Episode #272 - Farming for Nutrients - Better Food Plots

Published: 2025-05-11
Episode page
Duration: 73 min

In this episode

albrecht

• Mike attributed the product’s science to soil scientist Albrecht, who studied nutrient deficiencies at the University of Missouri decades earlier. 19:21

amino-acids

• Mike explained plants make the amino acids methionine and cysteine, both containing sulfur, into the highest quality proteins. 15:51

apple-flavor

• Don recalled that the first apple Mike gave him, grown with the product, was so juicy it soaked a paper towel. 33:19

application-frequency

• Dan Schultz from Brilliant, Wisconsin asked how to balance applying Mike’s Mighty Microbes as directed weekly with limiting human intrusion on food plots and fruit trees. 63:40

application-rate

• Mike recommended mixing one ounce of solution per gallon of water and misting garden leaves about once a week. 46:40

beekeeping

• Terry asked how the nutrient-dense plant theory would benefit a beekeeper relying on clover for pollen. 58:54

biochar

• Mike explained his biochar is derived from chicken manure, is full of minerals, and lasts hundreds of years in soil. 49:53
• Don said he already has four pallets, about 8,000 pounds, of biochar ready to finish spreading on the rest of his plots this year. 62:22

buckmasters

• Don recalled being one of the first members of Buckmasters, a new hunting organization formed in January 1987. 39:37
• Don said he was selected for the Buckmasters Classic largely by default, being the only applicant from the entire Midwest region. 44:49

buckmasters-classic

• Don said his three-person team ended up winning the first Buckmasters Deer Classic competition. 40:41

cancer-diagnosis

• Mike shared that at age 40 he was diagnosed with large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 68:54

cold-hardiness

• Don noted his Mike’s Mighty Microbes-sprayed fruit trees stayed green much later into fall than untreated trees nearby. 25:48

compost

• Brian reportedly said twenty years of compost couldn’t do as much for soil as five years of adding the microbes. 28:38

dealer-event

• Don announced the dealer event is scheduled for June 26-27 in Arthur. 54:03

deer-pressure

• Mike recounted that after spraying his trees, deer began aggressively targeting the more nutrient-dense orchard foliage, becoming a persistent problem. 23:54

disease-resistance

• Don explained that disease and pests attack stressed trees rather than healthy ones. 25:30

drought-stress

• Mike recommended two quarts of micros per acre mixed in at least 15 gallons of water to perk up drought-stressed soybeans. 61:19

event-announcement

• Don announced he will host an evening seminar at JB’s Feed in Millersburg, Ohio on June 3. 37:34

food-plot-application

• Mike said a food plot only needs one micronutrient application, when beans reach about six inches or corn twelve to eighteen inches. 65:50

green-prairie

• Don said Green Prairie itself will become a dealer for Mike’s Mighty Micros rather than setting up other dealers. 54:30

human-intrusion

• Don recommended spraying midmorning through midday in summer, when deer are typically bedded elsewhere, to limit human intrusion. 65:05

life-priorities

• Mike said his cancer diagnosis led him to decide to get out of debt, work less, and travel with his family. 69:13

mackinac-island

• Mike recalled first meeting Don on Mackinac Island in Michigan, joking that it was meant to be. 24:38

mentor-loss

• Mike shared that his mentor Brian was hospitalized and passed away around COVID, and Mike continued the business afterward. 11:48

nutricrave-corn

• Don noted that NutriCrave Corn is a seed example of farming for nutrients, offering higher protein, fat, and calcium than typical corn. 2:58

orchard-recovery

• Mike described that within three or four days of applying the ‘juice’ to his dying orchard trees, they began pushing new growth and buds. 10:08

podcast-announcement

• Terry announced a new Chasing Assurance podcast will start around Father’s Day. 72:50

product-formulation

• Mike said it took Brian, the product’s biochemist inventor, seven years to figure out how to formulate it. 15:44

product-pricing

• Terry noted an eight-ounce bottle of the product costs only $25. 46:58

root-exudates

• Mike explained using Mike’s Mighty Microbes can raise a plant’s root sugar exudate production to feed soil microbes up to 60%. 27:39

roses

• Mike shared that after using the product on his sister’s roses, they exploded with blooms, prompting neighbors to ask what she’d done. 57:15

soil-booster

• Mike said his soil booster combines biochar, worm castings, and compost to amend ground when planting trees. 52:28

supplemental-feeding

• Don explained that because Illinois bans supplemental feeding and minerals, he farms for nutrients directly in his food plots to supply deer with nutrients otherwise in short supply. 2:21

tomato-plant

• Don recounted that Steve Shields sprayed one tomato plant weekly with Mike’s Mighty Microbes and it grew out the top of an eight-foot cage. 4:58

weakest-link

• Don explained that whichever nutrient is in shortest supply becomes the weakest link limiting an animal’s genetic potential, not just NPK. 13:39

yield-vs-nutrition

• Don noted that as production agriculture yields have grown, the nutrient content of corn and soybeans has decreased. 35:33

Listener questions

Question: Dan Schultz from Brilliant, Wisconsin asked how to balance applying Mike’s Mighty Microbes as directed weekly with limiting human intrusion on food plots and fruit trees. 63:40 — asked by Dan Schultz

• Answer: Don said human intrusion mainly matters in sanctuary bedding areas, and he recommends spraying midmorning through midday in summer when deer are typically bedded elsewhere. 65:05
• Answer: Mike said food plots only need one application, when beans reach about six inches or corn twelve to eighteen inches, though a second application would be even better. 65:50

Question: Terry asked how the nutrient-dense plant theory would benefit a beekeeper relying on clover for pollen. 58:54

• Answer: Mike explained a fully genetically expressed clover crop keeps producing pollen all day, so bees are still swarming it even in the afternoon, unlike a nutrient-deficient crop. 59:26

The episode centered on Don and Mike discussing Mike’s Mighty Microbes, a foliar spray Mike’s mentor Brian spent seven years developing before passing away around COVID. Mike traced the science to soil scientist Albrecht and explained the product raises root sugar exudates feeding soil microbes by up to 60%, citing dramatic results on dying orchard trees, tomatoes, and his sister’s roses. Don connected this to his broader practice of farming food plots for nutrients since Illinois bans supplemental feeding, using seed like NutriCrave Corn and arguing that whichever nutrient is scarcest limits a deer’s genetic potential. They discussed biochar and soil boosters, application rates for soybeans and food plots, and Don’s history with Buckmasters. A listener, Dan Schultz, asked how to apply the product weekly while limiting human intrusion; Don recommended midday summer spraying, and Mike noted plots usually need just one application. Mike also shared his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis, which prompted lifestyle changes.

Unofficial fan project. AI-synthesized from public episodes; may contain errors.