We wrapped up hand-digging trials this week, and I've got results that tell two very different stories. One product I don't sell that looks promising, and one I do sell that fell flat — which might be the more valuable lesson.
Method Note: With crusting and wind this spring, stands were uneven. Truckloads weren’t reliable, so we switched to hand-dug 10-ft strips in uniform spots. More work, but better data.
Growthful from Aqueus ✅
The Setup: Four replicated strips, 10-ft × 22″ rows, hand-dug. Growthful (from Aqueus) versus untreated check.
The Numbers:
+3.9 tons/acre yield advantage
+0.30 sugar points
+1,456 lb recoverable sugar per acre
≈ +$226/acre advantage at projected $55/ton payment
Three out of four reps showed a strong positive response. This one caught my attention because it's not a product I sell, which makes me more excited to put it on your radar. Worth another season of trials.
More info on Growthful: https://www.aqueus.com/growthful/
Source (Limed Field) ❌
The Setup: Same trial protocol. Source (Sound Agriculture) versus an untreated check on a field that got the royal treatment.
The Numbers:
+0.3 tons/acre (basically noise)
-0.1 sugar points
-84 lb RSA/acre
≈ $0 net impact
Here's the kicker: This field had 10 tons of lime last fall plus 154 lbs N, 50 lbs P₂O₅, and 25 lbs AMS. In other words, a fertility buffet.
With that much available nutrition from lime breakdown plus heavy fertilizer, the crop wasn't stressed. Source works by amplifying the plant's signal to soil microbes when it's hungry for nutrients. If the plant isn't hungry, there's no signal to amplify.
This proved my hypotheses — Source shines under lean fertility, not when you're feeding crops like kings.
Questions about Source? https://www.sound.ag/source
The Bigger Picture
Sometimes the best story is when a product doesn't work, because it teaches us the conditions where it will. Both results give us intel we can use:
Growthful: Worth another look, even though I don't have skin in the game.
Source: Still in the toolbox, but only where fertility is lean, nutrients are tied up, or crops are crying for help.
That’s the value of trials: not just what works, but where and why it works. Saves you from throwing money at products in the wrong situations.
More trials planned for 2026. I'll keep digging so you know where to put your dollars.
What products should I test in 2026? Hit reply and tell me what’s on your radar.
If you found this useful, the best way to help me is to share it with another grower who could benefit from it.