Category: Blog

By Bianca Forte, 2 October 2026

After more than £250 million of Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) funding was allocated in less than six hours last week, Defra said it was considering alternatives to the scheme’s first-come, first-served application process. This change is welcome, but the response to SFI26 also raises a broader question.

Farmers have shown strong interest in adopting practices that deliver public goods – as long as they make financial sense. If the biodiversity and climate targets set out in UK policy are to be met, change is needed in mainstream agriculture.

How can SFI make better use of limited public funding to accelerate that change?

The most popular actions in SFI26

Defra’s preliminary analysis of SFI26 shows applications across 14 action groups. The five most frequently selected actions were:

• Managing grassland with very low nutrient inputs (CLIG3): over 7,400 applications
• Managing hedgerows (CHRW2): over 4,300 applications
• Herbal leys (CSAM3): over 3,300 applications
• Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land (CAHL2): over 2,600 applications
• No use of insecticide on arable and permanent crops (CIPM4): over 2,600 applications

These actions have potential to benefit farm businesses as well as the wider environment. For some farmers, however, a financial return beyond the SFI payment may be uncertain or take years to materialise. At the same time, other actions with the potential to deliver a financial return to farmers in the shorter term, but which require demonstration on farm, are not currently supported under the scheme.

Public funding has a vital role to play where farmers cannot capture the full economic value of the environmental benefits they deliver. However, with limited funding available and ambitious national environmental targets to meet, we should also consider whether the actions funded through SFI have a credible route to wider adoption.

Building markets for environmental outcomes

Take grassland managed with very low nutrient inputs (SFI action CLIG3). Flower-rich areas can provide food and habitat for beneficial insects, potentially supporting natural pest control. They can also slow surface water movement, potentially reducing soil and nutrient losses.

Natural pest control and the reduced requirement for nutrient input have an economic value on farm. But whether SFI action CLIG3 generates a financial return for a particular farm, and how soon, will depend on individual circumstances. Farmers cannot be expected to carry the cost of delivering those benefits when the returns are uncertain or lie beyond commercially acceptable timescales.

Markets for environmental outcomes offer a way to bridge that gap by creating a separate source of value for the environmental benefits farmers deliver, even where a direct on-farm return on investment is uncertain. These markets already operate in the UK but are not yet sufficiently mature or dependable for farmers (or buyers) to rely on them.

Government is helping build these foundations through several complementary initiatives. For example, Defra has funded the British Standards Institution’s Nature Investment Standards to improve confidence and consistency in UK nature markets. Through the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund, it has also provided grants of up to £100,000 to demonstrate business models that can attract private investment.

While these markets develop, continued public support for valuable environmental actions may be justified. But that support should also help gather evidence on the environmental benefits achieved. That evidence could inform wider government initiatives designed to build trust in markets for environmental outcomes. This would require more strategic use of SFI funding to fill knowledge gaps to support market development.

Making room for new SFI-eligible practices

SFI could also help demonstrate innovations that offer environmental benefits and a nearer-term financial return for farmers. That calls for a more responsive and flexible process for considering new actions as technologies advance and the evidence base develops. Biostimulants offer a useful example to illustrate why this is needed.

There is clear evidence that biostimulants can deliver agronomic and environmental benefits, but performance can vary depending on environmental conditions, crop variety and agronomic practices. Farmers considering a new product therefore bear the cost and risk of establishing whether it works under their particular circumstances.

Time-limited support for independent, farmer-led evaluation could help establish when and where biostimulants perform. Farmers and agronomists could then judge whether those products should earn a place in the crop budget through tangible returns from lower input costs, higher yields or improved grain quality. After two or three seasons, evidence of a consistent economic benefit could become the driver for wider commercial adoption, reducing or removing the need for public support..

The two-question test for SFI

As Defra designs SFI27, it should consider how each type of action can reach scale:

• Some will need public support for longer while private markets develop for the environmental outcomes they deliver.
• Others may need support for a limited period to build the evidence of return on investment that farmers require before adopting them commercially.

Accelerating the adoption of truly scalable sustainable farming

For any proposed new action, two questions should be clear: what outcome does it deliver, and what is the route to wider adoption beyond SFI? Answering both would help public funding deliver lasting impact.

By Bianca Forte, 23 September 2026

Yesterday, the second application window for England’s Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) opened at 10:00 am with a budget of £233 million. By 15:48, Defra announced that the call was closed for applications, having received enough applications to allocate the full budget.

That is a striking response. We do not yet know which actions farmers applied for, but we do know that demand for support to adopt sustainable farming practices exceeded the funding available on the day. For policymakers, the question is what happens next.

From environmental ambition to farm-level economics

If environmental practices are to become part of mainstream food production, farmers need a credible way to adopt them without putting the viability of their businesses at risk.

Public funding has an important role to play in supporting environmental outcomes and reducing the risk of adopting new practices. But sustainable farming cannot depend on incentives alone. For practices and technologies to become mainstream, and deliver the level of impact required, farmers need to see practical and financial value.

