What’s Driving ‘Exponential Growth’ of the Micronutrients Market?
October 3, 2022 “The micronutrient market is predicted to grow to a $9.1 billion industry by 2030 from $3.5 billion in 2020,” says Cassidy Million, Ph.D., Director of Ag Science, Heliae Agriculture. “With this trend, exponential growth of micronutrient sales each year is anticipated, and thus far in 2022 the volume of micronutrient applications has been steady or slightly increased. As growers continue to focus on increasing yield, more and more are incorporating micronutrients into their practices alongside typical NPK applications, which are driving increased use of micronutrients.”
As growers continue to focus on increasing yield, more and more are incorporating micronutrients into their practices alongside typical NPK applications. Photo Credit: AgroLiquid
Going into the 2022 growing season, Galynn Beer, AgroLiquid’s National Strategy & Product Management Lead, was optimistic, but cautiously so.
“Caution was triggered by shortages of primary nutrients that caused the cost of those nutrients to escalate beyond market value, especially in nitrogen,” Beer says. “I knew there had been steady, increased demand for micronutrients, but anticipated that cuts to other nutrients would be made due to the cost of primary nutrients. However, micronutrients seemed to avoid the grower’s scalpel and purchases remained strong. We experienced modest growth in micronutrient purchases.”
Overcoming Challenges
Every year brings challenges, many of them unexpected. This year has been no exception, though some might consider 2022’s trials particularly daunting. In the end though, despite the challenges micronutrient providers have been reporting generally positive results.
Jim Phillips, AZOMITE President and CEO (right), discusses logistics with Spencer McPherson. Photo credit: AZOMITE
“Unfortunately, the playbook went out the window in 2022,” says Jim Phillips, President and CEO at AZOMITE Mineral Products Inc. “If we hadn’t experienced it, I don’t think anyone would have predicted how this year has unfolded. On the bright side, the science and understanding of micronutrients and their critical role in agriculture continues to expand and support the segment’s growth.”
It seems that no matter what is going on around the world or around the corner, if a product offers a strong return on investment and can increase profits then it will find a home among growers. For micronutrients the drive for yield increase is one of the main reasons for the steady uptick in use.
“We continue to see a bigger emphasis placed on higher yields and utilizing hybrids that have high nutritional needs,” says Chuck Anderson, Vice President and General Manager Specialty Liquids, The Andersons. “Micronutrients play a bigger role in situations where higher yields are being expected and achieved.”
AgroLiquid’s Beer agrees: “Yield limits existed in growers’ heads, and now that very high yields are being achieved, farmers are striving to push the envelope on their own farms. It’s similar to when the four-minute mile barrier was broken, then it became common because athletes realized the little things that would help. That’s where we are with yield barriers in crops. Growers realize little things like micronutrients can make a significant difference.”
There were several other factors that influenced how the micronutrient segment fared this year.
“Commodity prices, planting windows, and growing conditions are consistent factors in the overall demand within the micronutrient segment; and like last year, we cannot leave out supply chain challenges,” Anderson explains. “Outside of these factors, we continue to see dealers and growers increasing the amount of micronutrients added to liquid starter blends as they are taking a more proactive approach to their fertility planning.”
The Big Picture
It’s not just fertility they are reviewing. Growers are taking a holistic approach to their crop input management.
“There seemed to be mass disruption from every direction within micronutrients this year,” says Ben Hilgers, Marketing Manager, WinField United. “From significant ingredient cost increases (from nutrients and inerts, sometimes two to four times prior year’s cost) to ingredient shortages and logistics challenges, meeting the increased market demand was a difficult task for any manufacturer.”
As adoption grows, so likely will interest from regulators, something exporters will need to pay attention to.
“Increasing global regulation of macronutrient application, such as nitrogen, is anticipated over the next decade and growers will be looking for new ways to optimize crop function and yield,” Heliae’s Million says. “Enhancing crop micronutrient status will play an important role in maintaining and increasing global yields to meet the demands of a growing population. Micronutrients are thought of as a value-added opportunity for both distributors and retailers alike. Most of the micros being used are in the form of mixes or prescribed due to suspected or known deficiencies in the area for the crop.”
While the outlook is mostly positive, lack of understanding continues to hamper wider adoption.
“Growers need to understand the critical role played by efficient nutrient distribution across the field to ensure that a micronutrient investment will be fully utilized,” says Edwin Suarez, Senior Agronomist with Koch Agronomic Services. “The biggest challenge with micronutrient nutrition is field distribution and soil availability, thereby limiting plant uptake. We need to continually educate growers and the industry on how technologies can bridge the gap between placement and nutrient interception. By doing this, we approach micronutrient nutrition with a precision management mentality, optimizing every application and maximizing nutrient uptake potential.”
Even with the positive response and growing acceptance of micronutrients, there is still some trepidation among manufacturers.
“Cost and supply chain are huge limiting factors going into 2023,” says Tommy Roach, Vice President Product Development and Technical Services, Nachurs Alpine Solutions. “I fear there will be a limit as to what a grower is willing to spend regardless of how high corn or soybean prices are.”
Looking Ahead
Verdesian’s Jake Socherman, VP of Specialty Micronutrients, expresses his concern this way: “One of the largest challenges to growing the micronutrient market is the untreated acre. There are a significant number of grower and retailer operations that don’t currently have a micronutrient program. On occasion, these growers/retailers may spray a foliar application of a micronutrients during the growing season, but only if they notice a deficiency in the crop. We are trying to educate and train growers and retailers about the benefits to the crop and the incremental yield that can be acquired by adding micronutrients to their NPK nutritional program.”
And as popularity grows, so will the options.
“The retailer and farmer have more choices than ever before in tools to help manage micronutrient needs,” says Tom Fry, Director of Performance Products, The Mosaic Co. “However, with that proliferation of products comes some confusion around which products provide the best return on investment and which are solid on their claims of agronomic performance. This is particularly difficult to sort through on nutrients like boron and zinc, which are utilized at very low rates by the plant and yet have complex interactions within the soil chemistry and plant uptake.”
This is one place retailers can really help, Fry says.
“My recommendation is that retailers and farmers take some time to understand the credibility of competing claims and look at which products are backed by information and science to help identify the best products to test on their fields,” he says. “Look at actual use rates of the products and the amount of specific nutrient delivered per acre and ask the question, ‘does it pass a commonsense test of effectiveness agronomically?’”
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