Ag Solutions Network

02/02/2026

Join Monte Bottens next month at the Conservation Tillage & Technology Conference in Ada, Ohio. In addition to Monte's keynote presentation, visit the link below to see the speaker lineup and learning opportunities. https://www.cttcohio.com

CTTC is excited to welcome our 2026 Keynote Speaker - Mr. Monte Bottens! Monte is the host of the AgEmerge podcast in addition to managing Bottens Family Farm, a 2800-acre no-till operation in Cambridge, IL. Monte will share his expertise and insights into regenerative agriculture.

01/30/2026

Epigenetics meets the farm: EpiYield lets you grow, save & replant non-GMO soybeans tailored to your land. Proven in no-till – better plant health, root expression & yield potential.
Break the cycle → https://agsolutionsnetwork.com/epiyield-seed-program/

01/27/2026

Be prepared to have your farming and business perspectives challenged.

01/27/2026

Damian Mason brings his signature wit, straight talk, and decades of experience to remind us: agriculture isn't just about growing crops—it's about feeding people, building resilient systems, and securing the future. Monte Bottens sits down with Damian, an agricultural speaker, podcaster, and industry provocateur, for a no-holds-barred conversation about the real purpose and future of farming.

Damian Mason brings his signature wit, straight talk, and decades of experience to remind us: agriculture isn't just about growing crops—it's about feeding p...

01/26/2026

Monte Bottens is on the west coast! Join him at the Regenerative Tree Nut Field Day this week hosted by Burroughs Family Farms. You'll also hear from Silas Rossow and Derek Lange of California Ag Solutions.

01/23/2026

Monte Bottens breaks down biological crop nutrition. Tune in to learn how biologicals can be the driving force to improving your soil and crop health.

Biologicals in POWER2GROThe Biologicals in the POWER2GRO line-up are designed to enhance plant growth through targeted stimulation of the beneficial organism...

01/20/2026

What do epigenetics have to do with cattle, citrus and soil health? Here's a clip from AgEmerge Podcast 179 with Derek Lange of California Ag Solutions and Citrus Cattle Company. He and Monte Bottens talk about their cattle habits. Watch or listen to the entire episode on your favorite platform.

Cattle and Trees. A Surprising Connection. Derek Lange is a third-generation citrus grower and cattle rancher from Tulare County, California. He's also a Reg...

01/19/2026

Here are a few factors to consider about decreasing P runoff. Have you run 100,000 scenarios through your head? This article provides 9 takeaways based on farm simulation models in Wisconsin. The first soil health practice you implement could have the greatest impact. It's never too late to take the next right step.

#9: "The most significant reduction in runoff will come from the first practice implemented. If you implement multiple practices, like no-till, then cover crops and then add filter strips, you should see appreciable reduction in P losses. However, Hall noted that it won’t often be additive. In other words, each additional practice will help, but not by as much as when that was the only practice implemented."
Article by Tom J. Bechman for Farm Progress Daily

Learn how less tillage, cover crops and filter strips lead to less P in water leaving your farm.

01/16/2026

It’s called the “Law of the Minimum”but is this a law or is it assumptions?

1. Liebig’s Law treats plant growth as being constrained by a single most limiting nutrient. This is an assumption because multiple factors often limit plant growth simultaneously and they interact with one another. Fixing one “short stave” often just reveals the next constraint without delivering proportional yield gains.

2. Linear yield response assumption. Liebig’s Law implies that adding more of the limiting nutrient will directly increase growth until another factor becomes limiting, in fact plant response is not linear.

Why this is a problem. Yield response typically follows limiting returns not a straight line. Once a nutrient moves from deficient to sufficient, then adding inputs often produces smaller and smaller gains or none at all. Excessive nutrients can become toxic or antagonistic (e.g. excess K suppressing Ca and Mg, excess N reducing carbon allocation to roots and microbes).
Biological systems self regulate; plants adjust root architecture, exudation, and microbial requirements rather than responding mechanically to nutrient supply.

3. Liebig says nutrients act independently.

Reality nutrients act synergistically and antagonisticly, one nutrient can suppress uptake of another even if soil tests look “adequate”.

Biological: Microbes chelate, solubilize, and buffer interactions.
Balanced based saturation matters more than absolute ppm.
Data driven: Ratios not single values, explain plant response.

4. Liebig assumes nutrient quantity equals nutrient availability.

Reality, availability depends on soil chemistry (pH, redox)
Biology (enzymes, chelation)
Physics (aggregation, water films)

Many soils are “rich but hungry”.

Biological: nutrient availability is microbe-mediated.
Regenerative: Carbon fuels nutrient cycling.
Data driven: Soil lab ppm without context fails prediction and delivers only assumptions and ignores biological mediation.

5. Liebig says: plants feed directly from soil nutrients.

Reality: Plants farm microbes.
Mycorrhiza, Bacteria, Protozoa, and nematodes govern nutrient delivery.
Many nutrients are biological inaccessible without symbiosis.
Reshared from agronomist Al Toops via LinkedIn

01/14/2026

Need non-gmo soybean seed? Yeah, we have that.
Send us a note with your questions and farming needs at contactus@asn.farm and we'll put you in touch with Monte Bottens.

Monte Bottens, no-till farmer and CEO at Ag Network Solutions, explains his shift to non-GMO soybeans in this December 2025 video from his Cambridge, Ill., farm.

01/13/2026

Expectations vs. Reality. Tune in to AgEmerge Podcast 179 featuring Derek Lange of California Ag Solutions and Citrus Cattle Company as he and Monte Bottens talk about how soil health, citrus and cattle work together.

Derek Lange is a third-generation citrus grower and cattle rancher from Tulare County, California. He's also a Regenerative Agronomist at California Ag Solutions. In AgEmerge Podcast Episode 179, Dere

01/12/2026

We're ready, if you are.