3Bar Product Development Lead, Becky Williams-Wagner, PhD, recently spoke at the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (SIMB) conference about 3BarBio’s accelerated testing model. It was a great conversation that sparked questions, feedback, and interest. Here’s a recap of what she shared!

For many years, the mention of microbes or bacteria elicited responses of “EWWW!”

More recently, we have broadened our understanding to realize that microbes can be beneficial to us, especially in food production, and, in fact, they can enhance sustainability in agriculture.

To dive deeper, we questioned Jane Fife, PhD and CTO for 3BarBio, about changing attitudes toward microbes, their innovative uses in agriculture, and recent developments in agriculture.

Supply chain management in Ag Biologics is critical. And 3BarBio wants to know strategies – inside and outside Ag – for maximizing shelf-life. What innovations can Agriculture borrow from Food & Beverage, Pharma, etc? What best practices are important for viability? To learn more, 3BarBio hosted a webinar with 4 expert supply chain and logistics management panelists.

We talked to Becky Williams-Wagner, PhD in microbiology, to better understand microbial responses to stress, and we asked her about the importance of healthy microbes for biological products.

Appropriate formulation is required for a high-quality product.  Microorganisms need tobe well protected to survive in high numbers in the formulation under variable andpotentially harsh conditions during storage.  During storage, high temperature istypically the most detrimental condition for the microorganisms.    Formulations are broadly divided into those using solid carriers or liquidformulations.  Choice of formulation depends on the microorganism, cost, shelf-life andapplication requirements among other factors.  But it is important to remember that noformulation is perfect, and each has its advantages and disadvantages.  Historically, peat, known as

Microbial inoculants are typically applied to row crops at planting either by seed treatment or in-furrow delivery.  Seed treatment is most widely used on a commercial scale because it is suited to management practices and requires less material than in-furrow delivery.  Foliar application to coincide with certain plant development stages is also increasing in practice.  Addition of the microbial inoculant to the seeds can occur either as an overtreatment or at the same time as pesticide seed treatment.  Pre-inoculation of seeds weeks (or months) in