DAY 1Tuesday, 1 December 2026 - America/Los_Angeles (UTC-08:00)

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The integration of plant biostimulants into pasture-based livestock systems offers a pathway to enhance productivity while improving environmental and animal health outcomes. This study evaluated the field-scale effects of marine-derived biostimulants, in combination with pasture diversity, on forage quality, animal performance, and product attributes in a temperate grazing system.

With fertilizer prices predicted to continue to increase at least into 2027, efficient use of applied nutrition is becoming even more important. Carboxylic acids are excreted by roots and microbes to aid in nutrient acquisition from the soil and make some nutrients more available to plants. The key primary nutrients released are phosphorus, iron, zing, and manganese however other micronutrients may also be released into the soil solution. As a natural product of plant and microbe metabolism carboxylic acids can also serve as a plant biostimulant. In corn field trials, applications of a CALFA (a carboxylic acid-based liquid fertilizer additive/biostimulant) with fertilizer increased phosphorus levels in corn leaf tissue at V5 (BBCH 15) compared to fertilizer alone. At VT (BBCH 21) the following nutrients were higher in the treated compared to the control: nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, sulfur, boron, zinc, and copper. Importantly, CALFA mobilizes nutrients across both alkaline and acidic soils without altering long-term soil pH, addressing a key concern for growers considering acidifying inputs. Additionally, the biostimulant and fertilizer treated plants had statistically significantly greater yield (10%) than fertilizer alone. Preliminary evidence suggests CALFA's effects extend beyond nutrient solubilization, including stimulation of soil microbial activity and enhanced nitrogen cycling, mechanisms that will be explored in this presentation.In an era of sustained high fertilizer costs, a product that frees nutrients already present in the soil and increases availability of applied nutrition offers growers a measurable efficiency advantage.

The One Health framework identifies the deep interconnection between human, plant, and environmental health. For a sustainable one-health system, bio-based agricultural inputs serve as the critical first link for building resilient food systems.To evaluate this potential, an extensive review was conducted on over 200 research papers published since 2010, covering a wide range of field and greenhouse trials. The analysis examined how biostimulants – in particular, vegetal-derived protein hydrolysates (V-PHs) and mycorrhizal fungi – reshape agricultural practices. It was assessed their role in reducing carbon footprints, from production processes to field application, alongside their capacity to improve Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE) and water management. Impacts on human health were evaluated through product quality and safety across varied target crops, including leafy greens, annual vegetable crops, cereals, and perennial fruits.The results confirm that these biostimulants deliver systemic benefits. Beyond improving yield, V-PHs significantly reduce the carbon footprint of vegetables production through low-energy manufacturing and by lowering chemical input requirements. They enhance human nutrition by increasing lycopene, vitamins, and phenols, while improving food safety by reducing nitrates, heavy metal accumulation, and Escherichia coli contamination. Regarding soil health, mycorrhizal fungi optimize mineral uptake (P, K, Mn, Fe), while biostimulants in general mitigate salt and drought stress, and preserve biodiversity by stimulating soil enzymatic activity and beneficial microbial communities on the phyllosphere.Collectively, these evidence underscore that biostimulants are not just yield enhancers but integral components of a One Health approach, capable of addressing global challenges such as undernutrition, food safety, and climate change.

Fulvic acid (FA) is widely recognized for improving crop performance, yet their molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we developed a systems biology framework integrating time-resolved transcriptomics, untargeted metabolomics, and biochemical profiling to unravel how FA enhances drought resilience in canola and maize. Plants were evaluated under well-watered and drought conditions, with FA treatments applied to assess physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses. Sampling at 3 and 27 hours post-application enabled discrimination between early signaling events and downstream metabolic adjustments. FA significantly improved drought tolerance by reducing oxidative stress and maintaining cellular homeostasis. In canola, FA increased soluble protein content and enhanced antioxidant defenses, including catalase activity and glutathione levels, resulting in reduced hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde accumulation and improved membrane stability and root development under stress. Transcriptomic analyses revealed that FA acts as a chemical eustressor, rapidly activating priming responses within 3 hours. In canola, this involved early activation of membrane-associated signaling and reactive oxygen species related defense pathways, while suppressing drought-induced growth inhibition. In maize, a biphasic regulatory response was observed, with early induction of transcription factor families such as ERF, NAC, and WRKY, followed by later activation of phenylpropanoid metabolism and redox networks. Metabolomic data confirmed accumulation of key osmoprotectants and antioxidants, including glucose, proline, and flavonoids such as quercetin, linking transcriptional regulation to functional metabolic outputs. Overall, this study provides a mechanistic roadmap for FA action, demonstrating how multi-omics integration can transform biostimulants from empirically used products into predictable, mechanistically defined tools for climate-resilient agriculture.

