RLF AgTech's fertiliser growth remedy for farmers feeling price pain

With more than 1000 commercial-scale and research trials under its belt locally, and in Asia and the Americas, the West Australian crop technology outfit is convinced this year's soaring global fertiliser costs are just the opportunity it needs to get traction for its "less is more" story.

RLF points out commercial croppers have achieved typical yield gains of about 14 per cent by scaling back conventional applications of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium products and substituting its own seed dressing and foliar products in their cropping programs.

A spin-off from the original RLF manufacturing and research outfit founded by farmers and scientists in Perth, RLF AgTech began seeking offshore opportunities 10 years ago.

It now has a factory in China, distributors in Canada, New Zealand, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Turkey, and export revenue of $10 million a year.

"We don't suggest growers stop using conventional fertilisers, we just encourage them to allocate 80pc of their budget to their NPK products and the other 20pc for RLF seed primer and foliar sprays," said chief executive officer, Ken Hancock.

The company's advanced proton delivery technology, refined over two decades of research, acts to help conversion of carbon dioxide and sunlight and stimulate root growth to achieve better soil nutrition interception and conversion rates.

The technology binds critical nutrients to a hydrogen proton source which works within plants to increase photosynthesis, boosting growth and promotes healthier soil bed microbial activity.

Subsequent yields gains of 10pc to 30pc have been recorded in rice, wheat and cotton, lupins, canola, and horticultural lines such as brassicas and tomatoes.

In 2004 one notable wheat trial in North West NSW achieved a 35.6pc higher yield than a neighbouring control crop.

RELATED READING

The upbeat results have been replicated in different climatic conditions and geographies overseas, with trials ongoing ahead of commercial releases planned in the US, Brazil and West Africa.

"We're finding growers are getting a four to five times multiple return on their investment," Mr Hancock said.

RLF AgTech research also showed its products enabled plants to sequester carbon into the soil and reversed environmental degradation often associated with too much fertiliser use.

The focus on promoting absorption of micronutrients also produced better quality and more nutritious food crops.

"There are major limitations to how much macronutrients like granular nitrogen can be absorbed by plants - often only 30pc to 60pc for N and as little as 10pc or 20pc for phosphate products," he said.

"Our customer experience and trials show you can cut your fertiliser wastage risk, improve yields and build the soil's carbon and moisture holding capacity while reducing reliance on conventional fertilisers."

Best grain crop results tended to involve seed treatments, followed by one or two later foliar liquid applications.

In grazing situations producers applied RLF about four times a year, achieving measurable liveweight or milk production gains.

Mr Hancock said the wider fertiliser market's cost pressures in the past two years had only emphasised the need to be more efficient and smarter about using micronutrients.

As war in Ukraine halted much of Russia's substantial fertiliser exports and rising energy prices added to production costs worldwide, farmers everywhere faced tougher fertiliser, fuel and freight costs.

Global NPK product values jumped 125pc during 2021, and then almost 20pc again between January and March to hit record highs after Russia's Ukraine invasion.

"We'll continue to have high fertiliser prices for some time, so it's essential the world re-thinks its fertilier use or else it just becomes too expensive, food production suffers and we've got an even bigger food security problem," he said.

To get its message out, RLF AgTech expanded its sales team by a third in recent months and is putting more resources into overseas offices.

The sales push has been aided by an $8.5m capital injection following the export company's late April debut listing and public share offer on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Half that capital will target sales and distribution to farmers and seed companies offshore, but RLF AgTech also has its sights on the local carbon market.

It has launched a subsidiary, RLF Carbon, to promote management strategies to build soil carbon and provide farmer advice.

"Work we've done with some customers has increased their soil carbon content from 1pc to 2pc in just five years, depending on seasonal conditions and locality," Mr Hancock said.

He said Australia's 23m hectares of grain crops alone could potentially generate hundreds of billions of dollars in carbon credits as well helping agriculture achieve its net zero emissions goal.

"Farmers generally realise they must make changes to their land use practices, but not necessarily how that can be achieved practically or what compliance might be involved."

"We haven't finalised our approach yet, but we want to help growers develop solutions for carbon sequestration to improve their soils and allow them to benefit from the carbon market."

RLF Carbon recently signed a non-binding deal with Australia's largest carbon credits trader, Commonwealth Bank, to explore a feasibility study on carbon opportunities and market incentives.

Start the day with all the big news in agriculture! Sign up below to receive our daily Farmonline newsletter.