Syngenta Reinforces Its Focus on Biologicals

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 14:59:49 GMT

Since 2020, Syngenta has put a focus on expanding and improving biologicals. Building on the recent launch of its new biologicals production facility in South Carolina, the company is continuing to grow its biologicals division with the recent acquisition of certain Novartis technologies.

Among the materials acquired are:

Novartis’ repository of natural compounds and genetic strains for agricultural use (Novartis will retail for rights of the pharmaceutical use)
The Novartis natural products and biomolecular chemistry team
A lease on the Novartis fermentation pilot plant and science laboratories in Basel, Switzerland

“With the broadest and most comprehensive portfolio across all segments of biological products, we have established ourselves as a leader in the industry. In a constantly growing market, it is important to ensure a pipeline capable of supporting continuous evolutions. I am convinced that this acquisition will allow us to maintain our capacity to innovate,” says Jonathan Brown, global head of Syngenta’s seedcare and biologicals business.

This move comes after a research collaboration Syngenta and Novartis had in 2019. The acquisition is expected to close June 1.

Other companies Syngenta is currently collaborating on biologicals with include:

Provivi for new pheromone solutions, targeting devastating pests in key crops across Asia
Ginkgo Bioworks to accelerate the launch of innovative biologicals
Intrinsyx Bio in the fast growth area of nutrient use efficiency
Lavie Bio to discover and develop novel bio-insecticide
Lithos Crop Protect for sprayable pheromone targeting the Western Corn Rootworm pest
TraitSeq to leverage AI to accelerate the development of innovative biologicals.

“We invest significantly to offer the industry’s most advanced pipeline of innovative agricultural solutions. The integration of these world-class assets opens a new chapter on our ability to develop cutting-edge biological solutions for farmers and reflects our commitment to drive solutions that continue to elevate the sustainability of agriculture,” says Camilla Corsi, Syngenta’s global head of crop protection research and development.

Risk and Reward: How These Farms Found Success With Vertical Integration

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:29:47 GMT

Johnny Hunter II was just 10 years old when he lost his dad. At the time, Hunter’s family had 12,000 acres of rice and soybeans under cultivation near Dexter, Mo. And while his mom could have sold the family acreage, she chose to keep the farm for her two children, preserving an already existing family legacy of planning for future generations.

“My dad was an early adopter of precision - leveling and irrigation and no-till,” Hunter says. “That was an extremely smart business move.”

The third generation to run what’s now known as Castor River Habitat and Farm, Hunter points out his dad’s decision improved the value of the land as well as its production.

Eight years ago, Hunter made an equally important decision for the farm: vertically integrating.

“At one time I was farming 6,000 acres, and I was miserable,” he says.

Hunter says he saw two paths to stay in farming: Be a low-cost producer with tens of thousands of acres with economies of scale or learn how to create value by putting a product in the world so consumers can reward you for it.

Castor River Achieves Market Distinguishment
Hunter’s family made the decision to vertically integrate in 2017. The following year they constructed a rice mill, created a CPG brand and built out their own packaging line. Then, they launched a trucking company to cover first-mile distribution of their long-grain rice. They also partnered with warehouses in strategic areas of the country.

“From field to warehouse, it’s all Castor River,” Hunter says.

Now, rather than aspiring to farm tens of thousands of acres, Hunter’s family owns and operates a land company, farming company, trucking company and a parent corporation.

“Before [vertically integrating], we employed two full-time people,” he says. “Now we employ over a dozen, farming 2,500 acres of rice, soybeans and corn.”

Castor River’s target audience is anyone who wants sustainably grown, high-quality food, Hunter explains. Business channels include food service, partnering with restaurants, college campuses, institutions and catering companies. High-end grocery retail stores comprise the farm’s other channel. They also sell their long-grain rice products directly to consumers online.

“Having your own brand opens up the opportunity for new revenue channels,” Hunter says.

“Landowners and farmers are all highly concerned about what yearly revenues are going to be,” Hunter adds. “By vertically integrating and going direct, we have transformed ourselves from price-takers to price-makers.”

Reviving a State’s Tradition
Unlike the Hunters, South Carolina’s Coxe family did not begin their operation in rice production. When Campbell Coxe graduated college in 1981, he came home for the summer to help his grandfather farm the family’s 1,000 acres of mostly cotton.

“I was a geography major and was going to see the world,” Coxe says. “But I fell in love with this piece of property and never left.”

In 1986, Coxe took over the operation, but disillusionment set in quickly. Over the course of a decade, the farm averaged about $16,000 per year, and Coxe was borrowing close to $1 million just to plant cotton.

“At the time, the cost of cotton was incredibly high, and the return was so low I couldn’t get my hands around it,” he notes.

He searched for a crop he could take directly to customers — growing and processing on the farm.

Located in the Pee Dee River watershed, Coxe’s fifth-generation farm sits about two hours north of the Lowcountry. The state’s subtropical, humid climate makes growing conditions ideal for nearly any crop.

But Coxe was looking for gold — Carolina Gold rice, that is. Once the largest producer of rice throughout the Colonial period, South Carolina’s rice industry began its steep decline after the Civil War, owing to labor, pest and weather issues. By the early 1900s, rice all but disappeared.

“South Carolina’s rice culture was interesting, but rice wouldn’t come back commercially unless it’s profitable,” Coxe says.

In 1998, he decided to plant 10 acres of Carolina Gold, the original 1685 varietal grown in the area. Timing became key.

“The internet was picking up speed, and there was an interest in farm-to-dinner plate just as we were getting up and running,” he says.

As his business and his acreage expanded, Coxe constructed a rice mill on-site. “There hadn’t been a mill in South Carolina since the Civil War, but I didn’t want to keep sending my rice to Arkansas with diesel fuel prices at $5 a gallon.”

Striking Gold with Vertical Integration
Today, Carolina Plantation Rice includes 200 acres of rice, composed of four varieties. It produces cornmeal, grits, fish fry breading and rice flour. Unlike larger producers, Coxe doesn’t keep the highly aromatic rice stored for prolonged periods.

“When it’s fresh and new, it has a pungent taste and smell. We want the consumer to get as fresh from the farm as they can get.”

Direct-to-consumer online sales make up 40% of the farm’s orders, with the balance in wholesale orders from national supermarket chains, such as Whole Foods and Fresh Market, as well as large restaurant groups.

“We’re growing more and more every year because market shares increase,” Coxe says.

Though vertical integration has transformed his operation, Coxe notes that challenges still remain.

“Every bit of it is hard,” he says. “You’ve got to have a good market, and you have to have your marketing planned in your mind or on paper. Where are you going to take this stuff? What’s it going to cost? And who’s going to implement it?”