Episode 4: Mark Bejster

Acres and Adjuvants with Mark Bejster, regional sales manager for Spraytec.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Mark Bayster with Spray Tech. Welcome to the show. Thank you. How are you doing today? Very good and yourself. All right, doing good. Just wanted to have you on the show and talk a lot about Spray Tech. We've been doing business with you guys, I'm thinking five or six, maybe seven years now.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

At least, at least five or six, yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Uh we've always been big about pH and water, and that's based on what we saw on our farm and our applications that we've done in the past. And so we've always been big about everybody assumes water is water, right? And it's the largest carrier in the tank that we have, or the largest product in the tank, and it's the least one talked about. And so we want to talk a lot about that, but we'd like to hear a little bit about your story and tell us about spray tech in general. I'm uh know the owner fairly well, I'll say, and uh hoping to have him on the show soon. But uh so I always like to know the owners of the companies that we're doing business with, and so I like to do business with good people, and so I'll add you to that list. So tell us a little bit about yourself and tell us a little bit about Spray Tech.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Yeah, so started about two years ago, um, coming up my two-year anniversary, came from Retail Ag. So I sold for two different companies for nine years before coming to Spray Tech. Um, I was just looking for a little bit different schedule and something kind of fit a little bit better with the family farm. Um, and Spray Tech had an opportunity and I I took advantage of that. But uh so I'm the regional sales manager over Wisconsin, Illinois, and Kentucky. Um, so pretty large territory, put a lot of miles on the truck. Um, and then on top of that, I also uh farm with my brother and my father uh back home around Ladd, Illinois. And uh um so then I'm out on the road doing the rest of my duties, teaching everybody about adjuvants and phytostimulants, nutritionals, and everything else Spray Tech has to offer. Um and you'd mention Diego, yeah. So it's actually pretty neat. I get to work uh very closely with Diego um hand in hand. And and one thing about Diego is he is the only uh owner of this whole company. So he started it back in um 89, and he still uh maintains 100% ownership of the company. Wow, so family owned, family-owned. Um so uh we are a family-owned global company in over 44 countries, and we're continuing to grow and expand into more countries uh every year.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Wow, that's a feat in today's world. You know, a lot of companies I don't want to say want to do a cash grab, right? But they want to grow relatively quick and you know they try to get a return on investment, which is totally understandable, right? But so to be able to do that 36 years, that's uh that's a big deal. And you said 44 countries, 44 and counting.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

So um uh I just went to Germany with Diego uh back in November. It was um Agri Technica, which is the largest uh equipment trade show in in Europe. They host it every two years. Uh but we went over there and I got to meet um some of our reps from Spain, Belgium, uh, Ukraine, Russia, uh the Netherlands. It's just really neat. Yeah, we're we're everywhere. You know, our biggest countries are Australia, Brazil, America, but uh we're growing everywhere. We we've we've since expanded into Canada, but it's just really neat um working for a family-owned company and a farmer, and he's right there beside you. We're that large of a company, and he still is right there next to you at the trade shows, engaging and talking with growers and and sharing his knowledge, and it's just it's really neat.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Extreme yeah, he I've met him, he's extremely intelligent and always hands-on.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

