A lesson I learned when covering the fertilizers markets as an analyst in 2008 was this: just because there is a global economic recession, don’t be fooled into thinking there is a news recession too.
Although the global pandemic has seen the retraction and rebounds of the world’s economies, M&A activity has continued, albeit less conspicuously, and in October some of that activity came to the fore.
Syngenta Group announced its crop protection business would acquire Valagro, one of the pioneers of the biostimulants industry based in Atessa, Italy.
“Valagro's well-established portfolio in biostimulants and specialty nutrients will complement both Syngenta Crop Protection's current range of biostimulants and biocontrols, as well as its future pipeline of biological solutions,” the statement read.
Later in the same month, American Vanguard Corporation announced its principal operating subsidiary, AMVAC Chemical Corporation, was set to acquire the Agrinos group of companies, whose biostimulant product portfolio includes amino acids, microbials and chitin extract.
In all likelihood, we will see more consolidation in the near term.
Another lesson from 2008 was that ag inputs suffered through the following two years – fertilizer prices only really started to rebound in 2010. It will be interesting to see how biological inputs fare during 2021 – will they be isolated from the price decline currently seen in commodity fertilizers?
A distraction from the market at this time of year is the Bernard Blum Award, presented at the ABIM conference in October. For the first time, the judging panel could not separate the two leading contenders from the shortlist, and so joint winners were announced. Biobest for its Eupeodes System - larvae of hoverfly Eupeodes corollae for aphid control. And E-nema with Dianem - an entomopathogenic nematode H. bacteriophora to control larvae of western corn rootworm.
For more on the award winners and the event itself, see the roundup feature from this year’s ABIM for a summary of the event, which ran in digital format.
Rick Melnick from DunhamTrimmer chaired a session on what might be called Bt versus Bc – although that sounds like something from Marvel’s Avengers.
As Rick succinctly explains, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been a biocontrol workhorse for 50 years and Bacillus cereus (Bc) is a known human pathogen and closely related to Bt. The good news that we learn from Rick is that steady progress is being made to develop new laboratory testing methods that will help us differentiate between Bt and Bc.
There were other pieces of news regarding enhanced efficiency fertilizers (EEFs) – again defying any news recession – in the form of a competition and in partnership between the EPA and USDA. New Ag International spoke to Lara Moody of The Fertilizer Institute, one of the supporting organizations, to find out more about this novel initiative. By the next issue, we may be able to provide an update on the competition.
Elsewhere in this final issue of 2020, our cover feature is on drones delivering nutrients, written by NAI contributing writer Treena Hein. A drone company presenting at ABIM confirmed to me that fertilizers are being applied using drones in Brazil. High value cash crop growers are the main end-users there at the moment.
The Plants for Plants project run by Van Iperen and LandLab update us on their trial results to date, showing that agronomic trials in Europe have not been completely obstructed during 2020.
Consolidation was mentioned above, and in reference to the consolidation curve for industry lifecycles, new start-ups play a role in championing new technology, often stimulating the research activities of what are known as the incumbents. I spoke with Jeff Ivan, CEO of new company Soilgenic Nutrients, whose technology utilizes food waste and creates a hybrid sustainable fertilizer with phosphate and sulphur. The company also has a technology that is a polymer applied in solution form to saline, sodic and compacted soils. When added at low quantities to the soil it helps to liberate the salts without added cations, Ivan explains.
Our editor Janet Kanters has an excellent summary of three presentations from NAI Africa: an update on the Toothpick Project, which is a means of applying biocontrol using – you guessed it – a toothpick. This low-cost approach using the fungi Fusarium oxysporum has been helping farmers in Africa for many years battle the Striga hermonthica weed in maize and sorghum fields.
And finally, our free, digital event – NAI Brazil – starts on 17 November. So, you still have time to register! And look out for New Ag International’s e-book: SCRSFs – the next generation of fertilizers and beyond, scheduled for launch in January 2021, which will draw on the latest trends from the NAI Brazil track in November, and updates from the EPA-USDA competition.
As always, enjoy the issue.
New Ag International NOV/DEC 2020