The same test applies to companies developing agricultural innovations. An environmental promise may attract interest, but it will not secure widespread adoption. A product must perform reliably under commercial conditions and make financial sense at the price farmers will pay for it.

Turning innovation into something farmers can use

The independent Farming Profitability Review, published in December 2025, called for a more coherent approach to food production, farm profitability and environmental policy in the UK. These priorities should not be viewed in isolation.

For example, technologies that help farmers increase yields while making better use of inputs could reduce the environmental impact of each tonne of crop produced. Technologies that help maintain yields when inputs are reduced could also improve efficiency.

In my earlier article on the Farming Profitability Review, I argued that biostimulants have the potential to bring these priorities together. But the word potential matters.

The evidence gap for biostimulants

The need for evidence is particularly relevant in the UK, where plant biostimulants do not yet have a specific regulatory framework. Farmers and agronomists are therefore left to scrutinise product claims and look for evidence gathered under conditions relevant to their farms.

With margins under pressure, farmers cannot be expected to carry the cost of establishing every new product’s value for themselves. For innovative ventures, the challenge is that building this evidence takes time, while investors may face shorter timelines.

What establishing value actually takes

At SugaROx, we know from experience how much work sits behind establishing value.

Our venture was launched in 2021 to develop third generation crop biostimulants using a platform technology developed by Oxford University and Rothamsted Research. Our products are based on natural molecules that boost key metabolic processes inside plant cells.

Since then, we have worked to refine the synthesis process for our molecules and to refine the concept for the first product in our pipeline. On wheat, for example:

• Replicated small-plot trials have helped us reduce the number of product applications from four to one and optimise the dose rate.
• With support from Innovate UK and Defra, we are working with UK farmers to evaluate product performance under commercial conditions across four cropping seasons.
• With potential partners who could bring the product to market, we are testing different application timings to fit existing spray programmes and reduce adoption costs.

Accelerating the adoption of truly scalable sustainable farming

Public funding has a role in rewarding environmental benefits. Industry has a responsibility to develop tools whose performance and financial value stand up to scrutiny. Investors need to see a credible path to commercial launch and adoption within their investment horizons.

The response to SFI26 shows that UK farmers are ready to engage with the sustainability agenda. They need support to adopt practices whose financial benefits have yet to be established consistently across farms.

The speed at which SFI26 funding was spoken for should prompt more than a discussion about the size of the next budget. It should encourage greater focus on the demonstration of sustainable practices and technologies with true scalability potential.

The solutions farmers will keep using when support ends are those that deliver a measurable and reliable return on investment alongside environmental benefits.

By Mark Robbins, 6 May 2026

At SugaROx, our mission has always been clear: to unlock the full potential of plant biology through precise, science-led crop biostimulants.

Our latest investment, £2.5 million from The Mosaic Company as part of our ongoing Series A funding round, marks an important step forward on that journey. This builds on their earlier support in 2025 and represents a strong endorsement of both our technology and our path to commercialisation.

This investment allows us to accelerate the field validation, registration and commercial launch of our first product and progress two other products in our pipeline from proof-of-concept to field testing.

A science-led approach to improving yield and quality

One of the longstanding challenges with traditional biostimulants, extracts from plants, algae or organic wastes, has been consistency of performance in real-world conditions. At SugaROx, we overcome this with single-molecule formulations based on proprietary versions of natural molecules that control key metabolic pathways and stress responses within plant cells.

Simply put, the molecules targeted by us can’t be delivered effectively into plant cells using conventional agricultural practices like foliar sprays due to strong polarity. Our patented ‘chemical caging’ technology enables these molecules to be absorbed by the plant and transported across cell walls and membranes – unlocking their full potential and enabling more reliable, repeatable performance in the field.

The first molecule in our pipeline, a caged version of a natural plant sugar (trehalose-6-phosphate, or T6P) targets a famine-signalling enzyme within the plant (SnRK1). By inhibiting the enzyme, we can redirect carbon and nutrients towards grain filling – improving both yield and quality.

The two other molecules in our pipeline also have well-characterised roles within plant systems, ensuring a robust scientific foundation for everything we develop.

Scaling trials and global expansion

With this latest funding, we’re expanding our field trials across key global markets, building the dataset required for regulatory approval and commercial launch in the UK, EU and US.

We’re targeting an initial UK launch between 2027 and 2028, followed by international expansion through to 2030. Our early focus will be on staple crops such as wheat and barley in Europe, and soybean and maize in North America. Work on selected high-value horticultural crops will continue alongside.

Jeff Wheeler, Vice President – Biosciences at The Mosaic Company, commented: “SugaROx is advancing a new category of precision biostimulants that aligns closely with our approach at Mosaic Biosciences, where we are building a science-backed portfolio of solutions that support the biology of plants and soil. We are pleased to support the team as they expand field validation and progress towards commercialisation.”

Looking ahead

Biostimulants are one of the fastest-growing segments in crop inputs. As growers face increasing pressure to produce more with fewer resources, the need for effective, reliable solutions has never been greater.

At SugaROx, we’re committed to delivering exactly that – precision biostimulants that work with plant biology to drive meaningful improvements in productivity and sustainability.

