Nitrogen fertiliser manufacturer Yara Australia has given its agronomy team a 2023 overhaul and relaunched its customer-facing sales strategy as three semi-autonomous commercial zones. 
 
Yara country manager Tim Erbacher says the restructure will further improve the company’s service delivery to channel partners and growers. 
 
“This new system will enable the three managers to make decisions to directly meet the needs of their channel partners and customers without unnecessary layers of bureaucracy,” he says.  
 
“Each manager will have responsibility for all sales operations in that region, including profit and loss, as well as the potential opportunity to recruit and lead their own team of territory managers.” 
 
The new structure will be: 
 
Western Region, led by Regional Sales Manager, Jason Brady, encompasses Western Australia and the Northern Territory. 
 
Southern Region, led by Commercial Manager, Paul Eitzen, encompasses South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and southern NSW. 
 
Northern Region, currently vacant, encompasses Queensland and northern NSW.  
 
Mr Erbacher says Yara’s goal is “to create strong and profitable relationships” that deliver genuine value to all parties, rather than attempting to be all things to everyone. 
 
He says the restructure follows a number of other significant changes to its Australian business during the past 12 months, including the divestment of its liquid fertilisers business, restructuring its administration and logistics teams and the relocation of its head office from Sydney to Brisbane.  
 
All part of Yara’s strategy, he explains, to play a leading role in helping primary producers to produce quality crops while reducing their carbon footprint. 
 
“Our corporate ambition is to be a leader in creating a nature-positive food future,” Mr Erbacher says. 
 
“Put simply, we want to feed the world and protect the planet by delivering premium crop nutrition programs producing better agronomic, business and environmental outcomes,” he says. 
 
“There is little doubt supermarkets and processors are going to require suppliers to document their carbon footprint as part of their trading contracts. All Yara fertilisers have a guaranteed specification, known traceability and are produced using some of the world’s most energy-efficient processes. 
 
“In fact, we are the only fertiliser manufacturer which can provide an independently-verified carbon footprint for each of our products – backed  by innovative decision-making tools to help improve the efficiency of crop nutrition programs.” 
 
Giving them, Mr Erbacher says, an innovative opportunity to support brand integrity programs above and beyond delivering crop nutrition solutions. 
 
He adds the Australian business is, in turn, supported by Yara’s regional office in Singapore, which adds another layer of expertise in agronomy, digital innovation and corporate affairs. 
 
Right now Yara is focused on maximising the potential of its YaraRega and YaraVita ranges in the horticultural and broadacre markets, respectively.  
 
YaraRega is a range of water-soluble, NPK compound fertilisers ideal for fertigation and YaraVita GRAMITREL and BRASSITREL PRO are ‘all in one’ formulations to deliver a balanced blend of micronutrients for optimal growth and yield potential in cereal and canola/pulse crops. 
 
“YaraRega formulations have a special coating that protects the granules during handling, storage and spreading – yet dissolves readily in water,” Mr Erbacher explains. 
 
“Granules dissolve to leave less than 1 per cent insoluble material, which means just about any system delivering water to crops – sprinklers, pivot irrigators, lateral irrigators, drippers or even furrow irrigation – can become a practical and cost-effective method of delivering essential nutrients,” he says. 
 
“In many cases, producers will be able to create a complete and convenient crop nutrition program using just one or two products from the YaraRega range in combination with YaraTera CALCINIT.” 
 
Mr Erbacher says with GRAMITREL/BRASSITREL PRO there is overwhelming evidence showing most broadacre crops are deficient in at least one essential micronutrient. 
 
Deficiencies he says which can reduce growth and yield, even if there are no visual signs. 
 
“That’s why we call sub-clinical deficiency the ‘hidden hunger’ – traditionally, these deficiencies are only addressed once visual symptoms are observed,” Mr Erbacher added. 
 
“You then conduct a tissue analysis to determine the cause and then apply a specific formulation to address that deficiency,” he says. 
 
“And all this takes time – contributing to lost yield potential and missing the spraying window. 
 
“Commercial experience has shown a foliar application of essential micronutrients can produce a return on investment, regardless of yield potential, and as they are made using the highest-quality ingredients, YaraVita GRAMITREL and BRASSITREL PRO are compatible with a wide range of crop protection products for one-pass application.”