New AG International speaks with DPH Biologicals™ CEO and President Mick Messman
Firstly, just to orientate ourselves, can you tell us a little about the history of DPH Biologicals? I understand the company is a combination of Growth Products and AgriEnergy Resources. Where is the business based? We have a proud history in the biologicals space. For more than three decades, our legacy companies have delivered value to targeted segments in row crops, specialty crops, turf and ornamentals. Three years ago, we brought together complementary technologies under Douglas Plant Health and have since refined these solutions to meet, even exceed, grower expectations. At the 5th Biostimulants World Congress, we announced our new name -- DPH Biologicals -- which reflects our history and commitment to expand our industry-leading SP-1 Classic™ biofertilizer as the basis for a broad-acre portfolio of products named TerraTrove™. In addition, we have brought together a new leadership team that enables DPH Biologicals to scale, ensuring more farmers in more crops can experience our trusted technology. Our primary manufacturing operations are in Princeton, Illinois with additional facilities in Florida and New Jersey. And although you might have already answered this - do you manufacture your own products? Or mainly supply products by other producers? Or a bit of both depending on the product type? We’ve developed our core technologies from the ground up and just recently announced plans to scale production of our TerraTrove portfolio, specifically SP-1 Classic, to meet increased market demand. SP-1 Classic has been refined across millions of acres through a disciplined product innovation approach which has led to a proprietary production process that enables DPH Biologicals to deliver the most complete biofertility solution at scale. We also provide third party technologies and are actively seeking strategic partners and technology providers who share our values to quickly expand our reach to deliver value to growers everywhere. So, currently, which markets do you serve? I notice you are also active in Turf and Ornamentals.
For many years, our technology has been used in the row crop, specialty crop, and turf and ornamental markets. Today, we continue to serve many repeat customers and are well positioned to expand our technology to new crops and geographies. The biological momentum in ag is here and the biological momentum is growing in turf and ornamentals.
I understand that you are looking to focus more on biological products and less on the fertilizer side of the business. Can you elaborate a little more? Is this behind the rebranding to DPH Biologicals? As consumer demands shift and supply chains tighten, biological products that can ensure consistent results are in high demand as an alternative and complement to synthetic fertilizers. Many growers are adopting biologicals year-over-year at an exponential rate. Consumers want products that are not harmful to the environment while growers are increasingly open to sustainable solutions that work. Our new technology platform, TerraTrove, will include a stable of biological solutions designed to improve soil fertility and maximize nutrient uptake across a wide range of crop, soil types and growing environments. Refined across millions of acres, our technology is the most complete biofertility solution available.
Responding both to customer and societal demands, we are narrowing our focus to ensure our technology can provide the strongest value to customers, and we believe that value lies in biologicals. Our belief is anchored in the consistent in-field performance of our products. With flexible application across soil types and geographies, these solutions return soils from a biology net negative to a net positive and in the larger scheme, help solve significant problems like climate change, food security and clean water.
When we spoke, you mentioned that a new management team had recently taken the helm. Can you expand a little more and share some brief bios of the team?
We have brought together a new leadership team that enables DPH Biologicals to scale in a way where more farmers in more crops can experience our technologies. Our leadership team represents years of experience at the forefront of biological plant nutrition, crop protection and precision agronomy. While serving in leadership roles at Bayer, BASF, Corteva and Syngenta, as well as at agtech startups and retailers, these leaders focused on advancing innovation and emerging technologies to deliver in-field results for growers.
I grew up on a farm in Nebraska and spent 25 years of my career at large multi-national agtech companies growing my love for the product innovation and business sides of agriculture production. I joined DPH Biologicals in April 2021 because I knew we had leading technologies that work, that help the environment and that should be shared more broadly. Joe Hanson joined us as Chief Commercial Officer in June 2021 and is responsible for the company’s sales and marketing strategy. Joe’s success advancing ground-breaking technologies, growing businesses and maintaining positive relationships across the industry further enables DPH Biologicals to realize sustainable growth and lead in the biologicals market. Joe brings more than two decades of agribusiness experience, working directly with dealers, distributors and growers.
Alex Cochran, Ph.D., also joined in June 2021 as our Chief Technology Officer and is responsible for advancing the company’s science and technology portfolio. He brings more than twenty years of agricultural research & development experience, holding multiple leadership roles at Syngenta and Corteva focused on crop protection, seed treatments and biologicals. Alex has an exceptional record of developing some of the most successful active ingredients and product concepts for foliar, seed, soil and turf applications.
Chris Feiden is our Chief Operating Officer. Before joining DPH Biologicals in 2016, he served as supply chain manager with BioZyme where he implemented a robust planning process to meet customer demand and anticipate market shifts and an automated bagging line to expedite the production processes. Prior to his time at BioZyme, Chris was the Biological Operations Manager for BASF. And moving to the portfolio and in particular biological products. You are introducing a new biologicals platform called TerraTrove™. Tell us more about the platform and the problems these solutions solve. Growers today are facing unprecedented challenges to profitable production: skyrocketing fertilizer costs for products that don’t perform consistently, increased pressure on crops from stress and disease, ever changing regulatory requirements; the list goes on. TerraTrove is designed to unlock the fertility that already exists in your soil. It is a platform of broad-acre biological solutions available for a wide range of crops, soil types and growing environments. The TerraTrove product portfolio is built upon SP-1™ Classic, one of the industry’s most trusted technologies that has delivered unmatched results to improve soil and plant health while increasing productivity and reducing grower’s dependency on expensive fertilizers. TerraTrove’s suite of biofertility solutions have been refined over decades and used on millions of acres to make it the most complete biofertility solution available. These easy-to-use products are suitable for row crop, specialty crop, turf and ornamental growers and are proven to work across soil types and environmental conditions.
You call TerraTrove™ SP-1 Classic™ the complete biofertilizer – how has the company established this product in the market and what plans does it have for a wider roll-out? SP-1 Classic is the most complete biofertility solution available and the foundation of our TerraTrove technology platform. This distinct formulation is a combination of microbes, plant extracts and algae that has consistently rejuvenated the rhizosphere and transformed soil structure, resulting in optimal fertilizer and micronutrient solubilization. It has been used to deliver consistent results year-over-year to repeat customers since the late ‘90s and has been used on over 1 million acres. When SP-1 Classic is applied in-furrow with starter fertilizer, growers have reliably replaced up to 50% of their synthetic starter fertilizer, without sacrificing performance, and in many cases improved crop yield and on-farm profitability. We are expanding the TerraTrove portfolio through an innovative development process rooted in science and managed by a seasoned leadership team with both expertise and passion for this space. The US is your biggest market, but what international markets is DPH Biologicals active in and with what products? Do you have plans to expand your export business? We have a long-standing history in select international markets, particularly with our Companion® biofungicide, biostimulants and microbial products. Our customers span Turkey, Australia, Japan, Europe and South America. We’ve also seen much success on the turf and ornamental side. For years, Companion has been used on turfgrasses in Premier League stadiums such as London Stadium and the Watford football club.
As consumer demands shift and supply chains tighten, biological products that can ensure consistent results are in high demand as an alternative and complement to synthetic fertilizers.
For years, Companion has been used on turfgrasses in Premier League stadiums such as London Stadium and the Watford football club.
TerraTrove is designed to unlock the fertility that already exists in your soil.
Why has Douglas Plant Health changed its name? President & CEO Mick Messman sat down with New AG International Editor-in-Chief Luke Hutson at the Biostimulants World Congress answers this question, and sets out the new path for the company.
Click here to see the interview.
