When preparing this e-book, I recalled the words of my predecessor, the inimitable Jean-Pierre Leymonie in his opening remarks to the 2010 New AG International / IFA conference on SCRSFs. Referring to the reasons behind the conference he said: “The first one, the main one indeed, is that this conference addresses a topic of increasing importance in many countries around the world. The concern in the farming community about not wasting expensive nutrients and the overall concern in the general public about preserving the environment are almost naturally leading to an increased interest for enhanced efficiency fertilizers and a growing market for these products.” A decade on, this is just as relevant today. The reasons have not gone away. If anything, they are more acute. But what has changed? Sustainability has risen higher up the priority list in many countries and this has increased the pressure to find solutions to support growers with higher efficiency crop nutrients. One industry trend over the last decade is that conventional fertilizer companies have increasingly moved into the space for SCRSFs. And to bring this right up to date, the EPA-USDA teamed up in August 2020 to launch a competition to tease out and accelerate the latest developments in enhanced efficiency fertilizers. We begin this e-book with an exclusive interview with Taylor Pursell, whose family name is synonymous with controlled release fertilizers. Taylor and I covered much ground in our extended Zoom call. Among the many topics discussed, Taylor touched on how adoption for controlled release fertilizers can be extended: “We need to find ways to get the more efficient controlled release technologies used in specialty markets applicable in broad acre agriculture. The key will be reducing the costs to levels that have financial paybacks to farmers for adoption.” Taylor also welcomed the EPA-USDA initiative: “I’m optimistic our industry is going to figure improved nutrient efficiency out. A lot of people are trying to get their arms around it.” One of the supporting organisations to the competition is The Fertilizer Institute. New AG International spoke to Lara Moody of The Fertilizer Institute to find out more about this novel initiative. Much gratitude is also extended to our sponsors of this e-book. These companies highlight the different technologies employed in the SCRSF sector. We hear from each of them BASF, ICL, Milliken, and Saviolife. You will also find an overview of our SCRSF track at the New AG International Brazil conference in November 2020. And we’ve added a feature that acts as a primer, or introduction, to SCRSFs to help you get your head around all the acronyms! From the team here at New AG International, we hope you enjoy this e-book. We will be following up on many of the themes presented here at our SCRSF Digital Week in 15-18 March. Sign-up is free. Check the New AG International website for further details.
Luke Hutson
Editor-in-Chief New AG International