Inoculants are recognized and proven biological products that have been used on farms for decades. Other types of biologics, such as nitrogen fixers, biopesticides, and biostimulants, are new products that many farmers are exploring how best to incorporate into their input plans.
Stratus Ag Research has accumulated data on the acceptance, sentiment, and attitudes toward biostimulants among farmers in both the United States and Canada over the past several growing seasons.
Sara Healy, market research manager at Stratus Ag Research, said usage levels were consistent in 2022 and 2023, but there were changes within categories. One of the key observations from this study is that there is still a lot of uncertainty about biological products as a whole, due in part to the wide variety of categories and products that exist. is.
This is further complicated by the fact that many products are combinations of two or more products, such as combinations of organic acids and seaweed extracts or proteins, she added. (Details below)
Mr Healy said farmers have become more positive about biological products over the years, but satisfaction remains much lower than with traditional crop inputs. “Among producers, there still appears to be a gap between expectations and performance for these products. There is a lot of uncertainty in this category and we are not beyond it yet. “We’ve moved past the days of stimulant snake oil and I think producers are realizing the value of this technology,” she says.
Consistent performance of these products remains a challenge. The study found that yield increases are not always used as an indicator of “value”, making calculating ROI difficult for some products.
“Do we have to wait until companies’ products perform better? Or do growers need to start adjusting their expectations of what their performance and ROI will be in the field? ” she says.
subscribe: apple podcast | spotify | | all podcasts