We’re now focused on completing our Series A round and bringing our first products to market. The opportunity ahead is significant, and this investment brings us one step closer making it a reality.

Want to know more? Follow us on LinkedIn or contact us today.

By Dr. Cara Griffiths, 28 April 2026

At SugaROx, we often talk about bridging the gap between plant science and practical farming. This week marks an important step in that journey. We’re excited to share that we’ve been selected for the first H.A.R.V.E.S.T. AgTech cohort, led by The Yield Lab Institute, to progress testing of our caged T6P from controlled conditions to field trials in California.

Why tomatoes, and why California?

Tomatoes are one of the most widely consumed botanical fruits/culinary vegetables in the world. They are also one of the most sensitive crops to climate stress.

These plants perform best when daytime temperatures range between 20-30°C and night-time temperatures between 17-19°C. It has long been established that temperatures above 32°C reduce pollen viability and disrupt fruit set, leading to yield losses. Fruit colour, firmness, flavour, and nutritional value may also be affected.

The US is the world’s fourth-largest producer of tomatoes, with around 301,800 acres under cultivation each year. Approximately 90% of US processed tomatoes (and a quarter of the world’s total) are grown in California. However, this region is becoming increasingly exposed to heat stress, with the number of days above 37°C expected to rise from 5-7 per year historically to as many as 40-50 by the end of the century.

For growers, this translates into real economic pressure. Currently, there are limited tools available to respond to abiotic stress during the growing season, and disruptions to yield and quality ripple through the food supply chain – affecting companies who rely on consistent specifications for food manufacturing.

A different approach to biostimulants

Our technology is built on a simple idea: if plants already rely on intracellular molecules to stimulate growth, development and stress responses, why not deliver more of them directly when they are needed?

The challenge is that many of these molecules cannot be absorbed by plants when applied externally, due to their strong polarity. Our answer is what we call “chemical caging” –  a way to temporarily mask the molecule so it can enter the plant, before releasing it in its active form inside the cell.

This opens up the possibility of targeting specific intracellular processes with precision, including those involved in responses to heat stress.

Building on strong foundations

Trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) is a natural plant sugar well described in the scientific literature for its role in regulating carbon use and allocation in plants via inhibition of the famine-signalling enzyme SnRK1.

Much of my research with the other academic co-founders of SugaROx has focused on wheat, and the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. However, its relevance extends across the plant kingdom. By combining T6P with our chemical caging technology, we have designed a biostimulant aimed at helping tomato plants better cope with stress.

Proof-of-concept studies conducted by our internal team have shown that our caged T6P can increase tomato yields by up to 8% under well-watered conditions, and up to 20% during heat stress, all under controlled environments. We are now approaching the completion of an Innovate UK-funded feasibility study, where Fera Science Ltd used high throughput digital phenotyping to assess the impact of our product on tomato plants under heat and drought stress.

Our collaboration with UC ANR

Through H.A.R.V.E.S.T., I am excited to be working with UC ANR Innovate, along with F3 Local, to test our caged T6P under field conditions in California. Just as importantly, this collaboration will allow us to better understand how our product fits into real-world farming systems and better articulate the value it can deliver to growers.

As we prepare for a Series A investment round to support registration and launch of our caged T6P biostimulant in the UK, EU and US, this work represents an important step. It helps us demonstrate the broader potential of our platform across crops, geographies and farming systems.

From wheat fields in the UK to tomato crops in California, the challenge is the same: helping plants perform under increasing environmental pressure. Our goal is to offer growers practical tools to meet that challenge – grounded in science and proven in the field.

Want to know more? Follow us on LinkedIn or contact us today.

By Dr. Cara Griffiths, 11 March 2026

Biostimulants are becoming an increasingly discussed topic among farmers. As a relatively new class of crop input, it is only natural that growers have questions about them. At a time when margins are tight, every product applied to the crop must justify its place in the agronomic programme.

Over the past year, farmers participating in our Innovate UK-funded project to accelerate the commercialisation of our first product – a biostimulant based on trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) – have shown a growing interest in learning more about biostimulants and how they should be evaluated.

Many of the questions we received from them reflect the current state of the UK market. At present, biostimulants do not have a clear legal definition in the UK. Simply put, biostimulants are products applied to crops or soils to stimulate natural plant processes, improve nutrient availability, nutrient use efficiency, stress tolerance or crop quality.

Secondly, there is no certification system for the claims made by companies in the UK. As a result, it can be difficult for farmers to distinguish between robust plant science and marketing claims. As a spin-out from Oxford University and Rothamsted Research founded to develop a new generation of scientifically grounded crop biostimulants, this distinction matters a great deal to us.

To help address this lack of clarity in the UK market, we have compiled the most frequently asked questions we receive into a dedicated page on our website. The page covers topics such as:

• How biostimulants are defined and regulated;
• The different types of biostimulants currently available;
• Why the performance of biostimulants can vary between products and growing conditions;
• The practical questions farmers can ask before investing in a product.

Read our full biostimulant FAQ guide for farmers here.