At all levels, right? From the most detailed, right? You know, chemistry thing to how we're gonna take care of the warehouse and you know the office. Oh yeah. So yeah, no. Good. I know you guys have got a lot of products in PFR, and a lot of them have PFR proven, so that's always a big deal from a marketing perspective. I know that does well, and you know, the uh and and the reason why is because of the ROI, right? I mean, you've mentioned low use, and I'll say they're very economical. So let's dive into the why and the how if you want to. You're very well versed in the technology, I know, and you'll tell us what you can and you'll keep to yourself what you can't.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Uh so full tech admin, uh, you know, that's that's our our main product. That's that's been around the longest. Um, and it's been reformulated multiple times since. But like you said before, uh water is the number one thing that almost everybody sprays the most of. Uh, but we don't think about or consider, you know, each water source where we're getting or or what's in our water, right? And how it affects either negatively or positively um our herbicides, our fungicides, our insecticides, and so on. So diving in a little bit on the adjuvant, um, it's got a water conditioner for tying up your cations. Um they're positively charged, and a lot of our herbicides have uh negatively charged uh molecules, and that's how we lose that active ingredient. So if we can tie up those cations, uh that's the first thing we're doing. And then after that, pH. Um I've tested a lot of water from Wisconsin to Kentucky, and it's all different. Um we can have a pH of 6.5 all the way up. I've seen as high as 10 or 10 and a half. Depending on, yeah, depending on where they're getting the water, whether it's from a municipality, they're getting it from a well, if they're getting it from a farm pond. You know, it all varies as well as the hardness of the water, like I was talking about with the cations. Um so ideally we want that pH range and that four and a half to five and a half final solution going to the field. Almost all your herbicides and fungicides perform better at that that negative or that uh um acidic level rather than a neutral or alkaline. Then on top of that, um, we've got an anti-foam and a uh and a DRA in there. So just trying to make it a lot easier to work with this product as well as keep keep your droplets on target. It's got a non-iox refactant and a deposition aid. So there's our spreader sticker, we're driving that product into the canopy. Um, and lastly, emulsifiers. And and and we really don't talk about emulsifiers enough in the industry. And and the reason I get at that is when we look at the basic manufacturers and then when they put tank mixes together, let's just throw out Lexar for an example. Okay, there's three different active ingredients there. Um, and and Singenna has done the legwork already making sure that those components and those different active ingredients are compatible in the jug as well as in the tank once we introduce it to to a spray mix or water, right? Well, obviously with market prices right now and the generic market becoming more popular, what guys are trying to do is is kind of make their own pre-mixes, which is understandable. I do the same on my farm. But what emulsifiers do is think of them as a I mean, that's that's the main part of a compatibility agent. So making everything play nice in the tank and get along, and and that's what the generics are not doing, is really going that extra, you know, research and development and making sure that everything's stable.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

It's a way to cheapen the product up too, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Bingo. So that's what emulsifiers are doing, and that's where they help. And probably one of the coolest things I haven't mentioned yet is the low use rate. So two to three ounces per acre. I see you guys amp bottles here, there's two two ounces. So for 10 to 15 gallon water, that is all you need to do all of that with our adjuvant, which is really, really neat.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

So you're telling me if I've got an eight and a half pH and I throw two to three ounces of that in 10 to 15 gallons solution per acre, I'm gonna get my pH to four and a half to five and a half? Correct.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

It's actually gonna lower it more than that. You're actually gonna see it go down probably closer to a three or three and a half, but that's just the water. Once we start introducing different herbicides or nutritional or something else in the tank, that's actually gonna raise that pH back up to a to an extent. And generally we see that fall right between that four and a half and five and a half. That's pretty powerful. It is, it's extremely it's you know, seeing is believing, you know. Uh that's a big thing for us because most people are like, oh my gosh, you know, the whole market, the industry is in that that pint per acre, quart per acre, and we're talking pint per hundred, you know, and uh so we like to show how our product works and and that helps you know with the low use rate thing.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Yeah. I think you guys have got a kit, I've seen you do it before. We maybe need to have that on next time. Maybe we could show that actually live, you know, and measure the pH before and after.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Oh, yeah, definitely. No, and I mean every one of our guys, every one of our managers, uh sales reps, you name it, everybody when they start working first week, as one of the first things they get with their laptop is a full demonstration kit for our adjuvant. Um, and yes, Diego believes, you know, seeing is believing. And and so many times in retail, and I was even in the position of procurement manager for one year. Uh so I did all the purchasing decisions on the crop protection side and pricing and everything. And never did I have an adjuvant company come in and show me how their product worked. They would walk in with their tech sheet, hand it to me, and go, it does this, this, and this. Here's the rate, and here's our your cost per acre, and it it works great. Okay. Well, when we walk in, everybody's got a kit, and we can walk in, we can actually show you how ours works. We can prove it. Um, which I think goes a long way. You know, building that trust and everything else. Yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

The first time I saw it's when I really believed it. It's like, wow, because because it is too hard, too good to be true, in my opinion. I mean, you put two ounces in a 15 gallon an acre rate, and it's like you just, you know, just the volume displacement, you know, 15 gallon to two ounces is is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

And it's my yes, it is amazing. And and our whole lineup's that way. I mean, we're known for our low use rates. You know, our nutritionals and phytostimulants, uh, you're gonna notice as you look through the portfolio, all of those are are like four to five and a half ounces per acre um as well versus quarts or gallons. Um I thought most companies made money by volume. Well, if you like selling in trucking water, I suppose. I like to think about it as how many acres rather than how many gallons I sell. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

