CEREXAGRI - 70+ YEARS AND STILL GROWING

In 1932, as the world watched the rise of Amelia Earhart, the Marx Brothers and FDR, a Pennsylvania chemical company released a granular form of the mineral cryolite as an insecticide.

The product did its job, and the company grew, through a successful formula of new products, formulations and acquisitions, eventually evolving into FFVA Trade Associate Member Cerexagri.

Today, Cerexagri is a global crop protection company that manufactures and markets a diverse line of crop protection and postharvest (Decco) agricultural chemicals.

One of the company's goals is to develop products that will meet the continuing needs of growers, while complying with future environmental and worker protection requirements.

"We're in a growth mode now, trying to get more products, improve our formulations, and in general, have more products available to specialty growers," said Director of Marketing for North America Beth Sears. "One of our strengths is that we focus on niche markets in both specialty and row crops."

In fact, 81 percent of the company's products are used in the fruit and vegetable industry. "The most important products for Florida producers would be Penncozeb®, Maneb, Cuprofix® Disperss®, and Topsin® M fungicides and Assail® insecticide," said Sears. Penncozeb (mancozeb) is a protectant fungicide used on tomatoes and cucurbits. Another similar fungicide, Maneb, works on those commodities as well as peppers and eggplant. Cuprofix Disperss is a superior formulation of copper used on citrus and vegetables for protection of bacterial diseases. Topsin M is a systematic fungicide that works well on strawberries, cucurbits, fruiting vegetables, and citrus. Assail, a neonicotinoid insecticide, is used for fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and leafy greens, and is also labeled for citrus.

Cerexagri will introduce a new formulation for Assail this fall. "It's called Assail 30SG, which indicates a soluble granule," said Sears. "This unique extruded formulation dissolves very quickly and completely in water."

Sears also names several other new formulations on the horizon. A four-pound flowable formulation in the Penncozeb line, and a dry flowable, more concentrated copper called Cuprofix Ultra 40, which will become popular with both citrus and vegetable growers. "And we're going to have a new formula for Topsin, which will be a 70WDG (water-dispersible granule)," said Sears.

RE-REGISTRATION A CHALLENGE

One of the most important issues of concern to Cerexagri is the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and its re-registration requirements. Agricultural chemicals must be re-registered with the federal government for specific uses in specific geographical areas.

"You have to give and take a little with the EPA as you go through the re-registration process, but for the most part we've done our best to really approach them with realistic goals for where we think the products fit and meet the needs of growers," said Sears. She names FFVA as one of the grower groups that have been helpful with these challenges. "FFVA has been instrumental in helping us to keep the current crops and to expand the uses of some of our key products," she said.

IT'S ALL IN THE FORMULATION

The ag chemical business must keep up with changes in environmental and worker safety requirements. As new formulations are developed, old ones become obsolete. Wettable powders (WPs) are finely ground formulations that suspend the active ingredient when mixed with water. Sears says the EPA is putting pressure on companies to get away from that type of product and move to the dry flowable (DF) or water dispersible (WDG) formulations.

"The DF and WDG formulations are definitely the preferred formulations of the future," she says. "It's primarily a worker safety issue." These types of formulations are similar to the wettable powders, but they have much less dust and dissolve quickly when mixed with water.

MORE THAN PRODUCT

Besides developing new products and new formulations, Cerexagri owes its success to its people. By concentrating its efforts on its target markets (primarily fruit and vegetable growers), the company can develop relationships with its customers and work on ways to solve their problems.

"We have a diverse team of field sales and technical people with many years of experience in the ag industry," said Sears.

The name Cerexagri combines that of the goddess of agriculture, Ceres-who brought the earth to life each spring-and agri from the Latin word meaning "field." Headquartered at King of Prussia, PA, Cerexagri is a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of Arkema Inc., and employs more than 600 people at manufacturing, sales and research sites around the world.

For more information call 1-800-438-6071 or visit their website at www.cerexagri.com.

Penncozeb, Cuprofix, and Disperss are registered trademarks of Cerexagri, Inc.
Topsin and Assail are registered trademarks of Nippon Soda Co., Ltd.