The ability of New Edge Microbials to meet the needs of Australian & New Zealand farmers with nitrogen-fixing, legume inoculants has seen them emerge as the clear industry leader.
New Edge Microbials Sales and Product Development Manager, Daniel Zinga, said the company has been built around market knowledge, client support, technical service and the ability to supply the products to their customers.
“We are a smaller company competing against some industry giants and we’ve been able to carve out a niche to be the major inoculant supplier in the country.
“Australia has a wide range of crops that benefit from inoculants including pasture & legume crops across some twenty million hectares of area.”
“Crops such as lucerne (alfalfa), medics and clovers are commonly used in in the pasture industry,” Zinga said. “Australia also has around two million hectares of pulse crops that include chickpeas, faba beans, field peas, lentils, lupins & vetch. Other legume crops such as peanuts, soybeans and mung beans are also grown.”
He said New Edge Microbials inoculants are utilised by Australian & New Zealand pasture seed companies.
“While inoculants are generally applied via the seed company in pasture markets, it is quite different from the broadacre crops where growers generally apply on-farm.”
“Inoculants play a major role in the success of legumes in Australia & New Zealand with many growers relying on our products to aid plant growth, yield and add nitrogen to the soil,” Zinga said. “The use of inoculants in the legume phase of the rotation can provide gross margin benefits for up to two years.”
He said a major part in the success of the business was the ability to provide crop-specific inoculants, in a proprietary form, that can be easily utilised by their customers.
“EasyRhiz™ is a water-soluble, legume inoculant that has been widely used by farmers. It is in a compact 30-gram vial so is easily transported and excellent to use.
“This unique formulation is highly soluble and ideal for water injection systems or traditional slurry inoculation methods. There is a lot of support for EasyRhiz™ in the farming community as it stays in suspension and flows through spray nozzles without blocking.”
Other products in the New Edge Microbials range include NoduleN™ which is a legume inoculant in peat that can be applied with water as a slurry.
“NoduleN™ legume inoculant is widely used by farmers throughout Australia & New Zealand as a cost-effective and reliable product to fix nitrogen to benefit current and future crops,” Zinga said.
The peat option is particularly useful as it contains moisture and nutrients to help the rhizobium bacteria thrive and improve its survival.
“All of our rhizobia cultures are sourced from the Australian Inoculant Research Group (AIRG) and are quality assured,” Zinga said.
“We are confident of an 18-month shelf life with our premium products, ensuring growers get the maximum benefit from the inoculants.
“The business is based in Albury, in southern New South Wales and was established 20 years ago by the founder Sandy Montague, which has seen continual expansion from those early days,” Zinga said.
“Our current fermentation capacity is approximately 46,000 litres of liquid culture at any one time, with fermenters ranging in size from 200 litres through to 10,000 litres.
“The capacity means we can be very reactive to broadacre choices made in the Australian marketplace.”
He said in 2017 there was unprecedented demand for chickpeas throughout Australia as a result of good seasonal conditions and high commodity prices.
“The production facility in Albury was running all day, every day in the pre-season in order to provide inoculant for seed and ensure Australian farmers made the most of the opportunity that was presented.
“We have a great capacity to meet the demand of the Australian industry and beyond this market”
Zinga said while inoculants are a major focus, the company is also looking at a range of beneficial microbial strains to improve plant and nutrient uptake from the company’s collection.
“These isolates are being assessed by targeted crops including formulation performance, ideal application method, be it biological seed treatment, soil or foliar application to reduce the reliance on traditional chemical and fertilizer applications, these new solutions will provide an option in the growing area of regenerative systems.”
Zinga said the success of the business is based around quality products, knowledgeable staff, technical service and a great capacity to meet the demands of the Australian & New Zealand market.
“The New Edge Microbials team are passionate about our products and our role in helping farmers, but we also have a strategic plan to take our skillset and unique formulation to the global market.”