Yeah, it's a good, good, uh, good tool. Yeah. What and and it is very economical. We don't need to go into prices, but I'll tell you it's it's extremely very cost effective. And again, you know, there's a lot of information on the adjuvant specifically in the PFR book. I know it's been PFR proven for a few years here, so yeah. It's uh been a big deal, I'm sure, for you.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

But uh Bex PFR, BACs have have been a fantastic partner for us. Um, you know, we've been working with those guys probably at least four to five years. Um and and we love their their unbiased um uh trial data and the work that they do. Uh we used adjuvant the way you know it's been proven, and we talked about that. Yes. Well, it's not only great for herbicides, but it's great for fungicides. You know, the pH is just as important there, and we talked about this for fact, and we talked about the the the anti drift and and other components there, the deposition aid, and those all benefit a fungicide. Um, but it's kind of hard to show ROI, and that's what they're after in the next PFR is ROI. Right. Well, it's kind of hard to show ROI with weeds, either they're dead or they're not, right? Right. So um, so we decided to do it with fungicides so we could actually show how much it increased uh control of the fungicide, and so that's how we came to that.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Yeah, yeah, it's a really good tool. Like again, a lot of times we think of adjuphants as doing a job that you really can't quantify necessarily. So it was I'm glad you did it that way. I never I hadn't heard that story actually as to the reason why they went with fungicides, but yeah, if it's doing that for a fungicide, what's it doing for herbicides and our effective, you know. And I look at kill, and you know, we all know where we've been with the roundup situation, right? With resistance and so on. And you know, there's a little bit of talk about you know, liberty or glufosinate having some resistance as well, and so you know, that's a whole nother issue that we need to work through, but that's kind of why I'm very passionate about let's not increase our use rate, let's just make what the use rate that we have more effective and more efficient. And getting that pH right is actually what's doing that because there's not a lot of silver bullets left, right? No, you know, the the uh the one we had proverbial silver bullet is is kind of gone, so we need to make sure that we utilize the ones that we have as long as we possibly can. Yes, you know, and so that's why you know these products are so important in my opinion. And I, you know, just wanted y'all in to help talk about those things, you know. Well, it's bring them to the forefront.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

And and it's it's great to work, right? But I mean, also think about the convenience. I mean, get we're like I said, we're working with ounces per acre rather than gallons. Sure. I and it's and it's an all-in-one multi-functional. I mean, I always tell guys, I'm like, that's the easy button, you know. Boom.

unknown 13:12

Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

The only thing you gotta add to this is a crop or an MSO if your herbicide calls for it. Right. Um, and we're making those herbicides work like they were intended. Um you know, a lot of labels will actually, if you read them, labels will tell you what pH range they actually want that active ingredient in to be most successful.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Yep. And it makes me wonder, I've always thought that, and I know that, but how many people actually read that label and look for pH, right? We're reading the label for every other thing, right? Yeah. Drift and setback and you know, everything. Active, you know, or what our use rate is and so on. And so that's the beauty of it. This is actually giving giving us back the the value of the herbicide that we already paid for. We're just now being able to utilize it all, right? So it's almost like we're putting money back in our pocket. Oh, definitely. Or at least getting what you paid for, right? Exactly, which is, you know, if we were getting 50% of it, right? Because we had the wrong pH before, right? You know, I don't want to say we're making money, right? Because we're still having the same expense, but still we're getting to utilize it. It's kind of like having being able to utilize all the money we have in our bank account rather than having a draw limit, right? Absolutely. So, yeah, so that's great. Um, what else? Is there anything else on the adjuvant that we need to speak about that it does? Any trials, or do you want to move on to another product?

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Uh one other trial um I've had done for the last two years in a row. Um I had the University of Illinois do a trial with Fulltech adjuvant.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

Really?

