As summer slides into August, it’s time to look back and celebrate the amazing work produced by our 2025 Intern Class. Our 25 interns joined us in May, and since then they have been hard at work in the field, managing their summer projects and collecting data. Last week the interns presented the findings of their projects to Advanced Agrilytics staff. Here’s an overview of the top four intern projects:
“Liming Soils with a Buffer pH 6.9 or Above and Water pH Below 6 in Southern IN/KY,” presented by Elizabeth Hiter
Elizabeth described her project this way:
“Current Tri-State Fertilizer recommendations call for no lime in soils with a buffer pH of 6.9 or higher, regardless of the water pH (in her region, which is Southern Indiana and Kentucky). However, some Advanced Agrilytics customers and Precision Agronomists question the validity of these recommendations. We wanted to know, if buffer pH is high and water pH is low, why are we not liming?”
The objectives of the study were:
- To determine how common fields with a water pH below 6 and a buffer pH above 6.9 are within the Southern Indiana/Kentucky region for Advanced Agrilytics’ Precision Agronomists.
- Evaluate the agronomic impact, specifically on plant growth and health, of applying lime to those fields, despite current recommendations that do not call for it.
Conclusions:
- Fields with a buffer pH of 6.9 or above and a water pH below 6 are common for Precision Agronomists in Southern IN/KY
- There were no obvious effects on plant growth in this trial. One exception – increased nodulation.
- She still needs to collect yield data
- They need to do future replications, looking for a lower water pH and with fewer variables.
“From day one, it’s been clear that the people at Advanced Agrilytics genuinely care about what they do,” said Elizabeth about her intern experience. “The company’s methodology challenges conventional thinking in a way that just makes sense. I’ve learned more than I could have hoped for, especially from my manager, Dan Emmert who is one of the smartest people I’ve had the chance to learn from. This internship has been an incredibly valuable experience.”
“Elizabeth was great to work with this summer,” says Regional Agronomy Lead (and Elizabeth’s manager) Dan Emmert. “She asks very good questions to make sure she understands the importance of the data she is collecting, and why she is doing it. The operations that she was working with have commented about how they appreciate her observations and seeing her out in their fields.”
“Nitrogen to Sulfur Ratio in Wheat,” presented by Clara Damman
The goal of Clara’s project was to try to discover that the ideal ratio of nitrogen to sulfur is for optimizing a wheat crop’s potential. She referenced a study conducted by the National Library of Medicine states that nitrogen and sulfur interactions are necessary to optimize a wheat plant’s potential.
Her study found that:
- Lower nitrogen to sulfur ratios have the potential to increase plant biomass, test weight, yields and operation ROI, all while decreasing fertility inputs.
- Factors such as mineralization, soil organic matter, soil water index (SWI) and others make it challenging to predict optimal rates.
- There are a lot of factors that need to be considered when finding a ratio that works well for each farming operation.
- The key takeaway that Clara learned was the importance of balance and increasing predictability, which are both things that come with time and gaining experience in conducting trials, like she did with this project.
“Hands on with Farm QA: Supporting Growers in Setup,” presented by Lillie Thorn
In early May 2025, Advanced Agrilytics released a new app for both growers and employees. It is supported by Farm QA and can be accessed through a downloadable mobile app or a web-based version of the app. The app allows the user to view different scouting maps (such as SWI, slope, nitrogen loss, etc.) and provides access to scouting reports. Growers can view this information on any of their fields and have the ability to drop a point of interest anywhere in the field.
Lillie had 11 in-person meetings with growers and did a six-question follow-up survey. What she found is that growers were glad to have assistance downloading and using the app and appreciated the support.
“What I liked best about my experience as an Advanced Agrilytics intern was being able to interact with many growers and make them feel supported while setting up their Advanced Agrilytics app.”
Lillie said it was hard to pick just one key thing she learned as an intern. “I learned so much about agronomy while in the field,” she explained. “Something we did spend a lot of time on, that gave me great insight into plant growth was the importance of building plant mass early in the season, and how that early mass will carry throughout the entire growing season.”
