This group will provide peer-led knowledge sharing about biologicals and related topics
An industry organization focused on helping farmers improve business results is taking steps to provide peer-to-peer knowledge transfer related to biologicals and adjacent topics.
Beck Ag is in the beginning stages of forming the Bio Efficiency Council.
This group will include people like row crop farmers, researchers, retailers, and stakeholders in the consumer-packaged good industries, who can provide real-world insight into biologicals, how they can fit into a farm, and what realistic results look like.
This communication will be through webinars, case studies, and other methods.
The disruptions caused by the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, set the wheels in motion to create the council.
John Finegan
“That was the real motivation,” John Finegan, founder of Beck Ag, told Farms.com. “It wasn’t just cost increases. A lot of synthetic chemicals and fertilizers you couldn’t even source because of the global supply chain challenges.”
In addition, the council will help break one-way communication channels.
“It’s different than having a seed salesperson selling to a farmer or telling a farmer why a product works,” Finegan said. “Biologicals have a high-risk profile, so for a farmer the information might be more credible when it’s coming from another farmer.”
Finegan started his career with Chevron, an oil company, in 1982.
And has seen multiple shifts in ag.
“Why would an oil company be involved in agriculture? Back in those days, the chemicals and fertilizers were petroleum based,” he said. “In the 90s we transitioned to synthetic fertilizers, and slowly over the last 25 years been moving towards biologicals.”
Available data indicates more farmers are more open to the idea of biologicals.
A study by Stratovation Group, a member of The Council of Producers and Distributors of Agrotechnology, showed a 9 percent increase in the use of biopesticides since it conducted a similar study in 2024.
And companies like PepsiCo and McDonald’s are investing millions of dollars into sustainability, which includes biological crop protection.
“It seems like the stars are aligning to drive this shift towards biologicals,” he said. “We’ve talked about it for so many years. It’s time now.”
The makeup of the council will come from Beck Ag’s internal database.
Through agIQ, the company’s database, Beck Ag will identify suitable farmers and other stakeholders to participate in cohorts for the next few years.
“We’re going to be targeting larger farms with thousands of acres,” Finegan said. “A 50-acre farm wouldn’t be a good fit for this program.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the Bio Efficiency Council can contact Finegan at johnf@beckag.com, or 916-505-4789.