Our aim is for this page to serve as a reliable reference point for UK farmers, so we will update it as the regulatory environment evolves and the market develops. To stay informed as new information becomes available, follow SugaROx on LinkedIn, where we share updates made on our website.

If you are a farmer who values evidence over marketing claims and who is interested in helping to develop robust biostimulant solutions, contact our Business Development Director, Bianca Forte. As part of our Innovate UK project, we are running tramline trials on commercial farms across the UK.

Bianca Forte, 20 January 2026

• The UK Farming Profitability Review calls government to create a policy and regulatory environment that puts food security at the heart of the sustainability agenda.
• It calls for a strategy that empowers and enables farmers to engage effectively with industry to co-design and co-develop the solutions required to truly transform performance.
• Environmental sustainability must work hand-in-hand with farmer profitability – something that biostimulants are uniquely positioned to deliver.

In December 2025, the UK Government published its Farming Profitability Review, a wide-ranging, independent assessment of the pressures facing farm businesses and the structural changes needed to deliver a more profitable and resilient UK farming sector.

While the review is broad in scope, one message is loud and clear: a more strategic policy and regulatory framework is needed – one that better balances food production and environmental outcomes – to ensure the viability, profitability and sustainability of UK farming.

For biostimulant ventures, the Review brings positive news. If adopted, its recommendations will create a strengthening market for innovations that deliver measurable return on investment to farmers while improving the resilience and sustainability of food production.

Profitability returns to the centre of UK agricultural policy

At the heart of the Review is a clear call to “make, create, grow, produce and sell more from our farms in a measurable way.” This explicit focus on outcomes marks an important recalibration in UK agricultural policy. It is not a retreat from environmental ambition, but an honest reminder that profitability is one of the three pillars of sustainability.

In recent years, much innovation has focused on reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture; however, in many cases the economic case for adoption has been poorly defined. The Review signals a shift toward solutions that embed environmental benefit within a robust commercial model.

How biostimulants fit the new farming profitability agenda

Biostimulants sit squarely within this emerging paradigm. By increasing crop yield and quality and improving the efficiency with which other inputs are used, they offer a pathway to producing more food per hectare without increasing environmental impact – while strengthening farm revenues rather than diluting them.

The Review also positions food production as part of the UK’s critical national infrastructure, explicitly linking food access to national security. Against a backdrop of rising food insecurity, this elevates the strategic importance of innovations that support resilient domestic production.

For investors, this alignment matters. Markets that sit at the intersection of national infrastructure, economic growth and sustainability will benefit from sustained policy focus, public funding support and long-term demand – helping to de-risk opportunities.

A clear mandate for commercial, farmer-led agri-tech research

Another strong signal for biostimulant ventures is the Review’s call for goal-orientated commercial research. It calls for science to be designed with farmers, not just for them, and for investment to be coordinated across industry and public bodies such as BBSRC, Defra and Innovate UK.

This is not about expanding research budgets indiscriminately. It is about directing capital towards innovation that delivers measurable outcomes on farm – particularly profitability and resilience.

When research is co-designed with farmers, tested under real-world conditions and evaluated against metrics that matter to farm businesses, the translation and adoption of outputs can be accelerated. This is particularly important in fields with long R&D cycles like agri-tech.

This creates a more favourable pathway from scientific discovery to commercial impact.

How climate volatility is accelerating demand for crop innovation

The Review places resilience at the centre of farming viability – a theme strongly echoed by results from a survey of 211 UK farmers that we commissioned from Grounded Research last year.

For 95% of respondents of our survey, weather variability emerged as the single most significant challenge facing wheat production. This was the top risk identified by them – ahead even of disease control or weed resistance, which historically would have been biggest concerns.

This growing exposure to climate volatility is reshaping demand for innovations that help crops tolerate drought, heat and other types of abiotic stresses. In that context, biostimulants will become core tools for managing risk and protecting margins in crop production.

Agri-tech adoption in the UK: Barriers, demand and opportunity

The Review is realistic about the barriers farmers face when trialling new technologies. With margins under pressure, the appetite for risk is limited. For biostimulants in particular, this is precisely where the opportunity lies.

Data from our survey shows that while farmers have experienced mixed results from existing biostimulant products, demand is strong. Over three-quarters of farmers surveyed said they would adopt new biostimulants if a clear financial advantage were demonstrated, and half expect to increase their use over the next five years.

Barriers to adoption were identified in the survey – cost-effectiveness, proven performance and access to independent data. These are not structural blockers, but signals of a market moving from early experimentation to evidence-led selection.

Internationally, there is great experience that can be drawn from to facilitate this transition.

In the EU for instance, where biostimulants are regulated under FPR 2019/1009, some countries are using elements of their CAP budgets to support farmer-led trials of new products. The principle is simple: allow farmers to see return on investment on their own farms before scaling adoption.

For the UK, the Review points toward mechanisms such as streamlined grants with reduced administrative burden. We believe better use of subsidies to promote practice that delivers environmental as well as financial outcomes on farms also have an important role to play in this.

