Industry leaders Meristem, Pivot Bio, and Syngenta to sponsor farmer-centric row crop biologicals study

Meristem, Pivot Bio, and Syngenta, three giants in the agricultural biologicals sector have signed on to sponsor a comprehensive, farmer-centric market research effort around row-crop farmers’ increased use of agricultural biologicals. The study, ″Biologicals: Row-Crop Farmer Value, Perception and Potential,″ is being launched by Stratovation Group, a diversified Midwest-based research, marketing, and communications firm with roots firmly planted in the agricultural sector.

The 2024 initiative is a follow-up to baseline research conducted in 2022 focused on farmer sentiment regarding the rapidly growing agricultural biologicals market. That research found that most farmers were aware of agricultural biologicals and early-adopting farmers rated their use and benefits as highly positive.

″Leading companies that market agricultural biologicals know and understand that staying on the cutting edge of farmer trends is critical to their continued success in this rapidly changing sector,″ said Cam Camfield, Founder and CEO of Stratovation Group. ″We are proud to work with Meristem, Pivot Bio and Syngenta to continue our exploration.

″Our focus will be to measure against the baseline research to see how things have changed in farmers’ minds about this dynamic sector over the last year and a half. We have also improved our methodology. We also broadened the scope, adding farmers in states such as Arkansas, Pennsylvania and the DelMarVa region. The survey will be more granular in areas such as marketing channels, and we have enhanced our pricing plan.″

In addition to the sponsor partners, influential organizations including the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), DC Legislative and Regulatory Services (DCLRS) andthe Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA) are strategic partners for the research.

″Having this diverse mix of partners and sponsors on the front end will help us secure better data throughout the study’s duration,″ Camfield said. ″And better data will drive better planning and results for every organization involved.″

The research will be fielded this spring and will focus on comparing baseline findings on foundational issues. However, the research also will delve into a few new topics that have surfaced since the initial study.

″Farmers are using new tools to apply biologicals and there is an expansive amount of agronomic research that has looked at the success and efficacy of biologicals in regard to increasing yields, overall efficiency, improving soil health and overall sustainability,″ Camfield said. ″We want to find out how meaningful that information is to farmers. We also know there have been changes in biological marketing patterns, and this research will show us the extent of change in marketing preferences from the viewpoint of farmers.″

Camfield stressed that it’s not too late for additional companies to join the effort as sponsors. By doing so, they will share in the study’s final report and have access to all the anonymized, raw data gathered through the research.

″It’s good for us to have more voices involved to inform this study,″ he said. ″We are gearing up for excellence by inviting any biological-focused company, startup or investor to join us for what should be an informative trend analysis.″