From the Floor with Agrality’s Juan Cruz Lizarralde
At ASTA’s Field Crop Seed Convention in Orlando, Seed World U.S. editor Aimee Nielson sat down with Juan Cruz Lizarralde, CEO of Agrality, to chat growth and seed industry opportunities.
Agrality is a seed service company that spans seed production from pre-commercial through commercial seed. Agrality currently operates primarily in North and South America but has a global vision and big plans to grow. Last September, Agrality acquired Nebraska Irrigated Seed (NIS), expanding its reach westward.
“NIS is a great fit for our production capacities,” says Lizarralde. “We have irrigated production acres up in Michigan and now we have all the production capacities in the west including production acres and facilities. If we look at seed production in the U.S., those two regions – Michigan and Nebraska – are some of the most important ones and secure as well in terms of everything being irrigated.”
As well, he says, adding NIS to their portfolio allows Agrality to better serve its customers via a bigger footprint in the Midwest.
As Lizarralde explains, the acquisition will serve customers through increased acreage, logistics and capacity, diversification of risk (given that the company has reach in both eastern and western growing regions), growth in the soybean market. Agrality’s global presence also means the company has access to contra season production.
