As of October 1, Ken Barham became the North America general manager for Nufarm. In the past 10 years, the business grew from $300 million to $1 billion in sales. Barham has been with Nufarm for seven years, most recently vice president of sales for Nufarm’s crop protection business in the U.S.
What are the biggest milestones in Nufarm North America’s history?
We have seen ups and downs in the market, and we’ve been resilient in the swings. Our ability to weather the cyclical nature of a business like ours while providing value to customers, distributors and retailers have made our biggest milestones.
What is the No. 1 differentiator for Nufarm in the market?
It’s our people. We have great people.
And I’ll follow that with our manufacturing footprint in North America, which separates us from our competition with agility and capability. We can be a first gallon and last gallon supplier for our retailers while many cannot.
Why has Nufarm made its investments in U.S. production of crop protection products?
We’ve completed the capital investments we needed to modernize our plant environment for performance, output and employee satisfaction. Our capacity doubled, but our intent is not to produce twice as much, but rather make just as much in half the time. This is about servicing the retailers when they have the demand. People are more hesitant today to take product in before they need it. We now react to the demand quicker and more efficiently. The result is we put retailers in a competitive position to service the grower.
Tell us more about Nufarm’s customer centric model.
One of our mantras is to be an ag innovator. First, that is with product, which is a pillar of our innovation. We will bring incremental value to the products we develop and bring to our growers as we work to solve the growers’ needs and allow the retailer to capture value. Especially as we are facing a patent cliff with crop protection products, our pipeline will provide ways to bring value. We have Duplosan herbicide technology coming, which is a fantastic resistance management tool. We’ve made investments in discovery partners like in Enko and MOA to create new opportunities. And we have growth coming from Nuseed.
Second, we will bring innovation with our supply chain in how we offer our foundational products: glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba. Our manufacturing improvements have been online fully since August 30, and we’re excited about what will be possible.
Third, we will be better digitally connected with retailers and distributors. This is going to help us reduce risk. One way we’ll do this is portals to allow our channel partners their own access to the Nufarm system so they can view order status, invoices, purchase order details, and logistics.
What do you want every ag retailer to know about Nufarm?
Nufarm is a reliable supplier day in and day out with consistent products that bring value to the retailer and the grower the retailer serves.
Describe your leadership style.
We have a foundation of leadership at Nufarm of being authentic in nature. I want to continue that because it’s so important in being a trusted and reliable supplier you need authentic and reliable leadership. Our goal is that you get the truth from us and being authentic through that entire chain.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in business?
It is making sure our people are supported and have what they need to effectively execute on the task. If our team is taken care of, our customer will be taken care of. They are better at representing our brand because they have what they need.
What’s the biggest challenge heading into the year ahead?
No.1, it’s the economics at the farm gate.
Challenge No. 2, is just in time inventory through the chain. In 2024, many in the industry think we operated in just in time environment. But, we were not. We had way more inventory coming into 2024 than we wanted. And for 2025, this year will be the first just in time market through the value chain. This puts an emphasis on communication between retailers and us. And we need to understand what they expect on the demand front. For Nufarm, we are focused on fall and spring burndown products and making sure we have the right amount of inventory.
How will the latest on the 2,4-D countervailing duties effect the market?
It will have an impact. I wouldn’t envision it having a supply impact. Globally inerts are there. It will have a financial impact, if it becomes what our outside counsel says it will be. Supply should be okay, but costs will be up.
