How The Mosaic Co. Evolved: From Crop Nutrition Powerhouse to Biologicals Innovator
November 28, 2025 
Editor’s Note: As we mark the first 25 years of the 21st century, CropLife reflects on the innovations, challenges, and transformations that have shaped ag retail — honoring our past while looking ahead to agriculture’s promising future. In this article, we spotlight The Mosaic Co. and its journey from traditional crop nutrition to a growing focus on biologicals and next-generation plant health solutions.
As one of the largest crop nutrition companies in the world, The Mosaic Co. has seen its history mirror that of the whole of the 21st century. And in truth, this should come as no surprise – especially since the company was formed only a few years after the millennium got started.
At the start of the new century, Mosaic was still two separate companies. One was IMC Global; a fertilizer company first formed in 1909 with primary interests in two macronutrients – phosphate and potash. IMC Global was also involved in the ag retail business during the late 20th century, through its IMC Agribusiness Division. However, the company sold this distribution arm in 1999 (along with nitrogen facilities) to Royster-Clark (then a major ag retailer now owned by Nutrien).
The other company that made up Mosaic at this time was Cargill – specifically, the company’s crop nutrition division. As one of the largest privately-held companies in the world, Cargill also deals in other sectors of agriculture, including grain handling and food processing.
The two companies entered into an agreement to merge in January 2004 and completed the deal by October of that year. With this, Mosaic was established as a producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash with a customer base which included wholesalers, retailers, and individual growers worldwide with its headquarters in Tampa, FL.
Exit Cargill
Seven years later in 2011, Mosaic and Cargill agreed to spin off Cargill’s stake in the company. This transaction enabled Cargill to accomplish several important objectives, including maintaining its status as a private company while meeting the diversification and distribution needs of the charitable trusts and foundation formed through the estate planning of Margaret A. Cargill, one of Cargill’s largest shareholders, who died in 2006.
Over the next few years, Mosaic continued to grow its market footprint through a series of acquisitions. This included buying the fertilizer distribution business of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) in Brazil and Paraguay in 2014 and completing the acquisition of Vale Fertilizantes in 2018.
More recently, Mosaic has begun expanding its product business into biologicals. “We want to be in the biologicals game with you,” said Matt Sowder, Director of Field Solutions at Mosaic Biosciences, to attendees at a 2024 summer field day. “There are new places to go – and we want to take you there.”
According to Chad Becker, then Biologicals Agronomist, part of the problem for biologicals up until now has been its messaging to potential users. “We’ve got a lot of things going on in the biologicals world right now,” said Becker. “But the messaging has been a concern. That’s probably the reason we’ve got some black eyes over the years in this space. It’s been inconsistent, with many representatives just trying to make a sale.”
As a rule of thumb, Becker suggested to growers and ag retailers make their biologicals selections as they would seed. “The major decision these folks make in the early part of the year is genetics, looking at such things as soil types and population needs,” he said. “Biologicals are just like seed. Both are living organisms. So, when you are choosing a biological, you should ask the same questions as you would with your seed selection.”
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