3Bar Biologics, a global leader in customized delivery technologies for living agricultural microbe products, offers a brand-new method to ensure microbe viability for growers around the world.

For years, growers and manufacturers have struggled with commercial microbes losing viability before application, leading to millions of dollars in lost product. However, with the proprietary LiveMicrobe technology from 3Bar Biologics, growers can increase microbe shelf life by up to two years, saving them money and delivering the freshest, most active microbes available on the market.

“Traditionally, fermented products have been focused on the bio-chemicals that were produced during fermentation as opposed to the living microbes themselves,” said 3Bar CEO and Founder Bruce Caldwell. “More and more, with a lot of the new discoveries around the microbiomes of plants and soils, we’re learning that we need to deliver living, viable populations of these microbes not just in a fermentation tank in a factory, but also in the field.”

That demand spurred a complete rethinking of how microbes are produced and distributed. LiveMicrobe technology uses a patented mechanism that activates Just-In-Time fermentation, allowing the microbes to grow on the grower’s schedule and delivering viable, fresh, pure microbes within days of application. This fermentation process guarantees:

• Up to two years shelf life
• Zero contaminants
• 5x lower application rate

With proprietary two-chamber packaging, LiveMicrobe allows growers to “re-awaken” dry microbes when growers are ready to apply a liquid product. By allowing growers to activate the microbes when they’re ready to be used, 3Bar Biologics and LiveMicrobe technology offer a microbial product with freshness and viability unmatched by any other product on the market.

“What we’ve often seen is if a microbial product did have living microbes in it, many times they were very degraded — most of them had died off and the ones that survived might have experienced genetic drift,” Caldwell said. “There might be contamination from microbes that were not even supposed to be in there in the first place. What we’re trying to do is deliver a pure population that is much more viable in the field so it can compete with the microbes that are already in the environment. The revitalization process used by LiveMicrobe is at the forefront of the industry, offering commercial producers the same microbe viability experience as researchers.”

“3Bar Biologics is the only company fermenting microbes at scale that can claim the ability to deliver a population that’s 100% viable with 0% contamination,” Caldwell said. “That all comes from our unique approach to fermenting in the package.”

While biologic solutions have faced challenges such as inconsistent performance and low economic returns, LiveMicrobe technology ensures a long-lasting product that drastically reduces application rates and minimizes product loss.

“LiveMicrobe allows the microbes to perform more consistently in a wider range of environments, Caldwell said. “It also enables, in some cases, a much lower application rate. That can really be a game-changer in terms of not only the performance but also the economics of the product. Our technology is specifically addressing both issues and delivering more consistent performance in the field. And because we can reduce application rate, it can be done at a significantly lower cost.”