What the Review means for agri-tech ventures and investors

Taken together, the Farming Profitability Review outlines a sector in transition:

• Farmers are actively seeking tools to manage risk and protect margins;
• Policy is re-anchoring around productivity, profitability and resilience;
• Research funding is shifting toward commercial, outcome-driven innovation;
• Adoption barriers are increasingly addressable through evidence and collaboration.

This is the profile of a market entering a transformation phase – where many opportunities will be found for innovations with scientific credibility, regulatory alignment and real-world performance.

Building the next generation of crop stimulation technology

With a product based on 25+ years of cutting-edge science and a ground-breaking technology invented by Oxford University and Rothamsted Research, we are keen to play our part in the above.

While the bulk of biostimulants available to farmers today are mixtures of ingredients with poorly described modes of action, our formulations use single active ingredients based on natural molecules that trigger specific metabolic, physiological and stress-responses in plants.

By working closely with farmers and go-to-market partners from the earliest stages of development, we are aligning our innovation pipeline with the priorities highlighted in the Review: productivity, resilience and profitability. By improving efficiency, we reduce the environmental impact of farming.

Want to know more? Follow us on LinkedIn or contact us today.

Dr. Cara Griffiths, 22 December 2025

• In a recent article with collaborators, our CTO, Dr Cara Griffiths, provided her take on what traits are most important for improving crop performance in a changing climate.
• Attempts to enhance photosynthesis without boosting sink capacity struggle to deliver significant yield gains.
• Coordinating source and sink pathways – particularly during growth or reproductive development – offers a promising route to improving both crop yield and quality.

During the 20th century, crop yields increased dramatically when the Green Revolution tripled yield potential for staple crops such as wheat and rice. In this time, most yield gains came from changes in plant architecture, such as shorter stems leading to greater allocation of carbon into developing spikes.

With yield gains now plateauing, there has been a major push in academia over the last two decades to increase photosynthesis as a means of improving crop production. The logic is intuitive – more photosynthesis should mean more carbon for yield production.

In a recent effort with collaborators from Rothamsted Research, CIMMYT, and Nottingham University, we reviewed a body of scientific papers from decades of photosynthesis research and provided our take on what traits we should be chasing to improve crop performance in a changing climate. You can download our article in the 30^th Anniversary Issue of Trends in Plant Science.

We concluded that after gearing heavily on one side of the plant’s carbon economy, photosynthesis, we see growing evidence in the literature that source-sink interactions constrain the impact of that approach on yield improvement. The need to unlock this bottleneck is particularly interesting for our work at SugaROx, which we explore further in this blog.

Source-sink balance

Yield is not determined solely by how efficiently plants produce carbon, but by how effectively they can utilise it. For example, photosynthesis (the source of carbon) and crop growth or grain filling processes (the sink) are tightly connected through feedback loops. When sink processes are unable to use carbon due to other resource constraints, such as water or nitrogen availability, photosynthesis is reduced. Put simply, plants will only photosynthesise at high rates when there is demand for carbon. This means that attempts to enhance photosynthesis without boosting sink capacity struggle to deliver significant yield gains.

Timing of intervention matters

Increasing photosynthetic rate increases demand for other resources – water being a good example. While yield gains can be demonstrated in academic studies conducted under controlled glasshouse conditions, these gains frequently fail to translate to real-world farming systems where higher transpiration rates require increasing water supply – a resource often limited in farming systems. For me, this shows that when photosynthesis is enhanced matters just as much as how. Sustained increases in photosynthesis throughout the crop lifecycle can exacerbate water loss. By contrast, targeting photosynthesis to key crop stages when sink processes are activated reinforces photosynthetic rates.

Yield quality is part of the same equation

For Triticum aestivum (bread wheat), yield increases are often accompanied by a dilution of grain protein content. The academic literature indicates that this trade-off arises when carbon supply and nitrogen assimilation become uncoupled. This implies that better source-sink balance might not only activate starch synthesis but also promote the synthesis of protein in the grain. This field of research is limited, and it’s one that I am particularly excited to explore at SugaROx. The first molecule in our pipeline of active ingredients for crop biostimulants can deliver a boost in protein content in wheat grains – this effect has been consistent across the field trials commissioned by us since launching the company.

Rethinking yield improvement

The key message from our review of the scientific literature on photosynthesis research is clear: coordinating source and sink pathways – particularly during growth or reproductive development – offers a promising route to improving both crop yield and quality. The first molecule in our pipeline is a proprietary version of trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), a natural plant sugar that boosts sink processes through the inhibition of the famine-signalling enzyme SnRK1, a central regulator of plant metabolism. By modulating the enzyme’s activity, we can strengthen carbon sink and, in turn, boost source processes.

Interested in our approach? Join the SugaROx mission

At SugaROx, we’re committed to advancing the science of crop stimulation.

Through our B2B model, we collaborate with go-to-market partners who deeply understand farmers’ needs and practices, testing and delivering our solutions across key agricultural markets worldwide.

If you fit that profile, contact us today or follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with our progress.

