Locus Agriculture Highlights the Importance of "Stress Economics" as Growers Expand the Use of Bombigro®

Four years of field experience across multiple crops demonstrate how Bombigro helps growers better manage crop stress, improve input performance and maximize return on every acre.

SOLON, Ohio, July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As rising production costs and tighter margins force growers to examine every agronomic investment more closely, Locus Agriculture (Locus AG) is encouraging producers to think differently about one of farming's most overlooked profit drivers: crop stress.

The company calls the concept "Stress Economics," referring to the cumulative financial effect that environmental conditions, herbicide applications, nutrient limitations and soil constraints can have on crop productivity and farm profitability. These pressures can interrupt growth, which in turn limits yields and reduces the overall efficiency of a crop program. While growers cannot prevent every stress event, they can take steps to help crops remain productive and get more value from the inputs already applied.

Bombigro® is a foliar-applied soil amendment powered by Locus' glycolipids and fermentation-derived metabolites that support plant metabolism, photosynthetic activity and energy production. Applied during key vegetative or reproductive growth stages, it can be used as a standalone foliar treatment or tank-mixed with compatible crop protection, biological and nutritional products. Following four years of field development and commercial use, Bombigro is being incorporated into crop management programs for corn, soybeans, wheat, potatoes, cotton and specialty crops. It helps plants maintain performance under environmental and application-related stress, use available sunlight, water and nutrients more efficiently, and ultimately sustain yield development throughout the growing season.

"Every stress event has an economic consequence. Whether it's heat, moisture, herbicide applications or nutrient availability, stress reduces a crop's ability to reach its full potential," said Jason McGarrh, vice president of sales, Locus AG. "That's why growers are thinking beyond individual products and focusing on stress economics, how to protect yield while improving the return on every dollar they invest. Bombigro has become an important tool because it complements existing crop programs while helping crops perform through those inevitable stress events."

The economic value of managing crop stress ultimately shows up at harvest. In 55 field trials conducted by third-party contract research organizations across nine states over four years, Bombigro applied as a standalone foliar produced average yield increases of 5–7% across evaluated crops compared with untreated checks. Average yield advantages by crop included:

• Corn: roughly 10 bu/ac advantage over untreated
• Soybeans: roughly 3 bu/ac advantage
• Winter wheat: roughly 4 bu/ac advantage
• Spring wheat: roughly 7 bu/ac advantage
• Cotton: roughly 120 lb/ac advantage
• Potatoes: roughly 2,250 lb/ac advantage

When Bombigro was applied as part of an integrated program with Rhizolizer® Duo, a soil-applied biological designed to support root development and nutrient uptake, the average yield advantage increased to approximately 13 bushels per acre in corn and 7 bushels per acre in winter wheat compared with untreated checks.

"We first tried Bombigro in 2024 and 2025, and in one soybean field we left a 60-by-400-foot strip untreated," said Rodney Finke, owner of Finke Farms, which grows approximately 1,100 acres of soybeans. "By the next week, I could see more blooms on the plants where we had applied Bombigro. We have used it in winter wheat, corn and soybeans, and it mixes well with the other products we are already applying. We have also noticed that the soil looks healthier and seems less compacted in fields where we have used it. After the results we saw during the trials, we made Bombigro part of our regular program for 2026."

"Yield potential is rarely lost all at once. It is usually reduced gradually as heat, moisture, application stress and other challenges interrupt crop development," said Dave Dyson, lead agronomist at Locus AG. "When plants recover more quickly and continue growing, they have a better opportunity to use available nutrients, maintain productivity and carry more yield potential through harvest. Across crops and geographies, that is where we continue to see Bombigro provide meaningful value."

To learn more about Bombigro, visit locusfs.com/products/bombigro. For the complete Locus Agriculture portfolio, visit locusfs.com/markets/agriculture/overview.

Media Contact: Matt Prissel

Contact Info: [email protected]

About Locus FS
Locus Fermentation Solutions (Locus FS) is a USA-based biotechnology company developing innovative agricultural, industrial and specialty chemical solutions powered by proprietary microbial technologies and biosurfactants. Through Locus Agriculture, the company helps growers improve soil health, nutrient efficiency, crop resilience and yield potential with science-driven biological products designed to deliver measurable agronomic and economic value.

SOURCE Locus FS