URBANA, Ill. — Every time Fred Below and Connor Sible meet with Illinois farmers, they get the same question. “What’s the story with these biologicals? Do they work?”
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign crop scientists and Illinois Extension specialists are happy to share what they know about the natural growth stimulants, informed by dozens of trials and published research. But with new products constantly being added to the market — and a muddled regulatory landscape — it’s not always clear what farmers are even asking.
“We do a lot of extension talks, and we started to notice a disconnect. Farmers and companies call these products biologicals, but the scientific literature and regulatory bodies call them biostimulants,” said Below, professor in the Department of Crop Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois. “When we started looking into it, we realized the terminology is not only confusing, these very different products are all regulated the same, if they’re regulated at all.”
The realization prompted Sible, Below, and colleague Juliann Seebauer to embark on a deep dive into the world of biologicals and biostimulants, publishing their commentary in Agricultural and Environmental Letters.
First, just what are these products? In the most basic sense, they are live microbial inoculants and non-living, naturally derived chemicals or extracts applied to soil, seeds, and plants to improve growth in some way. That can be through enhancing fertilizer efficacy, reducing crop stress, improving soil health, or other mechanisms.
“The original biological was soybean inoculum. That’s been around for decades, if not a century. But then the humic and fulvic acids [from decomposing organic matter or mineral deposits], hydrolysates [from plant and animal byproducts], and alginates [from seaweeds] came along, and were mostly applied in specialty crops,” said Sible, research assistant professor in crop sciences and Illinois Extension specialist. “In those systems, anything you can do to improve the quality of your crop — the difference between a good juicy tomato and a small, dry one, for example — goes a long way.”
Once these products gained a foothold in specialty crops, the industry started moving into row crops, such as corn and soybean. That spurred an explosion in the marketplace, with hundreds of products containing different active ingredients and promising various benefits.
Read the full article from the College of ACES.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.