of the announcement of the 2024 Hometown Yield Challenge winners and a donation of over $50,000 to community organizations across Western Canada.

“We were extremely pleased with the results from our first Hometown Yield Challenge in 2024. Supporting rural Canadian communities is something that our team and farmers are very passionate about, so getting to do this challenge again is something we’re looking forward to for the 2025 season,” exclaimed Jesse Hamonic, Vice President & Country Head of Nutrien Ag Solutions Canada. “Last year, we got to put money towards some great community projects, such as school lunch programs, playground refurbishment, and community centre funds. I’m excited to see the projects that our growers choose this year.”

2025 Program Requirements:

Mapping field boundaries in Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Echelon platform;
Growing at least 80 acres of a proven seed hybrid of their choice;
Applying phosphorous treated with Loveland Products’ ATLAS XCTM.

As part of the program, participating growers are encouraged to use crop nutritional products, including AWAKEN and RADIATE, from the Loveland Products portfolio. The company also encourages growers to post information about their progress throughout the season on social media using the hashtag #NutrienHometownPride.

“The Hometown Yield Challenge is a great way for growers to see our proprietary products in action,” stated Shelby LaRose, Crop Nutrition Product Manager.

“Proven Seed’s canola varieties are integral to the program while pairing well with AWAKEN and RADIATE, which demonstrate strong performance in promoting nutrient uptake and root development. For growers across Canada, this challenge showcases how working with Nutrien Ag Solutions can help drive yield results without sacrificing field health.”

For terms and conditions regarding Nutrien Ag Solutions’ Hometown Yield Challenge, go to www.nutrienagsolutions.ca/yield-challenge-terms-and-conditions.

Video: Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Understanding how a plant responds to stress is one thing.

Using that knowledge to make better management decisions is another.

Systemic acquired resistance, or SAR, is the plant's more direct defense response. When stress or infection occurs, the plant begins signaling throughout its system and preparing defensive compounds.

But if we know that response exists, can we help prepare the plant before the stress arrives?

The answer starts with understanding what triggers the response and what the plant needs to carry it out.

The Trigger and the Fuel

Salicylic acid plays an important role in triggering the SAR pathway.

Think of it as turning the truck on.

The engine may be running, but it still needs fuel to do the work.

In this case, manganese plays an important role in supporting the enzyme systems involved in the plant's defensive response.

This makes manganese status an important part of the conversation. Whether a producer is using tissue testing, sap analysis, or simply scouting for visible deficiency symptoms, the goal is to make sure the plant has adequate manganese available.

Manganese is required in relatively small amounts, but that does not make its role small.

If the plant receives a signal to defend itself but lacks the nutrition needed to support that response, it may struggle to carry out the process efficiently.

The trigger matters.

The fuel matters too.

Prepare Before the Stress Arrives

The best time to think about stress management is before the plant is overwhelmed.

Once a crop is already struggling, management can quickly turn into a game of catch-up.

This is similar to nitrogen management. Once a plant becomes severely deficient, correcting the problem does not necessarily erase the time and yield potential already lost.

Plant defense can work the same way.

Low-rate, targeted approaches designed to support the SAR pathway may fit best ahead of an expected stress event rather than after significant damage has already occurred.

That requires producers to think about predictable stress.

We may not know exactly what the weather will do tomorrow, but we generally know summer heat is coming. We know certain field conditions increase disease pressure. We know a herbicide application can temporarily stress a crop as the plant processes the chemistry.

Even a properly timed and labeled herbicide application can create a temporary response in the plant.

That does not mean the herbicide is bad.

Weeds can create significantly more yield loss than the temporary stress caused by controlling them.

The question is not whether we should eliminate every stressor.

The question is whether we can better prepare the plant to manage necessary and predictable stress.

Not All Stress Is Bad

Stress is a normal part of plant growth.

A perfectly stress-free environment does not exist in the field.

In fact, some stress is necessary for normal plant development. A plant responds to wind, temperature, moisture, sunlight, and countless other environmental signals throughout the season.

The environment is stress.

The plant's job is to manage it.

Problems begin when the stress load becomes greater than the plant's ability to respond.

Extreme heat, drought, high salt concentrations, disease pressure, and even certain management practices can add to that load.

This is where understanding SAR becomes useful.

Instead of waiting until the plant is visibly struggling, producers can begin identifying periods when stress is likely and make management decisions around those windows.

ISR Starts With the Soil

While SAR is a more direct defense response, induced systemic resistance, or ISR, brings the conversation back to soil health.

The longevity of a farm is closely connected to the health of its soil.

Carbon plays a major role because it supports biological life within the soil. Bacteria, fungi, and other organisms interact with plant roots and influence how the plant grows, accesses nutrients, and prepares for stress.

This is why soil health cannot be reduced to one product or one application.

It is a system.

Keeping living plants in the field longer can support biological activity. Cover crops may fit some operations. Better water management can improve soil conditions.