In South America, consumption of micronutrients has soared, undeterred by soaring fertilizer prices, says Vatren Jurin, Plant Nutrition Consultant with biologicals research firm DunhamTrimmer. Adoption is higher than in the U.S, due to a combination of deficient soils and the ability to do multiple applications in season.
Activity in mergers and acquisitions and ventures and partnerships involving micronutrient companies has been highly active the last few years, Jurin adds, pointing out his former longtime employer, Compass Minerals’ 2021 sale of its South American plant nutrition business for approximately $430 million to ICL Brasil Ltda., a subsidiary of ICL Group.
“Who knows if it’s over? Everyone wants to get a piece of micronutrients in Brazil,” Jurin said.
While the country relies heavily on imported inputs to support its massive agricultural sector, importing 85% of its total fertilizer needs, micronutrients such as manganese, zinc, molybdenum, and copper are more commonly mined domestically, or sourced from industrial recycling production or neighboring countries including Peru and Colombia, Jurin says.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine that disrupted the fertilizer trade in Brazil, applies more heavily to nitrogen, potassium, and potash.
Leading micronutrient companies have experienced record sales in Brazil for the last couple of years, although price pressure also stems from micronutrients competing with iron and steel production and other industrial factors, Jurin explains.
“Adoption keeps growing. The more they push yields, the more (the ag industry) is understanding the role of micronutrients. Like everywhere, there are improved formulations and new technologies with formulation, precision ag continues to quantify their use and value, and a lot of companies are putting their micronutrients in combination with biostimulants,” Jurin says. “They are synergistic. (Companies) continue to understand that relationship and continue to find different methods of delivering micronutrients,” such as seed treatments and foliar applications.”
In plants, the combination of the right nutrient for biostimulants and their stress will increase the amount of energy focused on production and reproduction. Among the key benefits of the synergy between biostimulants and micronutrients are increased consistency of biostimulant performance and tailoring for specific abiotic stresses.
“It comes down to more of consistency of claim from the biostimulant. We still don’t know if the nutrient is helping the biostimulant or the biostimulant is helping the nutrient. That debate is still out there,” Jurin says.
Biostimulant-Micronutrient Synergy
New research, conducted in collaboration with the Nottingham Trent University and sponsored by the UK Government — Innovate funding, Olmix Plant Care, through its subsidiary MPH in the United Kingdom, shed light on biostimulant-micronutrient synergy.
The study looked at the effect of a hybrid biostimulant with nutrients on drought and heat tolerance in a range of crops. Results found that the product changed the plants’ response to stress, increasing drought tolerance by 25% to 35% and boosting yields by up to 30%.
“Biostimulants have the potential to affect a plant’s response to this stress, stimulating its own natural processes, while micronutrients enrich its growing environment,” said Chungui Lu, Professor of Sustainable Agriculture at the university.
“This new formulation comprises a number of key nutritional materials, including micronutrients, in a novel combination with several biostimulant components, which suppress abiotic stress and stimulate further growth.”
The trial is the latest to be carried out on this new technology, after it produced “remarkable effects” under initial testing on protected salad and field crops in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe.
Nutrient Education
One factor that could limit micronutrient growth, still, is the lack of understanding.
“With all the soil activity and soil health focus in the ag industry, there is also a lack of knowledge on the role of micronutrients and its effect on the overall soil microbiome,” Dr. Marco Toapanta, Founder and Managing Director of AgriNova Consulting, tells AgriBusiness Global. “Micronutrients have been used in different agriculture production systems for decades. However, the relationship of micronutrients and other beneficial organisms in the soil and rhizosphere is still unexplored. To increase this understanding, Toapanta proposes more education on plant nutrition and performance of products to help optimize yield and income potential.
“From a general perspective, industry stakeholders need to better understand the effects of micronutrients and biological products at the soil microbiome and on plant nutrition, plant diseases and insect pests.”
As research and development provide a greater understanding of the short- and long-term effects of micronutrients on plant and soil health, that information needs to be delivered to the end users.
“Nutrient education is affecting the decision-making process,” says Fernando Munoz, General Manager, Scott G. Williams LLC.
“It used to be that decisions were made by dividing the price per ton by the units of zinc, etc., in order to make decisions based on dollar per unit of zinc. Slowly but surely, a more sophisticated decision maker is also factoring in the product characteristics such as matrix (oxide vs. chelate), application (pellets for bulk blending vs. coating powders), etc. A more informed decision is usually a better decision.”
Education about application and results is also necessary to prevent micronutrient products from getting a bad reputation with growers.
Alexander Duffy, National Product Manager, Timac USA says, “Proper placement in the field,” can be a challenge for growers. “These solutions can have mixed results based on many factors, soil/tissue and even sap testing can help identify if these are needed and where placement will give the growers the best ROI. This will likely be a farm-to-farm decision. Improper placement can give the products a reputation for not performing consistently or producing ROIs.”
Increasing Micronutrient Awareness
As case studies showcase the results micronutrients have on yield, environment, and sustainability, more growers will adopt as a part of their program.
“During the 2021 season and over the past several years, we have seen micronutrient use and awareness continue to increase across all market segments,” Jake Socherman, VP, Strategic Engagement with Verdesian Life Sciences says. “The growing producer awareness around the need for micronutrients as part of a complete nutritional program continues to fuel the growth that we have seen in micronutrient adoption and use over the last several years.”
Andy Braunshausen, Vice President of Crop Protection Marketing with WinField United, says, “2021 was an incredible year of growth for our micronutrient portfolio. As farmers continue to explore ways to efficiently drive yields, we continue to see excitement around the category.”
(Editor’s note: Dan Jacobs, Senior Editor, contributed to this report.)