Agri-supply companies step up to meet coronavirus challenge

Agrii already has a large amount of plant protection products in its main store in Alconbury, Cambridgeshire and delivers to each of its depots every night.

Head of crop protection, Chris Glover says: “Product volumes are planned months in advance, though we have been amending our forecasts continually as we gather more information from our 250 agronomists on what acreage of each crop we are expecting in the ground, given the poor autumn. A lot of our products are already in the UK.

“Because of our large capacity at Alconbury, we are priming the pump by bringing product stored by external companies into Agrii – getting it into our possession to mitigate against any issues they might have such as staff shortages.

“Our large storage capacity gives us confidence, as far as we can be, that we have stock ready to go.”

With some crop protection manufacturers Mr Glover says Agrii is starting to see delays in one or two products coming from the continent. “If manufacturers are reliant on supply chains in Europe, and many are, the industry is at the mercy of what happens with those but so far, so good.

“Even if there is a delay with one of our suppliers, because of our breadth of supply there are alternatives we can offer and we can generally find a way to supply the right product, technically.”

Upturn

Mr Glover says there has been an upturn in demand for products recently. “Certain customers have made it clear that they want to take in a level of product to ensure they have some lined up, particularly to meet crop requirements in the near future.”

Agronomy services delivered by the company are continuing, with crop walking as normal, but following Government advice. “If customers are still happy to have engagements, observing some distance, we will do them but if the customer does not want a physical visit, we are happy to conduct a discussion over the phone or via one of the video conferencing applications.”