Certis Biologicals products

Sep 2, 2021
Biological industry maturing after decades of change

The nature of the biologicals business has evolved greatly in the last few decades.

Just ask executives at Certis Biologicals, which recently rebranded itself after celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Certis USA was established in 2001 after Mitsui & Co. acquired Thermo Trilogy, but the company’s legacy goes further back to the 1990s, when W.R. Grace pioneered the use of neem technology to create Trilogy, an early EPA registration for neem oil-based biopesticides.

A fermentation plant in California’s southern San Joaquin Valley, built at the site of a one-time dairy, is where it all started. Today it owns another plant in Butte, Montana, and co-owns and operates a facility in India for extracting neem oil from raw plant material.

Amy O'Shea
Amy O’Shea

“Our business predates that 20th anniversary, and it starts with the formation of that state-of-the-art liquid fermentation facility that we have in Wasco, California, and that’s actually the cornerstone of our manufacturing presence in biologicals,” said Certis Biologicals President and Chief Executive
Officer Amy O’Shea. “That’s what sets us apart from some of the others.”

Over the life of the company, biologicals have enjoyed greater acceptance.

Although most of the company’s products are either listed by the Organic Material Review Instituted (OMRI) or otherwise OK’d for organic production, Mike Allan, Certis’ vice-president of North America, said that the biological products are no longer just for organic growers. Conventional growers are interested and growers who are transitioning acres to organic are using biologicals on both types of farm operations.

“The expectations and understanding of what biologicals can deliver today are more fully understood than it was years ago,” Allan said. He added that the products have evolved to be much more consistent in their efficacy and use, and in expectations that the growers realize.

“(Growers) are much more confident that (biologicals) can deliver the efficacy that’s needed in an integrated pest management program,” Allan said. “And they’re far easier to use – they give the farmers freedom of choice. It gives them the opportunity to choose with an OMRI-listed product that has a short REI, a short restricted entry interval, so the grower can manage their practices more accurately and equally. It will only get better.”

Biologicals are also a way for growers to guard against pathogens developing resistance to chemical controls, Allan said.

quality control at Certis
Product is checked by quality control at
the Certis Biologicals production facility in Wasco, California. Photo: Certis Biologicals

“Resistance is a real issue growers face every day,” he said. “The fewer and fewer conventional chemistries that become available to them leads to the adoption of biologicals. It breaks up the pattern of use in the field, which then reduces the potential for any resistance to chemistries, but also, when it comes to biologicals, their mode of action is far different than what is traditionally offered with conventional chemistries.”

O’Shea said that part of the value of biological products is helping growers to keep pesticide residues under EPA-set tolerances, which are sometimes reduced. It also helps them demonstrate concern for worker safety and respond to consumer preferences for fewer chemical inputs in agriculture.

“If you look to the future, I think you’ll see biologicals integrated more and more alongside chemical, synthetic alternatives,” O’Shea said.

Looking ahead, the company sees many expansion opportunities.

“What I see for a company like Certis is the opportunity to continue to expand within our current core category of biopesticides into some of the other adjacent segments like biostimulants and biofertilizers,” O’Shea said. “I also see that while we’re currently selling in 50 countries, our primary markets are the United States and Europe. I would see a further exploration of taking our current technologies and adding unique technologies and formulations that would allow us to get our products to growers more quickly.”

That expansion could even include products in the grain crops.

“Our approach previously has been to cater to the specialty crop market,” Allan said. “We work through California, the (Pacific Northwest), Florida, the East Coast. … We are realizing, as the industry is changing, the demand for biologicals in the row crop segment.”

— Stephen Kloosterman, associate editor




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