With organics now 5% of all U.S. food sales, growers are increasingly pressured to use “natural” stimulants and biofertilizers. 
Microbial based ag biologics are showing fast revenue growth, with an estimated at a 40% CAGR, with an estimated market size for biofertilizers of $11B by 2025 (according to DunhamTrimmer, an agricultural market research and consulting firm focused on biological products.) SymSoil™ is participating in the rapidly expanding subsegment, microbial soil amendments, which currently is about 60% of the biofertilizer market.
CropLife® magazine recently published an article, Biofertilizers 2018: Finally Making Inroads, which described the rapid increase in demand from growers. The article highlighted the biggest marketing challenge, the misperception that there isn’t much science behind biofertilizers.
With respect to traditional compost, there is some truth to the belief, with pathogen reduction being the primary target of all testing and research. SymSoil™ and other agricultural biologic products are focused on improving results for growers. SymSoil™ blends decades of practitioner experience, from Korean Natural Farming, Soil Food Web, and other composting traditions from around the world, academic research into soil microbes. Eric Sfiligoj, the author of Biofertilizers 2018, focused on the use of technology to improved the efficacy and define the mode of action.
Dr. Chris Underwood, Chemist and Product Development Manager for AgroLiquid, noted: “Previously, most growers knew [biofertilizers] as ‘snake oil’ or ‘bugs in a jug,’ but that perception seems to be shifting. Now, growers have a renewed interest in what’s happening below the soil surface. Farmers are looking at ways to improve the biological activity in their soil, and fertilizer products that incorporate organic matter, beneficial fungi, bacteria, and microbes will help them meet their yield goals and improve their soil vitality.”
“Bug in a Jug”, remains a pejorative term for most bottled ag biologics, which focus on a small number of bacteria. They have the advantage of being easily measured, used and reproduced, but like stomach probiotics, their efficacy is temporary and may be a function of the humic acid or other non-living “additional ingredients”
SymSoil™ by contrast, offers a complex community of microbes, including bacteria, fungi and protozoa, which circulate the nutrients the way nature intended. These microbes improve the health of the soil and, will recolonize the soil, improving its fertility. Some have even been shown to stimulate plant health and resistance to a variety of pathogens.
About SymSoil
SymSoil Inc., a Benefit Corporation (B), is a leader in development of biological soil amendments for agriculture that restores the microbes that provide the right food to the plant roots, improving plant health, and making food more tasty and nutrient dense, the way nature intended. These indigenous crop and regional soil specific microbes regenerate the soil significantly increasing crop yields and nutrient density in food. For more information call 415-595-4784