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Yeah, against AMS with glufosinate, the active ingredient of liberty.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Um and two years in a row now, uh, we've had identical uh results. It's been consistent, um, where three ounces of full tech with 20 gallon of water uh performed just as well as three pounds of AMS in 20 gallon of water with a quart of glufosny. Um we we had within a half a percent the exact same kill rate um across two different years. And then we actually went as far as uh including AMS with full tech adjuvant, and there was no better control. So more or less um at the end of that, it it shows that we're doing the same thing as as AMS, if not more.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

AMS isn't giving you anti-foam or anti-drift. Um, so um if you don't like throwing bags, AMS. I I do actually. I love throwing them in the bag. Oh, that's great. I I mean I know you like staying in shape. Uh I'm more for the the cheeseburger line.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

So I don't well, and you know, there's liquid AMSs, we can poke it dry, and it it is it is very cumbersome. I I despise anything dry, right? That I don't have to do. Um but liquid AMS is out there, but the consistency in that product is you know, it's just highly variable. And so, yeah, the low use rate's the the the biggest piece of that puzzle. Yeah, and if I can do, yeah, three pounds versus three ounces is huge. The interesting part is when you add those two together, you you're it don't increase your kill. So it actually does kind of finalize off that information there, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 16:20

The proof. Yeah, and we've had trials show the same thing with with glyphosate, not just glyphosate, but glyphosate as well. Um so yeah, we've we've had consistent results uh anytime that we've compared our um or put our full tech admin up against AMS.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Yeah, anytime we can back things, I'm always kind of a kind of pick on a lot of companies, right? We want to put seven or eight things in the tank, and it's like every one of those needs to be compatible. Yes. And when there's that many in the tank, I don't know when which one to point the finger at it, right? Which which inert matter tied up the other active ingredient of the other product where it didn't work, you know, and so that's the beauty of this. We can decrease about three things in the tank.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

So Yeah, and and so you're also taking those things off, you know, your step deck trailer, your sprayer trailer. I mean, if we can take a a pallet off uh your step deck, now you got more room for say a nutritional or something that's gonna gain you yield um or something that may protect yield. So um if you're taking two, three things, totes, you know, we talked about liquid AMS, it's not use rate. It's probably gonna be on a tote. Whereas you can take six, five, six cases with you. That's gonna get you the whole day. That's what I was gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Yeah. Yep. So you mentioned nutritionals, so you guys have some nutritionals. So tell us a little bit about those and tell us which ones are highest on your radar for this time of the year, right? We're going in the planning of 2026. Which one's going to be the highest on your radar that we need to discuss?

SPEAKER_00 17:48

Uh, first things first, uh, you know, we're we're talking seed treatments, so we've got a few different products there. We have an actual seed treatment um that works well on on nematodes. Um, it's a nutritional as well as has some nematode control there. That's called uh fulltech plus ST. Um, so that's a great product. You can over-treat with it or uh or pair it with one of your F and I's and put that on your corn or soybeans or really any any uh any of your crops. And then um as we head to the planter, then we've got carbon seed, which is a graphite product. It's uh it's a replacement for any of your 80-20s. It's got some micros and macro nutrients as well as some enzymes. Um we're bypassing LIBELOGIS, they're not stable enough, so we're going right to the enzymes, the end reaction, what we're looking for. Um, then it's also got some organic acids to help there in the furrow. Um try and get that soil and organic matter to release more uh nutrients to the seedling itself right there. Um, so that's a pretty handy product, all in one, you know. Um uh as a seed meter lubricant. We've had guys run it in their high-speed gender planters, bulk fills, love it, no issues, no um I ran my own planter last year. I got a box planter. My singulation was identical to if I was just running the 80-20. Sure. Um, you know, and then after that, we've also got a full line of uh inoculants for corn, soybeans, edible beans, peanuts, you name it. Um so that's something else you could be looking at early season before we get out there with the sprayer on that first pass. Um yeah, that's that's just starting out, and then the next stage is gonna be that that's that second pass, you know, our post-herbicide, that V3, V4 pass on your corn soybeans. We've got a full line of nutritionals there, whether you're you're trying to uh hone in on protecting against pathogens, um, or if you're just looking for uh stress mitigator. Um we've got a lot of products that do multiple uh different things within the plant, whether we're stimulating different uh systems within the plant, we've got some products with phosphite that's gonna help with bacterial and fungal control. Um, then we've even got um some stress mitigators with amino acids and to help with that herbicide uh recovery.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

When you when you do your micros, do we have to have is this a one, two, three? Do I need to have the adjuvant in in the tank along with any of the nutritionals?

