New Product of The Year 2023: AMVAC's BioWake
Retailers were key in the launch of AMVAC’s BioWake product, and in turn The Scoop audience reciprocated its appreciation by voting the biological seed lubricant the readers’ choice new product of the year for 2023. This is the first time the audience has voted a biological product as No. 1.
Ted Walter, U.S. GreenSolutions marketing manager at AMVAC, says the company worked with large-scale retailers to place BioWake on more than 100,000 acres for its launch demo program. The market awareness led to sales on more than 300,000 acres in 2023. Walter shares plans for 2024 BioWake sales exceed 1 million acres.
“We knew biological products can struggle with adoption and particularly be slower in row crops,” Walter says. “And so, we targeted getting the product in the customers’ hands as the key to success. BioWake has a 70% win rate; we knew experience with the product would be favorable and powerful.”
AMVAC says the BioWake ingredients are proven to enhance root development, nutrient uptake and plant efficiency, which add up to yield benefits. BioWake can replace graphite- or talc-based lubricants, which can be abrasive to equipment and messy.
This past year was the first full year of use for BioWake for Corn and BioWake for Soybeans. The company is expanding the BioWake product portfolio to include BioWake for Cotton and BioWake Prime in 2024.
Walter says this product portfolio is opening up a new window of opportunity for ag retailers.
“What’s exciting about the segment BioWake participates in is it offers retailers a new market opportunity as an enhanced seed fluency product that is incremental to their business. Retailers view it as a new segment and a growth opportunity,” he says.
The BioWake portfolio is a result of an ongoing partnership with NewLeaf Symbiotics and Low Mu Tech, which AMVAC started in 2022. Further expansion for the BioWake lineup includes wheat and peanuts.
An Agent For Change
“We are trying to remove the traditional roadblocks to using biologicals,” Walter says. “We are diving into a segment with corn, soybeans or cotton where biologicals are still slow to be adopted. And what will help drive that adoption with BioWake is the low use rate, convenient application and consistent performance with a high ROI.”
Products for treatment in the planter box could be limited in terms of application rates as too much product could lead to singulation issues. With its biological formulation, BioWake relies on in-soil colonization of the root zone, so application rates can stay low, and biology is delivered precisely where it is needed. Walter points out the application rate for BioWake is 0.5 oz. per unit of seed.
Walter says AMVAC acknowledges the biological space crowds retailers’ focus.
“The biological space is a crowded market, and with BioWake, we knew we had to engage ag retail. Biological companies have come a long way from a product standpoint as to what’s being offered in terms of quality and consistent formulations. But because of the sheer number of products in the market, it’s hard for retailers to wade through what’s being pitched every day and what actually performs. It all goes to our reason for the large demo product to drive adoption,” Walter says.
Citing research showing less than one-third of row crop farmers use a biological today, AMVAC sees this market as one for upside growth.
“Bringing to market a biological product is about quality in manufacturing, consistent product performance and then not stepping outside of the claims you should be making—staying in your swim lane and utilizing data to fully understand the product and fit in the market,” he says.
As for being named The Scoop’s Product of the Year, AMVAC is celebrating and looking forward.
“We’re proud to be new product of the year because it further validates the technology we are bringing to the customers, and it builds on the excitement we have around the BioWake portfolio,” Walter says.
