With the global biologicals market expected to be worth $25bn in the next decade, Farmers Guardian sought Corteva Agriscience’s views on UK adoption of the technology.
Widely predicted to overtake the size of the cereal fungicides market by the end of the decade, the use of biologicals in UK agriculture is growing year on year.
Knowledge, experience and trust are required for agronomists to recommend a product and for a farmer to invest in it. That takes time, but all the drivers for growth are in place.
Biologicals have a good origin story; naturally derived, sustainable, and designed to unlock yield potential while protecting the environment – all beneficial for farm businesses.
With fewer regulatory hoops to jump through – for the time being at least – manufacturers are also able to get their innovations to market quicker than conventional crop protection chemistry too.
Globally, the market for biologicals is put at $9bn but experts believe this will reach $25bn by 2035, making it 20-25% of the overall global crop protection market.
“Biologicals will not replace conventional chemistry, which remain important tools for farmers to produce crops,” says John Sellars, Corteva Agriscience’s Category Marketing Manager for biologicals. “However, their adoption is growing in the market as complementary, sustainably-advantaged solutions for farmers.”
Biologicals aren’t a new concept, but as the agricultural industry strives to meet strict climate change targets their importance will increase as farmers look for alternatives and start to see them as part of the solution.
“The concepts are becoming more robust, we now have formulations and technology that enable longer shelf life, and allow delivery and use that couldn’t be achieved before,” John explains.
“It isn’t just one thing meaning that biologicals are rapidly becoming more centre-stage, a variety of factors are coming together.”
Regulatory pressure on synthetic crop protection products is also a significant driver, as more and more products face restrictions, an outright ban or fail to secure legislation at the development stage.
“Regulations and legislation will result in more active ingredients being taken out of the market in the future,” explains John.
“The industry is desperate for new modes of action. We have fewer available to us, and this will only reduce further over time, plus resistance is an issue.
“For biologicals, the hurdles to launch a product in terms of regulation are a lot lower, so a new product can be brought to market quickly.”
Efficacy is also good and will improve as more research is put into practice and smaller companies merge to combine expertise. This will also boost market reach, as increased investment enables concepts to be scaled up.
As with any fast-moving technology, the main disadvantages come from the regulatory and policy environment needing to catch up with biologicals and their rapid integration into the market.
“We’re building the plane and flying it at the same time,” says John. “Biologicals are an emerging market in the UK and Europe and that dataset isn’t the same as conventional products for that reason."
“However, that’s not to say that biologicals aren’t put through the same robust trials and testing practices. A lot of these products have already been trialled and tested elsewhere in the world, where their use is commonplace. We’re just characterising them for our particular markets.
“If a product is available then it is robust and trustworthy. We know from market research that growers want data-supported concepts, so scientific rigour is essential.”
Corteva Agriscience moved quickly to establish itself as a main player in the market. As well as investing in R&D, the organisation completed its purchase of companies Stoller and Symborg in 2023.
“We will be introducing plant hormones towards the end of the decade which impact the physiology of the plant,” John says. “These are already huge and widely used in South America."
“We are also developing a new product called Resid which is mycorrhiza fungi. It is still under development, but we could potentially launch it as soon as 2027 for use on cereals."
“Farmers tell me they love biologicals and want to use them on everything. Once you know, you know. Once growers have had a good experience it will start to gather traction."
“Some farmers are already fully-bought in, but the speed of development and nature of the product challenges many of the conventions of crop protection.”
Sam Myhill of MB Farming in Suffolk used biostimulants for the first time last year and is now a convert after seeing yield increases of 29% in his trial.
He applied Corteva’s BlueN™ to sugar beet, hoping to navigate the risks presented by a difficult year with extreme weather conditions.
BlueN™ is a nutrient efficiency biostimulant containing a naturally occurring bacteria, Methylobacterium symbioticum, that fixes nitrogen from the air and converts it into ammonium inside the plant.
“Quite a lot of our sugar beet last year was on some really heavy land,” says Sam. “And it traditionally struggles to get enough nitrogen out of the soil throughout the season. That’s probably partially due to the soil type, as we have a lot of clay content.”
BlueN was applied to some whole fields, and to several 24m strips across one of their landlord’s farms.
After months of rainfall, Sam decided to try something new to help the sugar beet get away.
“They were planted into quite muddy and cold seed beds, so we wanted to give them the best boost we could to get them growing,” he explains.
Sam usually applies the total crop’s liquid nitrogen requirements to the seedbeds of the sugar beet.
“If you use granular nitrogen, you’d probably apply some when the crop was out too,” he explains. “But as we’re using liquid, the risk applying it when the plant is so delicate is that you may scorch the leaf. So, we put it all in the seedbed, and before the land is ploughed, we usually apply pig muck, which provides some background nutrition.”
Sam’s first foray into biological products delivered a noticeable, visual difference.
He said: “Overall, the plants were much bigger and much stronger. The field was treated exactly the same as the others, the only difference was that we applied BlueN – we could even see the difference along the line where the sprayer had been.”
BlueN was applied at a rate of 0.333kg per ha to 24m trial strips in a range of different fields and soil types from heavy Beccles series clay to sandy loam.
A clean fresh yield increase of 28% and slight increase in sugar content resulted in an overall 29% increase in adjusted yield.
After taking into account the £30 per ha cost of applying BlueN, the Margin Over Input Cost worked out at +£1,239 per hectare.
“The yield map from the harvester showed that, when used across a larger area, we didn’t quite reach the results achieved in the trial,” Sam says. “But we did see an increase and noted an obvious visual difference to the crop, so we’re looking forward to using BlueN across a larger area next year.
“Our landlords are keen for us to try new products and move away from using artificial fertiliser all the time, whilst remaining profitable and sustainable,” adds Sam.
“As a business we’re willing to adopt new ideas rather than being stuck in the old ways. We’re seeing new challenges in farming and the price of nitrogen is up and down all the time, so we’re keen to explore how biostimulants can help us.
“We will use BlueN on a large proportion of the sugar beet area this year, but potentially still leave some areas untreated, just so we can see the difference.”
MB Farming
Sam contract farms blocks of land across East Anglia for a range of landlords, with varying soil types and rotations. One farm in the business encompasses 55ha of sugar beet as part of a six-year rotation including oilseed rape, wheat and winter and spring barley.
END
About Corteva
Corteva, Inc. is a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company that provides farmers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry - including a balanced and diverse mix of seed, crop protection and digital solutions focused on maximising productivity to enhance yield and profitability. With some of the most recognised brands in agriculture and an industry-leading product and technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the company is committed to working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfils its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. Corteva Agriscience became an independent public company on June 1, 2019 and was previously the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. More information can be found at https://www.corteva.co.uk/products-and-solutions/pioneer.html.
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Benjamin Pike
Eve Communications
ben@evecommunications.co.uk
07832 168560