“Understanding the Role of Phosphorus & Potassium in Soybean Production,” presented by Molley Cook
Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) play critical roles in soybean development. From early vegetative growth to final pod and seed production, Molley’s project investigated how soybean plants respond to different fertility levels across 10 grower-managed fields.
The objectives of her project were:
- To explore the relationship between P and K availability and plant development
- To provide insight for more informed and efficient fertility decisions
- Support sustainable, yield-focused management practices
Conclusions:
- Soybeans grown with sufficient P and K consistently developed more nodes and showed more uniform early growth.
- Node count may serve as a reliable, low-effort indicator of early season nutrient sufficiency.
- Despite the variability across fields, the trend reinforces the value of target fertility management.
Some of our 2025 intern class poses with several Advanced Agrilytics employees, including Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Kess Berg, Vice President of Sustainability Jane Stautz, Chief Science Officer Jon Fridgen and Chief Financial Officer Josh Meyer in between presentations last week at our Huntington research facility.
Here’s a list of our 2025 interns and their project titles. We want to thank them again for their tremendous work and dedication this summer.
| INTERN | TITLE | MANAGER(S) |
| Jonathan Starke | Benefits of Starter on Soybeans | Aaron Gault |
| Molley Cook | P & K Influences on Soybean Performance | Chris Woodrum |
| Brooke Hurley | Soil Water Index (SWI) in Focus | Josh Archibald |
| Drew Hallock | Evaluating the Yield Impact of Corn vs. Soybean Planting Dates | Brian Mansfield |
| Emma Myers | Showing the Value of our LPK and Soybean Seeding Rx | Mark Semple |
| Hayden Lay | Utilizing Crop Diagnostix sampling protocol to evaluate gene expression trait influence on crop performance from TERRAMAR® applications. | Mitch Helton |
| Hannah St. Cyr | Effectiveness of Biological Fungicide Applications within 2025 Summer Protocols | Gunnar Dinkla & Evan Lyons |
| Caaden Gault | Soybean Population Density and Its Effects on Plant Branching and Development | Colton Zeck |
| Lillie Thorn | Farm QA Account Review | Josh Archibald |
| Micah Stonecipher | Cover Crop Residue Impact on Agronomic Factors | Brody Deno |
| Nick Beckner | Different Trial Amounts of 10-34-0 Applied to Corn and Comparing the Differences in Plant Mass by V6 | Adam Shafer |
| Caullin Heebner | Early-season Soybean Branching and Canopy Development Across Different Management Zones Within a Field | Erika Parker |
| Clara Damman | Understanding Sulfur Management in Wheat | Justin Geis |
| Collin Maurer | Exploring Corn Lodging Risk in Saturated vs. Dry Soils | Jeremiah Windell |
| Drew Martin | Can Pre-Sidedress Nitrate Testing (PSNT) be Used to Assess Whether Manure Application Alone Will Meet Nitrogen Needs in a Field? | Jim Burkle |
| Evan Paris | Evaluating Soybean Response to Stress Mitigators Applied at V3–V4 | Mitchell Pettit |
| Erin Henne | Subfield Response of Manure on Crop Performance (Enable Product Placement & Positioning) | Mitch Helton |
| Logan Watson | Subfield Response of Blueprint™ and Source® on Crop Performance to Enable Field Placement | Mitch Helton |
| Luke Foxworthy | The Effects of Fungicide Timing and Frequency on Yield Response in Corn | Brody Deno |
| Elizabeth Hiter | Investigating Lime Applications in Southern Indiana Soils | Dan Emmert |
| Tristin Potts | Effects of Hail Damage on Crops | Greg Henne |
| Wyatt Haugen | Differences between Meristem’s MaxD® and Maxstax™ planter box treatments | Gunnar Dinkla/Evan Lyons |
TERRAMAR is a registered trademark of Loveland Products, Inc. Blueprint and Source are trademarks of Sound Agriculture. Max D and Max Stax are trademarks of Meristem Crop Performance. Advanced Agrilytics, TerraFraming and design are trademarks of Advanced Agrilytics Holdings, LLC.
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