Bianca Forte, 31 October 2025

In partnership with Grounded Research, we’ve published findings from a new survey showing that while awareness of biostimulants among UK wheat growers is high, confidence in their performance remains low. We believe that stronger regulation is essential to build farmer trust.

• Our survey reveals that trust on companies’ claims, trial data and agronomist advice will determine UK farmers’ adoption of biostimulants.
• It also shows regulations are required to encourage transparency to meet the concerns of farmers hindering industry-wide growth.

Our Business Development Director, Bianca Forte, shares key findings from the survey.

Surveying farmer attitudes towards biostimulants

When we commissioned a nationwide survey of UK wheat growers earlier this year, our goal at SugaROx was to go beyond the numbers to understand how farmers really feel about biostimulants.

To make that happen, we partnered with Grounded Research, a firm known for its deep roots in agricultural insight. What a great choice that was; not only were they able to engage our target audience effectively but they also helped us contextualise some of the responses.

The survey forms part of our Innovate UK–funded project to accelerate the development of our first biostimulant, a single-molecule formulation whose active ingredient is based on the natural plant sugar trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P).

We are a spin-out from Oxford University and Rothamsted Research on a mission to develop science-based solutions for the biostimulants industry. Understanding farmer perceptions helps us ensure that what we’re developing meets real needs in the field.

Our survey, conducted between April and June 2025, reached 211 UK wheat farmers through Grounded Research’s Five Bar Gate farmer panel and our own network. It explored everything from awareness and usage to purchase channels, price sensitivity, and observed benefits.

As Clare Otridge, Market Research Consultant at Grounded Research noted: “The appetite for innovation is there among farmers, they just lack the confidence in the solutions historically available.” This is one of the most important takeaways from our research.

Weather variability now tops the list of farmers’ challenges

Clare commented: “Ninety-five percent of the farmers we spoke to mentioned that as a major issue. With the last few seasons bringing everything from prolonged dry spells to intense heatwaves, it’s no surprise, and the survey also reveals that growers are actively seeking tools to build resilience.”

Most farmers understand the function of biostimulants

According to survey results, most farmers associated biostimulants with improved nutrient uptake (86%), root growth (84%), stress tolerance (80%), and yield boost (71%). That is excellent, as those are functions correctly associated with biostimulants. But 42% still view biostimulants as fertilisers and 24% see them as pesticides – which are different classes of crop inputs.

Farmers feel the benefits delivered by biostimulants are still modest

Among the farmers who have tried biostimulants, the top benefits observed were resilience against abiotic stress (2.09 out of 5), yield gains (2.00) and better nutrient-use efficiency (1.88). Half of farmers expect to use more biostimulants in the next five years.

Farmer trust is a barrier for wider adoption

Cost-effectiveness is a major barrier for adoption (rated 4.37 out of 5). Clare said: “Resilience to climate change and sustainability are strong motivators for biostimulant adoption, but at the end of the day, yield and profitability still drive decision-making. More than three-quarters told us they’d consider adding new biostimulants to their spray plan if the advantage was clear.”

The next two biggest barriers for adoption reported by farmers were unproven performance (4.19) and lack of trusted information (4.19). Clare added: “Lack of information was mentioned by 34% of respondents.” At SugaROx we believe legislation is needed to regulate companies’ claims.

As noted by one farmer: “Independent trials don’t show anywhere near the advantage manufacturers claim.” Another added: “What’s still holding me back is the lack of clear guidance on which products work best for my crop conditions.”

Agronomy groups, highly influential advisers on farms, are still shy about biostimulants

Most farmers reported learning about biostimulants through the farming press (32%) and agricultural events (23%). Clare noted: “Only 18% first heard about biostimulants from agronomists. To me this shows great potential for growth, as agronomists are trusted advisors for farmers.”

Agronomists in the UK, independent professionals or those associated with companies that also supply inputs, are knowledgeable advisors for farmers. They build their relationship with their customers through advice that works, so it’s important for inputs to perform reliably.

What the results mean for the farming industry

The insights from the survey mirror what we often hear in our own conversations with farmers and agronomists. Demand is high, the industry is full of potential, but uncertainty is hindering adoption.

At the moment, biostimulants in the UK remain unregulated. Defra has been considering a certification framework similar to the EU’s Fertilising Products Regulation (2019/1009), which would require companies to certify their claims on product safety, composition, and efficacy.

If this goes ahead, it could be a turning point. Clearer standards would help farmers trust what they’re buying and accelerate adoption of products that truly improve resilience in UK farming.

Clare agreed, saying: “The results show both opportunity and responsibility. The biostimulant sector needs to back its claims with robust data and help farmers make informed choices. There’s a real chance here to build a stronger, more evidence-led market.

That’s exactly why we wanted to share these findings. The survey isn’t just about where farmers stand today – it’s about where the industry can go next if we listen carefully, prove what works, and bring science and practice closer together.

Do you share our vision? Join the SugaROx mission

At SugaROx, we’re committed to advancing the science of crop stimulation.

Through our B2B model, we collaborate with go-to-market partners who deeply understand farmers’ needs and practices, testing and delivering our solutions across key agricultural markets worldwide.

