The Scoop Podcast: Growing Demand, Growing Clutter: Navigating Biologicals in 2026

Sure.

Well, um, From what I understand, Biologicals came up with the meeting planning committee at ARA this year.

And so Darren reached out to BPIA, which is the trade association for biologicals in the U.S., the Biological Products Industry Alliance.

And so I'm a former chairman of BPIA, and I used to be the chairman of the outreach committee for BPIA for many years.

And so I volunteered to give a presentation because I live just up the road in Fort Worth, Texas, and I'm very much interested in trying to help build awareness with this stakeholder group around biologicals.

Yeah, just up the road.

Now, Rick, sometimes my memory fails me, but I think you were at the ARA conference before when we were in Orlando, maybe.

And this was a number of years ago.

So what has changed in the space? And spoiler alert, I think you're going to tell me a lot.

But what has changed in the space in the last nine, 10 years?

Well, a lot of things have changed, certainly.

I think the number one thing is there's been a huge change in the awareness and adoption of biological products by growers.

So that means that has to mean there's a lot more trust in biologicals.

It has to mean that there's more data to support their use and the return on investment for using biologicals.

I mean, today, the data suggests that between 50 and 60 percent of all growers are using at least one biological product.

And eight or nine years ago, that was definitely not the case.

So if all these growers are using biologicals or thinking about it, that means that they're coming to retailers with questions about products.

Or they're asking their reps, is there a biological that can help me solve a specific problem? So that's very important for retailers.

The second thing is the multinationals are now getting into the game.

They see an opportunity and they're getting into the game along with a lot of the smaller companies and startups that have offerings in this space.

And so those companies are all going to retailers and they're asking for time and resources to have the retailers evaluate their products.

And so every single retailer I've talked to about this dynamic has told me it's very difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with all of their requests.

So they're not exactly sure how to handle this and they don't want to miss opportunities.

But at the same time, they don't want to waste time evaluating products that aren't going to fit within their philosophy or bring them any value, right? Biologicals are typically more technical products than conventionals.

And so if you're a retailer, you're not going to sell something that you don't have complete confidence in, number one.

Sure.

Well, um, From what I understand, Biologicals came up with the meeting planning committee at ARA this year.

And so Darren reached out to BPIA, which is the trade association for biologicals in the U.S., the Biological Products Industry Alliance.

And so I'm a former chairman of BPIA, and I used to be the chairman of the outreach committee for BPIA for many years.

And so I volunteered to give a presentation because I live just up the road in Fort Worth, Texas, and I'm very much interested in trying to help build awareness with this stakeholder group around biologicals.

Yeah, just up the road.

Now, Rick, sometimes my memory fails me, but I think you were at the ARA conference before when we were in Orlando, maybe.

And this was a number of years ago.

So what has changed in the space? And spoiler alert, I think you're going to tell me a lot.

But what has changed in the space in the last nine, 10 years?

Well, a lot of things have changed, certainly.

I think the number one thing is there's been a huge change in the awareness and adoption of biological products by growers.

So that means that has to mean there's a lot more trust in biologicals.

It has to mean that there's more data to support their use and the return on investment for using biologicals.

I mean, today, the data suggests that between 50 and 60 percent of all growers are using at least one biological product.

And eight or nine years ago, that was definitely not the case.

So if all these growers are using biologicals or thinking about it, that means that they're coming to retailers with questions about products.

Or they're asking their reps, is there a biological that can help me solve a specific problem? So that's very important for retailers.

The second thing is the multinationals are now getting into the game.

They see an opportunity and they're getting into the game along with a lot of the smaller companies and startups that have offerings in this space.

And so those companies are all going to retailers and they're asking for time and resources to have the retailers evaluate their products.

And so every single retailer I've talked to about this dynamic has told me it's very difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with all of their requests.

So they're not exactly sure how to handle this and they don't want to miss opportunities.

But at the same time, they don't want to waste time evaluating products that aren't going to fit within their philosophy or bring them any value, right? Biologicals are typically more technical products than conventionals.

And so if you're a retailer, you're not going to sell something that you don't have complete confidence in, number one.