The U.S. and EU Biostimulant Market: Progress, Challenges, and Future Directions
1 August 2025 The current biostimulant market is being driven by scientific breakthroughs, sustainable agriculture, and regulatory frameworks in both the U.S. and Europe. These developments are reshaping formulation, market entry, and grower adoption in 2025.
Regulatory Shifts
In the U.S., the regulations for biostimulants is still evolving.
For decades, many biostimulants, such as seaweed extracts and humic substances, were utilized, often registered based on their nutrient or organic matter content rather than specific performance benefits. However, as scientific understanding has advanced over the past 20 years, the industry has actively lobbied for formal definitions and appropriate regulatory pathways.
David Hiltz, Biostimulant Committee Co-Chair and Board Member with Biological Products Industry Alliance (BPIA) says that U.S. state fertilizer regulators, through the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials (AAPFCO), have given biostimulants their own definition and established a new beneficial substances category.
This category encompasses soil amendments, plant inoculants, biofertilizers, and plant biostimulants. Hiltz notes that some states, like California, have already adopted this language into their agricultural regulations, with many other states expected to follow, aiming to create a consistent path to market across the U.S.
Despite this progress at the state level, federal regulatory uncertainty persists.
Hiltz says that neither the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nor the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently define biostimulants or have established specific regulations for their registration and commercial use.
“At the federal level, neither the EPA nor the USDA specifically define plant biostimulants nor have established regulations for their registration and commercial use,” says Hiltz.
This creates a challenge, as the AAPFCO definition of a plant biostimulant can overlap with the EPA’s broad definition of a plant regulator. This adds time and cost to companies seeking EPA confirmation and product registration.
To address this challenge, the Plant Biostimulant Act (S.802 in the Senate and H.R. 1472 in the House) has been introduced to establish a federal definition and provide an exclusion from Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) regulation, similar to those for plant nutrients and inoculants. The industry is actively collaborating with legislators to include this act in the upcoming Farm Bill.
In Europe, recent regulatory changes have significantly streamlined the biostimulant industry.
João Cardoso, Chief Product Officer at Rovensa Next, says that the inclusion of plant biostimulants as PFC 6 under Regulation 2019/1009 is replacing 27 national authorizations with a single EU-wide approval via CE marking. An example, Rovensa Next’s Biimore and Phlylgreen, which are registered under this regulation, bearing the CE mark with a unified label recognized across all 27 member states.
Cardoso says that this “reduces regulatory workload and costs while ensuring product efficacy through third-party verification. The shift promotes better market access, consistency, and innovation across all member states.”
Despite the harmonized framework in the EU, challenges remain.
“Regulatory uncertainty, particularly around the limited approval of microbial strains under CMC 7 and complex REACH+ requirements, brings delays and limits innovation,” says Cardoso.
Innovation and Opportunities
The biostimulant market is witnessing rapid innovation, extending beyond traditional formulations.
The emergence of products with novel modes of action are here. Some examples are molecules mimicking plant signaling or targeting specific metabolic pathways to enhance stress tolerance and nutrient uptake.
“There is growing interest in microbial consortia, i.e., multi-strain blends designed to work synergistically in the rhizosphere, and in precision biostimulants tailored to specific crops, soil types, and climatic conditions,” says Cardoso.
Nanotechnology is also emerging for controlled release, particularly nano encapsulation. There is also enhanced bioavailability of active compounds with many new products derived from marine plants, agricultural by-products, or developed through fermentation processes.
Another development is building on scientific advancements to provide a better understanding of metabolic modes of action. Researchers can now use metabolomics or genomics to pinpoint substances that target specific metabolic pathways, for instance, those involved in mitigating oxidative stress or improving nutrient uptake.
This specialization is likely to continue as growers become more technically informed and demand precise information about the products they use. This will necessitate companies generating data that demonstrates specific activities, moving beyond broad claims.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Monitoring
Hiltz says precision technology is another important piece of biostimulant market development.
“Technologies to precision apply plant biostimulants, such as AI to monitor the nutrient status of the soil and drones equipped to spray in response to abiotic stresses will help to optimize market growth as they ensure that challenges are addressed accordingly while reducing the level of inputs wasted,” Hiltz says.
The use of precision application technologies, such as artificial intelligence for monitoring soil nutrient status and drones for targeted spraying, will help optimize market growth by efficiently addressing challenges and minimizing wasted inputs.
Hiltz says there is also a need for the scientific community to further define the underlying genetic, molecular, and physiological mechanisms of action, and to understand the complex interactions between plant biostimulants, soil and plant microorganisms, and chemical inputs for the development of more effective and sustainable agricultural production systems.
Collaborative Efforts and Future Impact
Collaboration among industry stakeholders is paramount for advancing the adoption and understanding of biostimulants.
In the U.S., the BPIA and the Biostimulant Council of the Fertilizer Institute (TFI-BC) have collaborated for a decade through a Biostimulant Industry Workgroup (BIW) to advocate for the recognition and regulation of plant biostimulants as a type of fertilizing material.
Hiltz notes that this aligns with how other regions globally, such as Canada, the EU, India, and Brazil, regulate these products.
Other recent collaborative efforts include Crop Life America (CLA), Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), Responsible Industry for a Sound Environments (RISE), and the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA). These groups are working together to build confidence in biostimulants and prevent disreputable companies and products from entering the market. These groups are collaborating to build trust in biostimulants and keep disreputable companies and products out of the market. Recently, they published the United States Biostimulant Industry Recommendations to Assess the Efficacy, Composition, and Safety of Plant Biostimulant Products, which provides guidelines for evaluating the performance, makeup, and safety of these products.
In Europe, the European Biostimulants Industry Council (EBIC), actively participates in the Commission’s Expert Group on fertilizing products meetings, working toward improved regulation.
Get The Newsletter Today!
