2021 Was Just a Warmup For 2022’s Crop Protection Market

Leaders across ag retail have said they started to plan for the 2022 even earlier than before based on the early indicators of supply chain challenges. 

Compared to last year, when some shortages in crop protection were realized in March right before planting, the ag retail sector has been watching and preparing for the 2022 product demand since this past summer, says Jeff Tarsi at Nutrien Ag Solutions.

And Randy Canady, CEO at Atticus, agrees saying that 2021’s challenges were just a warmup for the market dynamics in 2022. 

“This isn’t the year to be overly greedy—or over-competitive,” he says. “Last year there were moments we thought we’d pass out, but the only way we can make it through where we are is that we’ve had a defined cultural framework to be ready the best we can be.”

Atticus focuses on branded-generic pesticides and has built a muliti-source network of material providers. Even with its focus on diversify its suppliers, the company is seeing challenges in the supply chain. 

Canady says Atticus’ approach has been to ensure current customers are proactively communicated with regarding pesticide product supplies. 

“We’ve controlled our growth to be responsible and to make sure we don’t outrun our value proposition,” he says. “We didn’t onboard new customers at the expense of volume allocated to existing customers.”

He explains the strategy of Atticus in this challenging market is built into its structure. 

“Our customer service is built into the process—they aren’t the police. If we have a new customer approach us now, we have to wonder if they can’t get a product from somewhere else. And so in our process we’ve made sure to slow down, and make sure no one is making a run on our inventory. If one customer took a run on our inventory, we’d deny current customers and secondly, we could fall victim to our products falling through to the broker market.” 

He credits Atticus’ “Battle Ready” and “Intensity” as key touchstones for the team. And Canady does not see the market’s tightness at lessening for the next two years. 

“Because of what’s happening in China with the allocation of energy, I don’t see availability changing going into 2023. There’s just too much risk in the starting and stopping of production facilities. We’ve had these problems since 2017, and it’s not just Ais, it’s also the intermediates.” 

One obstacle he references in having a line of sight into product availability has been cultural differences in sourcing materials from India and China and encouraging those business conversations to deliver bad news early. 

“There’s never been a better time to open up and solve the problem together,” he says. 

Canady also offers perspective on what could unfold in 2022 when “opportunistic supplies” do present themselves in the market. 

“Let’s avoid overreacting as an industry. Let’s not let distrust divide us an industry. And let’s focus on partnerships over pricing,” he says. 

For ag retailers, Canady encourages them to embrace the opportunity these challenges are presenting. 

“There’s never a better time to demonstrate your agronomic value in 2022--seek alternative chemistries, and alternative inputs. And now is an opportunity to demonstrate their value beyond anyone else. The independent retailers and cooperatives with the local agronomic knowledge, they have the opportunity to remind growers their value about buying local. This is the year to capture it,” he says.