If you fit that profile, contact us today or follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with our progress.

Bianca Forte, 5 September 2025 

Biostimulants are a relatively new class of crop input, holding promise to become the cornerstone of climate-smart farming. For investors, this makes them one of the most urgent investment opportunities of the decade. 

• Global agriculture is at breaking point. Farmers must produce more food with fewer resources, while food companies scramble to secure resilient supply chains.

• The biostimulant industry is going through a period of innovation, presenting opportunities for investment not seen before at this level.

• Join SugaROx and invest in supporting the critical mission of our lifetime.

What are biostimulants? 

Biostimulants enhance biological functions in plants and soil, helping farmers boost yields, improve quality, increase efficiency of nutrient use, and build resilience to heatwaves, droughts, and other climate stresses. 

Traditional biostimulants, such as plant and seaweed extracts and acid-based formulations from organic wastes, still dominate 90% of the market. They’ve been around for decades, despite offering unreliable results and limited differentiation. 

But major disruption is coming to this industry in the form of microbial and single-molecule formulations. These newer technologies are where the breakthroughs are happening, and where new market leaders will be made. 

Market growth and trends 

From U$4.1B today, to a predicted value of U$11.2B by 2035, biostimulants are scaling at double-digit CAGR (compound annual growth rate).  They are not a passing trend. They will become the fourth pillar of food production, powered by unstoppable drivers, including: 

• Weather: Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall threaten crop yields and quality, from wheat production in the UK to glasshouse production of tomatoes in Japan. Biostimulants enable climate-smart farming. 

• Consumer demand: Consumers in developed countries want sustainable food, whether it is sourced locally or from abroad. Biostimulants help to reduce the carbon footprint of food production and reduce the ongoing pressure to expand farmland. 

• Regulatory pressure: Europe and countries which export into it are tightening their rules on the use of synthetic fertilisers and crop protection products. Biostimulants will help fill the gap in revenue for input companies. 

Turning risk into advantage 

The biostimulants industry has long suffered from a lack of regulations. This led to a myriad of undifferentiated products being promoted to farmers, eroding their trust and driving a race to the bottom on price. This chaos is ending. 

Leading the charge is the European Union (EU), with its Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR) 2019/1009, which took effect in July 2022. This new framework provides universal standards for companies wanting to place biostimulants on the EU’s Single Market. Products that meet its stringent safety, quality, and efficacy requirements are granted the CE mark. 

In the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is looking to regulate the market under a new framework for fertilisers. It has confirmed that the industry welcomes new regulation, and it has now commissioned a practical study to assess if the FPR 2019/1009 standards provide a strong base for certification. 

The Plant Biostimulant Act recently reintroduced in the US creates a federal definition for biostimulants and streamlines the approval process for products. Currently, nine states have adopted a definition for ‘beneficial substances’ developed by the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials (AAPFCO), and 20 others may initiate legislation/ rulemaking before the end of 2025.  

Weaknesses being exposed 

These are a few examples which show that weak biostimulants will be swept away in key food producing countries. The companies with validated science behind their products will be rewarded. As rules tighten, SugaROx is perfectly positioned to lead with our patented platform technology to develop single-molecule biostimulants: 

• Our technology is grounded in over 25 years of cutting-edge science by our academic founders, with their results published in high-impact papers such as Nature, PNAS, Plant Physiology and Nature Biotechnology.  

• We have 18 patents to our name, granted worldwide, so we have a solid foundation to our approach. Our patent portfolio covers the use of our first product in major agricultural countries including the UK, US, Brazil, China, and key EU member states. 

How we’re different 

Across the UK, EU, and US, the story is the same: biostimulants are becoming the fourth pillar of crop production. But the market is clogged with products which underdeliver, leaving distributors unable to meet the demands of farmers. 

That’s where SugaROx stands apart: 

• Breakthrough technology: As a spin out of Rothamsted Research and Oxford University, our platform delivers natural plant bioactivators into plant cells via a simple foliar spray. Our patented “delivery cage” ensures absorption of the molecules and activation in their site of action. 

• Targeted mode-of-action: Our first product is a modified trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), a natural sugar that deactivates a famine-signaling enzyme (SnRK1), shifting plants from “survival mode” to “thriving mode.” Traditional biostimulants deliver 2–5% yield gains – our field trials to-date show potential to deliver 5–22% yield boost in wheat crops. 

This isn’t incremental. It’s transformative, and the leap forward that farmers, distributors, and corporates are actively searching for. 

Why invest now? 

Despite a recent dip in venture funding, biologicals remain an area of ongoing investment via venture capital, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and corporate-led or collaborative research and development.  

While historically biological ventures required decades to achieve U$4M–U$30M revenue, experts are forecasting that U$100M+ revenues are now achievable within 10 years of a venture being founded.   

Biostimulants are standing out due to their double-digit growth on demand, the lack of reliable products servicing demand, and regulations cleaning up the market. 