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Or if you're already in there? It there is some, so each one of our our liquid nutritionals have um some full tech adjuvant in them, uh, some of those components. Um whatever whatever that product needs to be successful or most efficient, whether it be a certain uh water pH or you know, if we need to condition the water, it's also got some surfactant in it. That is all already preloaded into that nutritional.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

That phytostimulant. Um if you're running with herbicide, I really like to still put in at least a half a rate of the adjuvant because it's gonna have you know your your drift reduction agent, your antifoam. Some of those are things that aren't in the nutritional. Um, so I still recommend a little bit. Now, if you're just going out, say you're just doing a foliar pass. No, all of our nutritionals are set to dump in water and go.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Okay. And they get the pH where we need it. Do you recommend checking your pH after you have a full tank mix ready to roll?

SPEAKER_00 21:23

I do. I mean, if if you know you're always pulling out of the same one or two water sources, I think it's a great idea. Just go on Amazon. They've got these uh um digital pH meters for like 20 bucks. They come with calibration uh kit as far as the three different uh pH levels they want you to calibrate at. It's really simple. 10 minutes, you'll have it calibrated, and yes, I highly encourage everybody get your whole tank mix done and and check it then. That's the final solution going to the field. And that's what we care about, right? So uh yeah, I do encourage. And and if you don't want to mess around with that, go to your local pool supply store and get you some PhD. Test strips, they're gonna pretty much do the same thing. They're gonna tell you where you're at on that pH level. Got it. Got it.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

Why is it? Why is pH? What actually happens? Can you explain, or is that a Diego question? Why is the pH so important on different products? And then we talk about half-lifes. I know Purdue's done some homework and they've got data, then we can publish that maybe or tag it into this uh podcast, but they're actually talking or they have it down, I think I've where I've seen it where like the fungicides are one pH. What actually is going on there from a technical perspective?

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Can you tell us that or is that something that's the the the the the phrase is uh hydrolysis or alkaline hydrolysis? So talk about alkaline, so we're on the the top side of the pH scale, right? Above a seven, those are your alkaline levels. Um and what happens is at that pH range, those herbicides or those fungicides and so on, they start to half-life faster. Um and it's it's no different than anything else. You know, a lot of our herbicides we're using are weak acid formulations. And I said acid. Okay, so if you take an acid and you put it in an alkaline environment, obviously it's gonna affect it. So if we can keep a lot of those pesticides in an acidic pH level, it's gonna half-life a lot slower. So we're getting more active ingredient when we're going to the field. Sometimes we load up, you know, a few hours ahead, sometimes we load up a half a day's worth of product on the trailer, you know. So what we're trying to do there is extend the amount of that active ingredient that's still coming out of the sprayer. Got it.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

So if I pre-mix my full tech adjuvant, let's say a day ahead or two days ahead, and I don't put any other active ingredients in it, does it will it degrade over time if I'm mixing it ahead of, you know, say I'm gonna spray this week, you know, middle of the week and it's Monday, will it affect it at all or will it will it maintain that pH?

SPEAKER_00 24:00

No, it it will maintain it. And um, and when you put um full tech adjuvant in water, it it becomes a solution, it's not a suspension. Okay, suspension needs constant agitation or or the products that are suspended will fall out. A solution is something that you cannot uh you cannot separate back out. Right, and and it does become a solution, so you don't have to worry about number one that separating out, but number two, the pH adjuster, pH buffer that we use in it, um uh to lower the pH, it will hold. I've I've actually tested it uh for 34 days. I had it in a a tank uh with some glyphosate and glyphosate um on my side by side. I was doing some spot spraying, and before I could get it all out of the tank, it was 34 days later. And I checked it with my pH meter and I was still holding at exactly a five. So we do have guys that pre-treat their water source. Right. You know, if you got a 5,000 gallon water tank sitting in it, you always pull out of, you can pre-treat that and eliminate one more step at the sprayer or out in the field.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

All right. Um yeah, that would be a big deal. I know a lot of times, you know, that is a struggle for some guys. So if you can pre-treat, that's awesome. Oh, yeah. I'd never heard the solution or suspension thing, so that's a nice piece to know. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Yeah, yep. And that's the difference between, you know, some of our fertilizers versus our herbicides, how they mix, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Yep, yep, exactly right. Well, Mark, with that, we appreciate you being on the show until next time where we can do a demonstration and talk maybe about some of the nutritionals. We appreciate it and have a safe spring. Absolutely. Thanks for having me on. Look forward to this again. All right, thank you. Thanks, Tom.