5 Signs Biologicals are the Future of Agriculture

Compelling Signs that Agriculture is Embracing Biologicals for a Brighter Future

In today’s ag world, it seems like you can’t open a paper, attend a show, or have a conversation that doesn’t include something related to biologicals. For good reason, too!

What are biologicals? Biologicals are a diverse group of agricultural products made from living, naturally occurring microorganisms as the primary active ingredient. The microbial strains found in biologicals are selected for their ability to impact such things as nitrogen-fixation, plant root development, nutrient and water use efficiency, and crop yield.

READ MORE: What are Agricultural Biologicals? And Why Use Them?

Data shows that farmers are increasingly recognizing the immense value biologicals bring to both crops and grower ROI: a reported 20% of farmers worldwide are either currently using or are interested in using biologicals on their farm.

We believe biologicals have an important role in the future of ag. But, don’t just take it from us. Here are 5 signs that tell us the rest of the industry believes it, too.

1. All the Biggest Brands are Announcing Partnerships to Support Biologicals
2. Government is Including Biologicals in Drafted Legislation
3. Agricultural Tradeshows are Packed with Biological Booths and Discussions
4. CPG Companies are Reaching into their Supply Chain to Decarbonize their Scope 3 Emissions
5. Grower Adoption is Quickly Growing

1) All the Biggest Brands are Announcing Partnerships to Support Biologicals

Those in the agricultural world have likely noticed a surge in partnerships and new company divisions that are researching and promoting the use of agricultural biologicals.

Global agribusinesses are increasingly partnering with biological companies—creating new pathways to provide growers with a wider array of products and services.

These strategic partnerships may provide:

• Greater research & development (R&D) capabilities
• Development of cutting-edge technologies
• Acceleration of the product pipeline
• Higher performing biological products

By combining forces, both companies can leverage the benefits they bring to farmers at a higher scale.

As more big brands partner with biological companies, many agriculture and conservation groups are advocating for federal legislation to recognize and uplift the carbon-sequestering power of agricultural biologicals.

2) Government is Including Biologicals in Drafted Legislation

Across the agricultural industry, stakeholders are lobbying for Congress to include legislation that supports farm-based carbon capture and storage, such as the use of biologicals.

The Farm Bill is up for renewal this year, and Congress is currently in the final stages of considering what to include in this key piece of agricultural legislation. One of the bill’s primary focus areas is on ways to increase soil carbon capture in agriculture.

Biologicals are quickly gaining farmer recognition for their ability to enhance soil carbon sequestration, in addition to several other agronomic benefits.

When formulated with synergistic strains of microbes, biologicals are proven to improve:

• Root strength and growth
• Nutrient availability and uptake
• Crop yield and quality
• Fertilizer and other input efficiency
• Soil carbon sequestration
• Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• Grower ROI

With all of these benefits to crop productivity, grower profitability and the climate, it’s no wonder that biologicals are gaining legislative attention and promotion.

READ MORE: 2023 Farm Bill – What You Need to Know

Other drafted legislation supporting the use of biologicals include:

• The ARACI (Advancing Research on Agricultural Climate Impacts) Act, which would help the USDA to incentivize regenerative farming practices
• The Plant Biostimulant Act, which calls for greater federal research on the soil health benefits of biologicals
• The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), a joint initiative between the United States and the United Arab Emirates. At COP28, AIM for Climate announced 27 new agriculture and food system innovation projects that they encourage investment in. Biologicals was a major trend across many of them and deemed a vital opportunity to combat both environmental and food security challenges.

READ MORE: AIM for Climate Names Locus an Innovation Sprint Partner for 2 Initiatives

3) Agricultural Tradeshows are Packed with Biological Booths and Discussions

Those who have attended agricultural tradeshows over the last few years have likely noticed the increasing prevalence of company booths, speakers and discussions all centered around the use of biological products.

Major industry events, such as the 2023 Commodity Classic, have been lined with biological company booths promoting how their products offer benefits ranging from enhancing crop root growth to boosting overall agronomic efficiency and sustainability.

While other shows, such as the inaugural 2023 Salinas Biological Summit, focused on agricultural biologicals as the theme for the entire two-day event.

With more and more biological products entering the market each year, their rising presence at tradeshows demonstrates that biologicals are a growing segment in the industry.

The Mixing Bowl 2023 Ag Biologicals Landscape revealed at 2023 Salinas Biological Summit showing the number and variety of biological companies in the industry.

4) CPG Companies are Reaching into Their Supply Chain to Decarbonize Scope 3 Emissions

With growing regulatory and investor pressure to improve sustainability and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, companies are looking for new ways to decarbonize along their supply chain.

Scope 3 emissions are the GHG emissions that are not directly produced by a company, but that the company is indirectly responsible for up and down its value chain. Scope 3 emissions—also referred to as “value chain emissions” —account for more than 70 percent of most company-wide carbon footprints.

Certain biologicals are shown to accelerate soil carbon sequestration and reduce overall GHG emissions. When used early in the value chain, agricultural biologicals provide an efficient, cost-effective way for companies to reduce their scope 3 emissions.

As companies look to the farm for ways to reduce their carbon footprint, farmers are looking to biologicals to reap the many benefits they bring to crops and grower ROI.

Graphic shows the potential for biologicals to play a role in reducing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions at the farm-level.

5) Grower Adoption is Quickly Growing

The data shows that farmers are recognizing the immense value biologicals bring to both crops and grower ROI: a reported 20% of farmers worldwide are either currently using or are interested in using biologicals on their farm.

That’s because the right biological product can bring immense value to both crop productivity and grower ROI. They can also accelerate and bolster the benefits from previous crop management efforts like fertilizers, manure and conservation tillage.

And the payoffs of using biologicals often well exceed the cost. Growers are seeing profits generated by increased yields that cover, and often surpass, the cost of the biological products themselves.

This All Sounds Great, but Do They Work?

While there are numerous benefits to using agricultural biologicals, most fall under the three primary categories of:

• Environmental benefits
• Crop quality benefits
• Grower ROI

However, farmers need to have trust in a product before they buy it. Inputs, such as biologicals, should come with a verification that they work—ideally in the form of third-party contract research organization (CRO) trial data. These trials are third-party run and randomized and replicated to ensure independence of the results.

Agricultural biologicals are shown to improve:

• Root strength and growth
• Nutrient uptake
• Crop yield and quality
• Plant vigor
• Fertilizer and other input efficiency
• Soil carbon sequestration
• Soil quality and structure
• Grower ROI
• GHG emissions

However, not all agricultural biologicals are created equal. Strain specificity matters, and the symbiotic relationship of a few microbial strains is measurably more powerful than a higher number of weak or competing strains. The most effective biologicals will contain microbes that are precision targeted for specific crops or cropping systems.

Why You Should Choose Locus AG Biologicals

Locus AG offers several agricultural biological products that contain superior microbial strains precision targeted to provide far-reaching benefits to both crop productivity and profitability.

These crop-specific formulations are third-party verified and proven to increase nutrient uptake, enhance plant vigor, improve soil quality, and boost yields and grower ROI.