2025 Crop BioStimulant Landscape, 350 Companies Powering Crop Performance with Biologicals
(Download a high-resolution copy of the 2025 Crop BioStimulant Landscape)
The Mixing Bowl introduced its inaugural Ag Biologicals Landscape at the Salinas Biologicals Summit in 2023 with the goal of capturing the crop biologicals sector and its players. That landscape offered a broad view of the space and included 400 companies offering biological crop protection and productivity products that hold the promise of safely improving crop health and resilience while reducing chemical input use.
As the biologicals sector continued to heat up, we wanted to explore the space more deeply. So, last year we released our 2024 Crop BioControl Landscape that included and segmented 300 companies delivering biological crop protection products targeting insect, mite, disease, weed and nematode pests. At that point, biocontrol products made up about 10 percent of the worldwide crop protection market with a faster growth rate than conventional offerings.
In contrast, the 2025 Crop Biostimulant Landscape discussed here focuses on those biologicals powering crop performance, i.e., biostimulants. These products utilize ingredient sources such as seaweed, humic substances, proteins, bacteria and fungi to activate or bolster a plant’s natural processes. They enhance productivity and resilience, rather than supply nutrients directly like fertilizers or target specific pests like biocontrols.
Without a commonly agreed definition, the term “biostimulant” has historically been subject to interpretation (and creative use). Although the EU, Brazil and some other countries now have approved definitions and processes in place, the US still lacks a common regulatory framework for biostimulants. The Plant Biostimulant Act has recently been reintroduced in the US Congress with language similar to the AAFPCO/California state and EU definitions. It would create a “uniform federal definition for plant biostimulants, establish a consistent regulatory pathway to market, and promote additional research into the benefits of biostimulant products on soil health and crop production.” Biostimulant manufacturers, channel partners, investors and producers could all benefit from its adoption and the clarity it would provide.
Our 2025 Crop Biostimulant Landscape includes and segments 350 companies delivering biological crop performance products that promote crop growth, abiotic stress resistance, nutrient use efficiency and soil health, i.e., plant growth promoters and nutrient-cycling biofertilizers. About a third of the 350 companies represented did not appear on either of the previous two landscapes.
The Landscape Overall
As with our other Mixing Bowl market landscapes, the 2025 Crop BioStimulant Landscape is a best-effort categorization based on publicly available information, manufacturer claims and certifications. We focused on producer-focused product companies with significant development and/or commercialization activity or that are otherwise well-positioned. The landscape has broad geographic coverage and includes both startups and established players. However, it does remain representative rather than being a comprehensive compilation of all biostimulant companies. Also, it does not generally include broader ecosystem entities like research organizations, consultants, academia and service companies, nor does it include vendors of adjuvants, co-formulants and the like. Companies appear on the landscape only once.
With its focus on companies, the landscape does not drill down to specific ingredients (beyond high-level categories), modes of action, crops or application methods and efficacy has not been verified. Although such information is certainly important, segmenting at that level is beyond the limitations of our landscape format.
The landscape itself is segmented into 12 active ingredient categories and 3 multi-category segments. These categories are arranged by living microbials in the lower portion and non-living substances in the upper portion. They are also organized by function (although we acknowledge that most active ingredients are multifunctional): plant growth promotion, nutrient availability and uptake (biofertilizers), nutrient uptake and plant vigor, and nutrient uptake and soil health.
Companies with focused offerings that fall primarily into one of the specific categories are located therein. Conversely, two large overlapping ovals (Substances and Microbials) dominate the center of landscape and include companies with broader portfolios spanning multiple product segments. These companies make up about 2/3 of the total, substantially greater than was the case for biocontrol. The overlap of these two multi-category segments is labeled Mixed Portfolios and includes about 1/3 of the companies. It's worth noting that the individual product segments appear underrepresented on the landscape as companies located in the multiple category areas may also offer such products.
A Closer Look
The individual landscape segments are described below. Note that many of the ingredients have been used for decades, centuries or even millennia, although ongoing research continues to better illuminate the complexities of the above and below-ground growing environment and the diverse mechanisms at play.
Plant Growth Promoters
ExtrExtracts – substances extracted from marine algae, terrestrial plants and microbial sources, e.g., phytohormones and metabolites
Signaling & Other Agents – substances that act through signaling pathways, e.g., osmolytes and phosphites
Inorganic Compounds – natural and synthetic non-organic compounds, e.g., silicic acid and nutrient formulations
Seaweed extracts were the most common active ingredient and utilized by half of the companies on the landscape. Note that Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs), although directly affecting plant development non-nutritively, are typically regulated as biopesticides.