However, there is an urgency; only a handful of companies worldwide are pioneering single-molecule biostimulants. Like our peers, SugaROx offers a robust approach, aligned with regulatory shifts and a go-to-market strategy to sell our products via channels trusted by farmers. We are on a mission to transform this industry. 

Where we stand out, above our peers, is through our platform technology to generate a pipeline of molecules across crops, using over 25 years of science underpinning our first molecule, and exclusive access to 18 foundational patents. 

No other venture offers the same potential for innovation and growth. This positions us as both a preferred technology partner for corporates and a prime target for M&A. 

Join us in the biostimulants revolution  

The winners are being chosen now. If you’re looking to back technologies that deliver both impact and returns, this is your moment. 

We’ll be at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London on 22nd–23rd September 2025. Come chat with our team at the event, contact us today to secure a 121 with us.

Dr Cara Griffiths, 27 August 2025

• T6P technology, first published by Rothamsted Research and Oxford University in Nature in 2016, showed potential to boost wheat yields by up to 20% in glasshouses.
• New publication in Nature Biotechnology confirms feasibility of the T6P technology in field conditions, with consistent yield gains of around 10% in wheat.
• SugaROx is now launching trials, with a more cost-effective version of the active ingredient, at a lower dose rate, with distributors and farmers to validate performance more widely, bridging academic discovery with agricultural practice.

One of the biggest challenges in agriculture is turning brilliant lab discoveries into solutions that work in unpredictable field conditions. Many fail along the way. But when the gap is closed, the results can transform farming. That’s the story of our flagship active ingredient, an innovative, plant-permeable form of trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P), the natural plant sugar in our first biostimulant.

Following publication of her academic research in Nature Biotechnology, our CTO Dr. Cara Griffiths shares her thoughts on how her work on T6P went from a research project to development of a solution for real-world farmers.

Breaking new knowledge – how it began

Agricultural innovation often starts with a simple question: what hidden mechanisms inside plants could be harnessed to grow more food with fewer resources?

In the late 1990s, my colleague Dr Matthew Paul, a plant biologist at Rothamsted Research, was developing early fundamental research that discovered a tiny sugar, T6P, acts as a regulator of plant energy.

T6P acts as a key signal of sugar availability, switching metabolism into a “feast mode” when energy is abundant; promoting growth, starch synthesis, and biomass accumulation. It does this by inhibiting SnRK1, a master regulator that otherwise triggers a “famine response,” slowing growth and conserving resources. By increasing the abundance of T6P in the cell, this feast response can be triggered, pushing more sugar resources into plant growth, development, and ultimately yield.

The challenge? T6P is a polar molecule and can’t cross plant cell membranes if simply sprayed on crops. That’s when Matthew teamed up with Professor Ben Davis, an organic chemist at Oxford University, who engineered a “caged” version, allowing for cell membrane penetration; protected until sunlight releases it inside the plant. This breakthrough meant T6P could finally be delivered into crops using common farming practice.

Proof in controlled conditions

I joined the research team in 2014 to put the T6P analogues created by Ben and Matthew to the test. In 2016, we published in Nature that spraying wheat with plant-permeable T6P increased yields by up to 20% in controlled environments.

This was the first proof of concept that chemical intervention in sugar signalling could change the rules of crop productivity. It suggested we could increase yields without demanding more land, water, or fertiliser – a vital step toward sustainable agriculture and food security.

Feasibility in fields

The real test was moving from glasshouses to real fields. Matthew, Ben, and I launched an academic project in Argentina where we ran replicated small plot trials across four seasons to test the technology under agricultural conditions.

The results, now published in Nature Biotechnology, showed yield gains of 5-17%, averaging 10%. Crucially, these gains didn’t require extra fertiliser or irrigation. For farmers, that means more grain from the same land – real productivity, not just lab theory.

From academic trials to business-led trials

At SugaROx, our mission is to take this discovery from science to practice. To commercialise the technology, we need to show consistency across different soils, weather and farmer practices, and as CTO, I run trials with three types of stakeholders to achieve this.

Shortly after launching our venture in 2021, we commissioned a small number of trials across 5 countries with a leading contract research organisation (CRO). We started with Replicated Small Plot Trials (RSPTs) to optimise dose, formulation, and timing of application and refine our minimum viable product.

Last autumn, with Innovate UK and ADAS support, we began on-farm trials with 10 UK farmers at the hectare scale. Real-world feedback is essential to shaping a product that delivers value on the ground.

With new investment recently secured to scale up T6P production, we will be producing more samples to potential distributors interested in evaluating our T6P in key markets. These partners help us learn a huge amount about the practices of farmers in different countries.

Looking ahead

The journey of T6P shows how rethinking plant biochemistry can unlock new ways to boost crop yields. I continue to split my time between Rothamsted Research and SugaROx because I believe breakthroughs shouldn’t stay confined to journals.

At SugaROx we believe that by bridging science and commercialisation, we can deliver the next generation of biostimulants that farmers need and the industry seeks. Products with well-described modes of action, addressing specific bottlenecks in plant physiology to deliver real value to farmers.

If you’d like to learn more about our technology, contact us today.