What does it take to manufacture and market biologicals? In this article, Andy Dardini reveals the science behind Physagro’s biological products and how this translates to practical use on the farm.

Biologicals Must be Easy to Use

The first important consideration for those of us who market biologicals is that they have to be easy to incorporate into a farmer’s agronomy program. If we’re trying to market something that can’t readily fit into a farmer’s existing strategy, the likelihood that anyone will use it is slim to none. So, we try to formulate products to make them user friendly and compatible with everything else that farmers are doing.

That’s a reality for anyone bringing a product into the ag marketplace, really. You’re not going to get someone to just change his entire program overnight; so you have to be able to play along with other products and strategies out there. 

Think Beyond Yield Increases

Something that makes Physagro unique is that we’re not primarily promoting yield increases. Instead, we put our primary focus on cleaning the environment and providing more nutrition for the plants. These objectives in turn lead to increased plant response and yield growth. Our manufacturing process is also key to how they perform on the farm.

Still, we have the data from research studies and the feedback from farmers that yes, there is an increase in yield and there is positive ROI to using our products. It’s just that we don’t want to jump directly to “get X more bushels per acres”; we start with a farm’s unique challenges and work to address those as a means to the end. For example, we’ve also conducted sap and tissue tests and have shown that we’re making a difference in reducing toxicity in the plant—salts, metals, and the overall plant stress level. 

From the FCLG: A sap test, or analysis, measures nutrient concentrations available to a plant at the time of sampling. This is a way of monitoring nutrient uptake and deficiencies before the symptoms of any problems begin to show physically in the plant. 

Case Study: Physagro Products

Right now, I manufacture two products that are biologicals and two that are biostimulants. The two biologicals are mixtures of live organisms that are focused on some of the major nutrient needs a plant would have. The products are designed to assist with converting nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and boosting general plant growth. And then we have one that’s specifically formulated for residue breakdown. On the biostimulant side we have a couple of products that provide sugars and carbons and amino acids that are designed to provide the soil biology already in place with energy and food to do the work they have to do. At the same time, these products also provide some energy and stress relief for the plants themselves. 

Our products’ effectiveness depends not only on the microbes but on the manufacturing process as well, including the type of water we use. There is actually quite a bit of physics involved, hence our name, Physagro. 

Use Physics in the Field 

We have a unique process to condition and treat the water that we use to manufacture our products. First, we clean the water and pull the contaminants out, but our process also introduces a harmonic frequency that matches the natural resonant frequency of the microbes in the soil. So, we’ve figured out what really works, from a physics standpoint, to try and perpetuate the growth of the microbes. We use the water that has this frequency as a base carrier for all of our products.  

A farmer might notice that these products absorb much more quickly into the plants because they have such low surface tension. So, with our products, plants can actually absorb more. And when they go into the soil, they penetrate further into the soil and roots as well. When using this conditioned water as a base, you have a much more efficient way to deliver the remediation components, whether it's the microbes or the energy sources or the nutrients.

The other thing that we do that is unique, is when we manufacture our products, we incorporate the water using specific frequencies in the recirculation process. And we use specific temperatures and metals in our tanks to maximize the growth of the biology. We actually hit what’s called the “carrying capacity” of the water, which means that you could not get any more “stuff” into the fluid without it settling out. We’re able to get as much “good stuff” in every drop of water as it's physically possible to do. 

Job #1: Boost Biological Activity in Our Soils

Farmers ask me a lot if growers should look for products that are specially formulated for specific soil type or area of the country. I always like to turn this discussion back around to the general state of farming today. The bottom line is, microbiological activity is low in our soils right now. All in all, if you use a high-quality biological product in your fields, you should see some results. 

For people who have been taking more of a regenerative approach, you may need to do a bit more homework and fine tune your targets and delivery method to try and maximize results. The same goes for a farmer who has been using biologicals for some time. Once you’ve introduced the concept to your farming operation, it would behoove you to look more in depth and figure out what specifically you need to target. For example, you might need to target the conversion of nitrogen or other nutrients, or you may need to address certain toxicities to make your biological program work even better for your farm.

Driving More Gains in the Future

One of the primary tools that our industry uses to make advances right now is genetic modification. It may be a tool to use, but it’s not one I personally agree with. In general, I’m not sure that up-and-coming technology is the right way to transform agriculture. Instead, we could use more of an emphasis on something more basic—discovery. To put it simply, there’s just a bunch we don’t know about what goes on in our soil. 

As an industry, we need to learn more about what species are in our soils and how they interact to support our crops. It’s like people; you can assemble a football team with talented guys at key positions, but if there’s no synergy—if the coach doesn’t understand how the individual players have to work together—the team is not going to be successful. We have the same challenge today in the biological world. So where are we going over the next five to ten years? My hope is that we are able to digest, no pun intended, what we currently know about our soil biology and whatever discoveries we continue to make to support and nurture the organisms we have working for the viability of our farms.