Biostimulant Coalition Co-Chairman Discusses How The Organization Benefits Growers
July 24, 2013 
The Biostimulant Coalition is a non-profit organization for companies who develop, sell, or market products that are created from natural or biological sources. David Beaudreau, co-chairman of the newly formed organization and senior vice president, DC Legislative and Regulatory Services, talks about this new venture and the benefits it may offer growers.
David Beaudreau
Q1 What is the purpose of the Biostimulant Coalition? Beaudreau: The purpose of the Coalition is to create a group of interested parties, in this case companies manufacturing biostimulant products, that are actively working to address regulatory and legislative issues that involve products containing biological or naturally-derived additives for use in agricultural and other applications. These products may include, but are not limited to, bacterial or microbial inoculants, biochemical materials, amino acids, humic acids, fulvic acid, seaweed extract, and other similar materials. The coalition is a nonprofit affiliation of interested parties.
Q2 What purpose do biostimulants have in the field? Beaudreau: Broadly speaking, they improve the development of the plant. Each subcategory of biostimulant that we have identified has a number of ways in which it actually functions and benefits the plant, but virtually all biostimulant products improve the plant’s growth in some way. In some cases, the yield is increased. In others, the quality of the crop is improved.
Q3 What type of regulatory issues is the Biostimulant Coalition involved with? Beaudreau: To date, the Biostimulant Coalition has been working to improve our working relationship as industry partners with AAPFCO, the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials, so that we can work with them to arrive at a definition of “biostimulant” that will satisfy industry and the control officials so that a category for registration can be created for these products.
Q4 How does working with legislators benefit growers?
Beaudreau: Working with legislators benefits growers by providing them with more education and background on how the agricultural economy functions, how a particular industry works, and what inputs/products are needed to make a particular crop grow well — a perfect entry point for a discussion on biostimulants.
Q5 What sort of resources are there for growers interested in biostimulants?
Beaudreau: Each of the biostimulant companies has detailed information on their particular products. The Biostimulant Coalition can be a resource for this type of information as well. Additionally, there are a number of universities and researchers that have completed field trials on a number of biostimulant products.
Q6 If growers are interested in learning more about what biostimulants would work best for their particular operation, what should their first step be?
Beaudreau: The best step would be to contact me [email protected], so that I can refer the grower to a company that can answer more specific questions with regard to the types of products that might work well for their particular crop.
Q7 What’s next for the Coalition?
Beaudreau: The Coalition will continue to work with AAPFCO and help them develop a guidance document that will outline criteria for registration for each of the subcategories of biostimulants. We expect this to be a several-year process.
List Of Members
Agricen saw joining the Biostimulant Coalition as an important step in bringing biostimulants into the crop protection conversation.
“We believe that biostimulant technology is important for the future of agriculture as growers seek to more sustainably increase food production. We consider our products, which are biochemical fertilizer catalysts, to be biostimulants,” said Peter Ruzika, director of marketing at Agricen.
Current members of the Biostimulant Coalition include:
Agricen, a Loveland Products Co.
Arysta LifeScience North America
DeltAg Formulations
Chemical Dynamics, Inc.
Fast2Grow
Horizon Ag — Products
Lebanon Seaboard Corporation
Loveland Products
Ocean Organics
Spring Valley USA
Valagro S.p.a
For more information on the Biostimulant Coalition, go to www.biostimulantcoalition.org.
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