The C-Suite: After The Pivot

The past five years have been transformational for AMVAC, says Scott Hendrix. As the company’s Senior Vice President, U.S. and Canada Crop Sales and Application Technology, he heads up the production agriculture business for AMVAC and shares the future direction for the company. 

Question: How is AMVAC a different company than it was five years ago? 

Coming out of 2015, AMVAC made a significant change in direction and strategy. The company adopted three core competences: technology, innovation, and operational excellence to drive our future business. This change in corporate direction has enabled AMVAC to achieve our goal of becoming a technology solution provider. Acquisition has and will continue to be a growth pillar for the organization but we must deliver sustainable solutions for our customers today and tomorrow through innovation and technology development.   

Question: What do you want customers to know? 

AMVAC is committed to agriculture and our customers at every level of the supply chain. We engage our retail and distributor partners to discuss what solutions they are looking for to achieve their business goals with sustainable solutions that meet their customer needs. We believe local retail knowledge is invaluable to the producers they service, and our goal is to be an agronomic resource. AMVAC is a U.S. manufacturing company committed to continue to maintain products that have strong agronomic positions and develop new technologies that will meet customer needs in the future. 

Question: How do this year’s market introductions of Impact Core and Sinate herbicides fit into AMVAC’s strategy?

Both of these product introductions demonstrate a change in our corporate direction. They are Impact brand extensions that will provide critical weed control for our customers as they battle difficult-to-control weeds such as Palmer amaranth, waterhemp, and other difficult-to-control species. They are products we believe will add value in a marketplace where growers and retailers are looking for specific solutions that provides efficacy and flexibility for their selected corn hybrid needs.  

Question: How have you seen ag retail change?

It’s a dynamic market—with a lot of consolidation over the past five years that have changed the way we approach each market. We not only continue to evaluate our go-to-market strategies with each customer, but is imperative that our customer engagement leads to optimizing assets for both of us. As retail partners expand to achieve an elevated economy of scale across all of their assets, this puts more pressure on supply chain and logistics. Additionally we see retail customers continuing to adopt technologies to better serve their customer through digital platforms and precision agriculture. Their customer age demographic is changing and the desire to have more data points that enable production decisions is critical. 

Question: How do you see biologicals fitting into agriculture?

AMVAC today services biologicals globally with over $30 million in sales, and our recent acquisition of Agrinos demonstrates our commitment to this space. This acquisition complements our in-house assets that will enable us to better service biological customers in the future.

AMVAC has three fundamental metrics that must be achieved with our biological solutions: consistent performance, extended shelf life, and application flexibility. Our goal is to provide biological solutions that perform for our customers in a changing regulatory and customer environment. We believe that customer challenges such as soil health, plant nutrient optimization, and pest control can be achieved through the biological solutions we are delivering. 

Question: How does the SIMPAS introduction enhance the company’s focus on the planter pass?

We have developed technology that will change the at-plant experience for producers. SIMPAS enables growers to apply multiple SIMPAS-applied Solutions in treatments zones that have been identified by their precision ag retail agronomist. Customers can now apply multiple at-plant products only where they need them throughout the field to maximize production while reducing their environmental footprint. Our goal is to offer a broad range of SIMPAS-applied Solutions with partnering companies so that we can deliver solutions across multiple crops. SIMPAS and SIMPAS-applied Solutions will enable customers the opportunity to maximize their ROI by placing the right product, at the right rate, in the right place, at the right time.