By Dan Jacobs, Senior Editor, CropLife
Whether they’re biological or conventional plant health products, retailers play a huge role in ensuring those inputs are used at the right time and in the right way.
Despite seeming complicated and continually in flux, the plant health market continues to grow. Biocontrol. Biostimulants. Biofertilizers. These are all valuable tools that growers have available to integrate into their production programs, and retailers should play an important role guiding their grower-customers by explaining how and when these products are best used.
“Products that enhance nutrient use efficiency in row crops continue to offer the most promise,” says Tommy Roach, Vice President-Product Development & Technical Services for Nachurs Alpine Solutions. “For these products to truly improve ROI, rates of the targeted nutrient (i.e., nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.) should be altered as well.
“More information and awareness is needed on biological products that specifically target nutrient utilization, as these products are easier to understand as they deal with plant nutrition,” Roach continues.
Biological Plant Health
“The introduction of new biocontrol technologies in the market that demonstrate better and more consistent performance will sustain the strong growth observed in the past,” says Arturo Redes, Global Head, Portfolio Management at Nufarm. “Besides biocontrol, plant health products [aiding in] nutrient use efficiency (NUE) [like biostimulants] have shown a significant growth in the past 3-5 years.”
As with any new product, it takes time for the industry to understand how to best use these products. Retailers play a vital role in ensuring their grower-customers use these products properly.
“They represent new tools growers can rely on to help combat the main challenges of growing crops,” Redes says. “They are alternative ways of minimizing damage and yield loss caused by pests and diseases, providing new modes of action that help manage resistance. Biologicals are means of making the overarching agronomic plan for a farm more efficient — they can be a cost-effective additive that stretches the performance of core nutrients and chemistries.”
Biological products provide multiple benefits including plant health issues.
“The potential for biologicals is three-fold,” explains Dave Schumacher, Chief Commercial Officer, Valent BioSciences. “The biggest potential is to complement the use of conventional crop protection products to reduce resistance issues. Second is the opportunity to increase soil health. Soil health has become a significant focus in recent years for growers and industry alike, and many biologicals improve soil health in addition to other benefits to the plants. Finally, biologicals improve plant health and have proven to be a proactive tool for growers to ensure they maximize crop production. This is especially important in tough agriculture cycles because every bit of productivity counts toward a healthy bottom line.”
Christopher Gee, Ph.D., National Agronomy and Development Director, Timac Agro USA, agrees that biological plant health products enhance crop efficiency.
“In the modern era of biologicals, biostimulants’ abilities to increase productivity and grow commitments to stewardship improves nearly daily,” he says. As the segment evolves, the cost/benefit equation will point more toward the greater adoption of new biological-based products. Once aspects like efficacy, cost, and handling are at least on par with synthetic competitors, biologicals will become a regular part of the toolkit, selected as any other agricultural product.
"Biologicals improve plant health and have proven to be a proactive tool for growers to ensure they maximize crop production.”
Dave SchumacherValent BioSciences
Segment Drivers
“The ability to focus and deliver on the end-user’s critical needs is the main driver for adoption of any technology,” says Nufarm’s Redes. “Biologicals must be cost-effective solutions with clear and proven claims and consistent performance that address real growers’ pain points. As the dollar at the farmgate is stretched thin, growers will have to understand the value the product brings to invest in it. Consistent product quality, ease of customer use, and stability are table stakes while survivability on the seed is also critical for seed treatment uses.”
There are a number of reasons why growers choose any crop input. One of the more important factors is how they performed last season.
“The big driver next season will be whether biologicals proved their worth this year,” says Matt Werner, Wilbur-Ellis Nutrition Portfolio Manager. “If they delivered a solid return on investment (ROI), more growers will be using them in 2025. It's all about seeing benefits in the field and ROI. If there is any doubt products work in the current environment, growers can’t afford more risk.”
One thing biological plant health products such as biostimulants or biofertilizers can do is to mitigate a variety of “holes” that accompany traditional solutions.
“[Biological products] aren’t designed to replace traditional inputs, like fertilizers and pesticides, but rather to amplify the crop's ability to utilize these inputs and withstand various stressors.”
Marcio WallyYara North America
“Biologicals hold the greatest potential for enhancing plant health and crop resilience,” says Marcio Wally, Biological Senior Manager, Yara North America. “They aren’t designed to replace traditional inputs, like fertilizers and pesticides, but rather to amplify the crop's ability to utilize these inputs and withstand various stressors. By influencing hormonal balance, biologicals help crops become more resistant to challenges like drought, heat, and cold. They also promote early growth, making plants more competitive against weeds and disease, and enabling them to explore more soil to gather nutrients and strengthen overall development. Additionally, biologicals play a crucial role in high-value crops, helping them achieve the quality and timing necessary for profitable harvest seasons.”
Challenges
“The ability to prove consistent ROI to the grower has been a major challenge for biologicals,” Nufarm’s Redes says. “It starts with high-quality products, supported by investment to properly understand the technology in order to provide reliable and repeatable performance in different conditions and a well-established value proposition. The market is changing, companies that don’t take shortcuts will be the ones succeeding in the future.”
New technologies from startups to major players will continue to bring new and interesting plant health products that can effectively plug gaps in management programs created by traditional products being lost.
“Getting more out of your fertility plan, chemistry rotation, and soil this year and for years to come is the reason to use these technologies,” says Wilbur-Ellis’s Werner. “Driving yield results is always the main goal, but we are learning that you can’t spray or apply enough chemistry or fertilizer to reach maximum production on every acre. That is true for row crops and specialty crops. These new biological products are unlocking new opportunities where we can lower input volumes and increase the efficiency for our growers.”
“These products are effective, offer a good return on investment for growers and are the way the industry is headed... As an industry, we need to work on adopting these technologies now.”
Chris WooleyWilbur-Ellis
Effective plant health solutions deliver several advantages.
“These products are effective, offer a good return on investment for growers and are the way the industry is headed with sustainable products that are good for the environment and good for consumers,” says Chris Wooley, Wilbur-Ellis, Specialty Actives Portfolio Manager. “As an industry, we need to work on adopting these technologies now.”
