The 2025 Biostimulant Benchmark Report Series:
How Corn Responded to 15 Commercial Biostimulants
What does a plant think when you put a product on it?
What does a plant think when you put a product on it? That simple question started the Foresight Agronomics 2025 Biostimulant Benchmark Report Series, an independently run look at how corn responded to 15 commercial biostimulants at the gene level. Each product was applied once as a foliar treatment with product names anonymized throughout. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) then measured gene expression in corn leaves at day 3 and day 14, compared with a water control. The study was led by plant molecular biologist Layne Ellen Harris, Ph.D., and built for crop biological manufacturers and retailers who want to see how biostimulants acted inside the plant and how one product’s response compared with other biostimulants and a water control.
The series has six reports
Five explore specific areas of plant function in depth, while the sixth translates findings into commercial considerations.
Growth & Metabolism
Five growth and carbon pathways
Nutrition
Uptake and use genes for nine nutrients
Abiotic Stress
Heat, drought, light, and salinity response genes, measured before any stress arrived
Biotic Stress
Five defense pathways, plus disease management scenarios for eight U.S. crops
Hormones & Signaling
Nine hormone systems
Commerical Playbook
15 product profiles and crop scenarios
Each report compares every product side by side at both points of time and lays out what the data support and considerations for field testing.
Why gene expression?
It’s the plant’s earliest layer of response, so it shows how a product was working in the plant, not just whether something changed at harvest. For manufacturers, that information can inform R&D direction, sharpen positioning and ground claims in data. We’re upfront that this isn’t a yield or field-performance trial, and every report spells out what the data can and can’t show.
Want to know what the plant thinks of your product?
Seats are open for our January 2027 Group Benchmark Study. Seats are limited, and enrollment closes December 5. Each participant receives their own individual report.
Select “Yes” on the form to learn more.
Want to look before you buy? Fill out the form, and we’ll follow up within 48 hours with pricing and the table of contents for all six reports, sample pages and a sample product profile from the Commercial Playbook. The series is available now as individual reports or the full six-report set.
FAQs
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The 2025 Biostimulant Benchmark Report Series is a six-report study from Foresight Agronomics comparing how corn responds to 15 commercial biostimulants at the gene level. Five reports cover growth and metabolism, nutrition, abiotic stress, biotic stress, and hormones and signaling. The sixth, the Commercial Playbook, turns the findings into commercial considerations and potential actions.
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The series is built for crop biological manufacturers and retailers. Both can use it to guide R&D, position products, and check claims against the data.
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No product is identified by brand. The study includes 15 product types including, but not limited to, seaweed, protein hydrolysate, microbial extract, humic/fulvic acid, algae, peptides, yucca extract, wood vinegar and Trichoderma. Manufacturers who took part in the study received their own individual report on their product. Want your product in the next benchmark? Fill out the form and indicate interest in an upcoming study.
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Foresight Agronomics facilitated and ran the study, led by plant molecular biologist Layne Ellen Harris, Ph.D.
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Each product received foliar treatment on greenhouse corn at V4, and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) measured gene expression in the leaves at day 3 and day 14, compared with a water control.
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Questions regarding the quoting or citing of the findings can be addressed during the purchasing process.
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Pricing is available on request. You can buy individual reports or the full six-report series. Fill out the form, and we’ll send a quote along with preview pages within 48 hours.
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The reports were released in October 2026 and are available now. Fill out the form to request a preview and pricing.
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Yes. Through the form, we’ll send the table of contents for all six reports, sample pages, and a sample product profile from the Commercial Playbook.
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Seats are open for the January 2027 group benchmark study, and enrollment closes December 5. Seats are limited. Check the box on the form or message Layne Ellen Harris directly to learn more.
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Layne Ellen Harris, Ph.D., a plant molecular biologist and the founder of Foresight Agronomics, leads the benchmark. She has nearly a decade of research experience in the agriculture industry and uses molecular biology and genomics to explain how biologicals perform inside the plant.