Climate volatility is increasingly shaping agricultural performance. Drought, heat, frost, salinity and excess rainfall are no longer episodic events but recurring drivers of yield loss, profitability and supply-chain disruption. Yet biostimulants continue to be evaluated primarily through average yield response, despite being positioned increasingly as tools for climate resilience.This talk presents findings from the European Biostimulants Industry Council's PT-Agronomy meta-analysis of 114 validated trials comprising 623 paired observations across 20 crops and four abiotic stress categories. Building on the global meta-analysis of Li et al. (2022), the analysis examines how efficacy changes with stress severity rather than focusing solely on average treatment effects. Results indicate a clear stress-response relationship: biostimulant efficacy increases as stress severity increases, with the largest benefits observed under moderate-to-severe stress conditions. Across field trials, the average stress-mitigation effect was 19.7%, equivalent to approximately 4–8 percentage points of yield otherwise lost under moderate-to-high stress scenarios.The talk then places these findings within a climate-risk framework. Drawing on the European Commission fi-compass report Managing Risks in Agriculture: The Role of Risk Transfer and Risk Management Tools in EU Agriculture, which estimates annual average agricultural climate losses in the EU at approximately €28 billion and highlights a substantial protection gap, the analysis explores how avoided-loss interpretations of biostimulant efficacy can be linked to risk, resilience and adaptation economics. Extending this perspective to California, the talk presents a peril-specific view of drought, heat, frost, salinity and excess-rainfall exposure using public datasets and catastrophe-risk methodologies.The closing argument is straightforward. As long as biostimulants are assessed only through yield, they remain discretionary inputs. Once their effect on loss under stress can be quantified, priced and matched against the protection gap, they become candidates for the same forms of recognition, financing and policy support already afforded to other elements of climate resilience infrastructure.
David Barton

Yield stagnation, nitrogen (N) dependency and stress-driven losses remain major constraints in agriculture. Here we show that targeting Photosystem I (PSI) represents an unexplored physiological lever for improving crop productivity and resilience under field conditions. MTU, an ultra-low-dose (0.5–1.0 g ha⁻¹) PSI-stabilizing biostimulant (Nisler et al., 2023), was evaluated as the product Status® in more than 150 field trials conducted between 2019 and 2025 across Europe, North America and Morocco. Across major arable crops, Status® increased grain yield by 10–20% under favourable conditions and by 5–10% under drought-affected environments, accompanied by improved agronomic NUE. Mean grain protein yield increased by 14% under reduced N fertilisation (40 kg N ha⁻¹), which did not cause yield or N export penalties, corresponding to avoided emissions of 294 kg CO₂e ha⁻¹ (≈20% reduction in fertiliser-related emissions). To explain these field responses, we identified light regimes under which MTU enhances photosynthetic performance in wheat under semi-controlled environments. Importantly, MTU effects extend beyond N optimisation. In sunflower, the negative effects of herbicides were eliminated. In citrus under saline stress, sodium accumulation in leaves was reduced by 50%, accompanied by improved plant performance. In cotton, Verticillium-induced yield losses were mitigated by 40%. Across these systems, MTU consistently maintained higher photosynthetic activity (10–20%), pointing to a central role of PSI stabilisation in responses to both abiotic and biotic stresses. Using radioactively labelled MTU, we further investigated its half-life, metabolism, transport, and tissue and cellular localisation, providing new insight into its hit-and-run mode of action.

Biofertilizers have emerged as key components of integrated nutrient management aiming improvement of productivity while reducing environmental footprint and resource inefficiencies.These microbial-based inputs contribute to plant growth and stress resilience through mechanisms related to nutrient solubilization, mobilization, and translocation,positioning them as complementary tools within fertilization programs and enablers of transitions toward resource-efficient systems, rather than direct substitutes for conventional fertilizers.This study evaluates robustness and regulatory feasibility of selected microbial biofertilizers across diverse agroecological contexts. More than 80 trials were performed for two years, having protocols and crops selected. A meta-analysis was performed to demonstrate efficacy under local conditions, contrasting environments and compliance with evolving regulatory frameworks.Multi-location field trials were conducted using Brazilian biofertilizers containing Pseudomonas sp., Azospirillum sp., and Bradyrhizobium sp. across eight countries on four continents. Arable crops including maize, wheat, and soybean, among others, were assessed under variable soil types, climatic conditions, and management practices. The products were assessed both under standard fertilization regimes and under reduced nitrogen and phosphorus inputs. Different application strategies, such as broadcast spraying and in-furrow application, were compared to evaluate operational flexibility.Across several locations, yield increases up to 8% were observed, alongside improved nutrient-use efficiency under reduced nitrogen and phosphorus, resulting in favorable returns on investment under current market conditions.These findings emphasize the importance of multi-location validation and regulatory alignment to define clear boundaries for microbial biostimulants and accelerate their adoption as reliable, scalable, and evidence-based solutions contributing to more sustainable and resource-efficient agricultural systems.

Microbial strains matter both to the regulatory process and to performance in the field.Biostimulant performance and regulatory timelines could become more consistent if activity is identified by strain and not just by species. Strain or culture of a given species of microbe is often not identified for biostimulant active ingredients. Some regulatory agencies consider strain a key identifier for registration while others consider species to be sufficient identification of active ingredient efficacy and non-target responses. As understanding of biostimulant performance progresses, so does understanding about the impact of different strains or cultures of the same species. This is clearly accepted for insecticides, fungicides and nematicides, but Genus and species are largely the accepted sufficient identifier for biostimulants. Is it likely that regulatory agencies will move toward requiring strain or culture as the minimum specificity for identification of active ingredients in biostimulants? Is focus on strain a potential mitigant for the inconsistent performance image of biostimulants? Likewise import permits for some countries may be evolving toward requiring more safety data on the strain rather than accept data for which strain or culture is not identified. As an example, published data on Bacillus species identifies multiple “elite” strains of several species of Bacillus for which each strain exhibits different growth promoting characteristics, bioactive metabolites or other performance inferences. As knowledge evolves, the biostimulant developers will see requirements for regulatory approval and grower adoption will also evolve toward specific claims with supporting data for the strain, not just the species.