Nutrient Availability & Uptake
Rhizobia & Other Nutrient-Cycling Inoculants – microbes that fix atmospheric nitrogen and enhance availability of other essential plant nutrients, e.g., Rhizobia japonicum and Azobacter
Mycorrhizal Fungi – symbiotic fungi that form associations with plant roots facilitating water and nutrient exchange, e.g., Rhizophagus and Funneliformis
Mycorrhizal Fungi offer significant plant growth and soil health promotion in addition to their contribution to nutrient availability and uptake. Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) described elsewhere can also be significant contributors to nutrient availability and uptake.
Nutrient Uptake & Plant Vigor
ProteProtein Hydrolysates – components created by breaking down plant and animal proteins, e.g., amino acids and peptides
Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) – free-living root zone bacteria that enhance plant growth and nutrient uptake through multiple modes of action, e.g., Bacillus and Pseudomonas
PGPRs, with both significant plant vigor and nutrient uptake impacts, were utilized by nearly half of the companies, leading the microbial categories. Protein hydrolysates were utilized by more than one third of the companies.
Nutrient Uptake & Soil Health
BiopBiopolymers – long-chain molecules used to enhance soil health and improve plant stress tolerance, e.g., chitosan and polysaccharides
Organic Acids – naturally occurring carbon-based acids that increase soil microbial activity and nutrient availability and uptake, e.g., humic and fulvic acids
Other Rhizosphere Fungi – other beneficial root zone fungi that contribute to plant and soil health, e.g., Trichoderma and Clonostachys
Organic acids were utilized by nearly half of the companies on the landscape. Note that fertilizers and other soil amendments are not considered biostimulants, although many are enhanced with bioavailable nutrients and biostimulant active ingredients
Broader Product Lines
SubsSubstances – organizations with product lines spanning multiple non-living substance categories
Microbials – organizations with product lines spanning multiple microbial categories
Mixed Portfolios – organizations with broader product portfolios spanning both non-living substances and living microbials
More than 2/3 of companies on the landscape offer products in multiple categories.
Looking Forward
The biostimulants sector remains a challenging space to navigate for everyone. There are a tremendous number of companies (many more than captured by our landscape) and an even greater number of hard-to-differentiate products. Active components can be multi-functional and products often contain multiple ingredients, including hybrid formulations in combination with conventional inputs. Modes of action can be hard to clarify, and of course, terminology and claims can still be ambiguous—an issue we previously highlighted in our earlier landscapes that has not been helped by lagging regulatory precision.
Still, the drivers for increased use of biostimulants are not going away. New tools are needed to mitigate increasingly stressed growing conditions and the limitations of existing systems. There is also a growing mandate for reduced chemical environments and more efficient use of conventional inputs. Finally, biostimulants have the potential to reduce input costs and increase crop productivity.
Manufacturers are tasked with differentiating themselves in an area currently dominated by a relatively limited set of ingredients: seaweed extracts, organic acids, protein hydrolysates, and select microbial species. Newer insights into complex natural processes and ways to leverage them should spark innovation. Proving consistency, efficacy and compatibility across diverse environments remains a challenge as does navigating the fragmented regulatory environment. Furthermore, building trust is critical to increased adoption as producers take on the risk of integrating these products into their existing crop operations. Expect to see more consistent and precise messaging about the role and value of biostimulant offerings to drive acceptance.
Although funding for biologicals is currently down along with other AgTech sectors, consolidation and partnerships will continue. Established players need to expand innovation and their biological footprint while startups seek to expand and accelerate development, market entry and market reach. The question remains: How many companies can the market support? A recent AgFunder article analyzed funding for the 300 companies in our 2024 BioControl Landscape and a similar analysis is underway for the 350 biostimulant companies represented on our new landscape.
As with biocontrols, the adoption of biostimulants is already a decades-long movement and worldwide phenomenon. Robust growth is expected to continue as the underlying forces drive need while progress is made to reduce the current barriers.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Walt Duflock and Western Growers Association for their continued support of innovation and technology advancement in the agriculture industry. In addition, we would like to acknowledge all the organizations who are working to make biostimulants successful and the producers who are incorporating them into their operations.
Bio
Chris Taylor is a Partner at The Mixing Bowl, where he leverages 25 years of experience in market discovery and solutions innovation across design and manufacturing, healthcare, and agricultural technology to help clients navigate the evolving landscape of food and agriculture.
