b'A featured segment designed to share business-critical information to seed-selling professionals. Visit SeedWorld.com to download this department STRATEGY and other tools.Are Biostimulants Finally Finding Their Place?Biostimulants were considered snake oil for decades, but with a new definition in the Farm Bill, are they finally finding their place amongst seed treatments in the United States?Joe Funk jfunk@issuesink.comBIOSTIMULANTS,abeing hampered by outdatedare not pesticides, they do nebulous group of bio- legal restrictions. not kill pests, although they logical products intended toTo market a biostimulantcan increase a plants resist-enhance crop production,product in the United States,ance, says Keith Jones, CEO may finally be coming of age.it is necessary to fit it intoof the Biological Products These products have athe existing categories asIndustry Alliance (BPIA). long history of agriculturaleither fertilizer,soil amend- BPIA is a trade organization use, yet they lack a legalment,plant amendment, or that promotes the responsi-definition in the United States.beneficial substance, saysble development of safe and The painstaking observationsTom Kroll, Nufarm producteffective biological products of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), aand technical manager, Seedincluding biopesticides and Greek philosopher known asTreatments. The choice biostimulants. On the other the father of biology, madeofonecategory over theside of the spectrum are fer-the first recorded referenceother depends on the com- Tom Kroll serves as Nufarmtilizer products. Biostimulants to the value of using supple- position of the product, theproduct and technical manager,are not fertilizers. They do mental products to enhancedesired claims and benefits,Seed Treatments.not add nutrients to the plant, plant growth. For 30 years, anand the supporting data thatin order to meet varyingalthough they may increase expanding list of supplementalis available. Unfortunately,state requirements and labela plants nutrient utilization products has been marketedthe category definitions andformats. This is challengingefficiency. Between these two to United States agriculturalrequirements are not wellfor companies that want tosides are biostimulants. and horticultural producers.harmonized among the states.distribute soil or plant amend- The BPIA along with Many of these products hadThis leads to not only varia- ment products throughoutbiological manufacturers and little more validation than thetions in label formatting andthe United States. other industry trade groups, promoters promise to trustcontent, but also variations inincluding the American me. The unscrupulous claimsthe types of supporting dataWhat Are Biostimulants? Seed Trade Association, made for these early biostimu- required, especially efficacy.At the moment, biostimu- worked with federal legisla-lant products earned them aWhile it may be possiblelants fall into a category oftors and agencies to include reputation of being little morefor a biostimulant that is, forproducts for which there is nolanguage in the Agriculture than snake oil. That cloud ofinstance, marketed on itslegal definition. These bio- Improvement Act of 2018 doubt is being dissipated asnutrient content, to achievelogical products fall into a cat- (the 2018 Farm Bill) to legally new scientific understandingone single label across theegory of microbial productsdefine or describe biostimu-of plant physiology, biotic andUnited States, this is not thethat can best be described bylants. The result of those abiotic seedling stresses, andcase for a product that is a soilwhat they are not. efforts is a proposed descrip-the soil microbiome is leadingamendment, plant amend- On one side of the spec- tion of biostimulants with a todays scientists to development, or beneficial substance.trum of biological productsmandate for the USDA to new biological products.On average, four to five differ- are pesticides that protectsubmit a legal definition by Marketing these biostimulantent label versions are neededplants by killing disease or2020. The language in the products to U.S. growers isfor a soil or plant amendmentinsect pests. BiostimulantsFarm Bill is a general descrip-28/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2019'