In the U.S., a biostimulant product cannot be labeled as such because of the vagueness of the claim. The products are allowed and marketed, but in many states, they must list the ingredient and the known impacts. The term has yet to be defined on a national level and groups have used different terms to refer to the category. The issue is simply the term ‘stimulant’ because regulators believe that word aligns too closely with the pesticide category.
Immediate Past President of the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials and Senior Environmental Scientist for California’s Department of Food and Agriculture Nick Young joins the program to discuss the issue. Young said the Environmental Protection Agency just published a revised draft on a biostimulant definition and although it’s a step in the right direction, it still creates some complications. He added that the end goal is to create transparency for the producer and align labeling standards to eliminate confusion and false claims.
Listen to the episode with Nick Young.
‘Making Sense of Biologicals’ is a series from AgNet West that dives into various topics with unbiased experts in the field of biologics to help the industry better understand the product category.
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