SeedGrowth portfolio takes a step up with biological seed treatments Ibisio®, Yoalo® and Susteed®

Innovation is a central part of what we do at SeedGrowth. Customers look to seed treatments to provide new possibilities for plant protection and performance in a changing world, with their early-season action and targeted application making them increasingly important contributors to productive and sustainable cropping systems.

This is why we are always working to add new solutions to our portfolio of seed treatments, and to get them in the hands of customers as widely as possible. The SeedGrowth innovation mission is a comprehensive and in-depth one, because we offer solutions across many different types of technology: crop protection and nutrition; synthetic and biological; insecticide, fungicide and more.

Three of our newest solutions, set for upcoming launch, belong to one particular segment: biologicals. These are a fast-growing part of Bayer’s overall offering to growers, appreciated for their ability to meet societal ambitions while providing efficacy in a tightening regulatory landscape. And with these three imminent arrivals, biologicals take a step forward in SeedGrowth’s product offering, and further our mission to get the most out of every technology and provide value to farmers in many different ways.

Taking the three innovations individually, we start with Ibisio, a bird repellent seed treatment for corn. It was first brought to customers in 2024 through temporary and emergency authorizations, and in 2025 and the years after, it is expected to rapidly expand into more geographies. Using black pepper oleoresin (an ingredient largely found in the food service industry) to drive away corvids and pheasants, it arrives at a crucial time – when farmers are reporting increasing damage from birds, and there are very few existing solutions on the market.

The second new solution is Yoalo, a crop stimulant that contains Bacillus velezensis. It works by solubilizing nutrients in the soil, making them available to the plant and ultimately promoting yield. It is making fast progress through regulatory frameworks at present. The biostimulants segment is an exciting one that promises to add a whole new dimension to what biologicals can offer, and Yoalo will be an important part of that. Yoalo will be available in corn, with planned launches starting with Ukraine in 2026.

And thirdly, there is Susteed, a fungicide and a crop stimulant based on Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain QST713 in a new, highly concentrated formulation. Susteed is an all-rounder with three modes of action: root colonization, induced systemic resistance, and disease suppression. Roots colonized by Susteed’s active ingredient show improved biomass and architecture, helping the plant absorb nutrients and withstand stresses. It is also effective against key diseases, chiefly Rhizoctonia and Phoma. Susteed is set to receive its first registration in OSR in Belgium, with many more countries expected to follow throughout 2025.

The real beauty of these new solutions is that they do not just have to be considered individually: they also add to Bayer’s integrated offering, even beyond biologicals.

The advance of three new solutions is certainly significant for the biologicals sector. In this fast-evolving but still fragmented industry, Bayer is a trusted solution provider with a broad and cohesive portfolio – and product brands like Ibisio, Yoalo and Susteed are strong testaments to this. There is a high pace of innovation and development across the industry, but what really counts is the solutions that provide consistent value to growers.

As for SeedGrowth, the unified vision goes even further. Our approach matches Bayer’s as a whole: we aim to design solutions that consider every technology type, not just one. That means delivering biologicals in tandem with premium chemical solutions (and enabling technologies and practices) to get the best out of them all. Our Acceleron tailored packages are one example of this (Yoalo, Ibisio and Susteed will also be part of Acceleron).

It is exciting to see biologicals grow in significance within this combined offering. And, thanks to Ibisio, Yoalo and Susteed – alongside other solutions such as ProStablish, a biostimulant for cereals which launched in 2024 and is set for expansion in the coming years – biologicals are creating a strong platform for growing the overall SeedGrowth business, too. Each solution acts differently, but ultimately means the same thing: another way to support crop yields and enable growers to share in the value created.