New survey reveals weather variability tops list of UK farmers’ challenges

In partnership with Grounded Research, we’ve published findings from a new survey showing that while awareness of biostimulants among UK wheat growers is high, confidence in their performance remains low. We believe that stronger regulation is essential to build farmer trust.

Our survey, conducted between April and June 2025, reached 211 UK wheat farmers through Grounded Research’s Five Bar Gate farmer panel and our own network. It explored everything from awareness and usage to purchase channels, price sensitivity, and observed benefits.

As Clare Otridge, Market Research Consultant at Grounded Research noted: “The appetite for innovation is there among farmers, they just lack the confidence in the solutions historically available.” This is one of the most important takeaways from our research.

Key insights include:

• Weather variability tops the list of farmers’ challenges. With the last few seasons bringing everything from prolonged dry spells to intense heatwaves, 95% of farmers mentioned weather as a major challenge and 50% expect to use more biostimulants in the next 5 years.
• Farmers feel that biostimulants available today offer modest benefits. Farmers who have tried biostimulants rated benefits very low on a scale of five: 2.09 for resilience against abiotic stress, 2.00 for yield gains and 1.88 for better nutrient-use efficiency.
• Scepticism towards claims made by companies is a major barrier for biostimulant adoption. Cost-effectiveness was rated 4.37 on a scale of five as a barrier for adoption, unproven performance was rated 4.19 and lack of trusted information 4.19.

For more information on our results, follow the link to our website blog: New research reveals weather variability tops UK farmers’ concerns | SugaROx

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