By Mike King, Vice President, Operations, Atticus—Supply chain dynamics have changed significantly over the last 12-18 months. Agriculture has faced challenges with global trade and tariffs, a change in administration, the global pandemic, international and local manufacturing delays, stateside port congestion, and local logistics capacity constraints.
While these challenges affect the entire industry, Atticus has been able to work through these extraordinary times with a deliberate approach to build resilience.
We have pushed ourselves to persevere through every obstacle while learning, developing and strengthening personal and company-wide competencies for adaptability and decisiveness; forge new strategic relationships and define new strategies for sourcing and manufacturing, and deepened our manufacturing and logistics diversity to sustain our arsenal of weapons. We continue to improve processes and automate systems where applicable, and review and challenge every aspect of our supply chain.
In short, Atticus has adapted to the new normal. Operational excellence for us is a mindset solidified in a cultural framework. That includes human resource structure and staffing, systems and processes, and communication and coordination.
Simply put…our people, processes and structure, with a heavy dose of discipline, allow us to succeed.
When we began, like most small companies, we had a few professionals doing multiple functions with little defined by way of documented processes. As Atticus grew, so did the complexity. We took the time to “process map” the entire operations team, restructured for logical workflow and staffed for longer-term scalability with an eye on bench strength and succession planning.
All of this gives Atticus a competitive advantage and our customers real benefits. We excel as a small team of high-performing professionals relentlessly driving for results. Day in and day out, I am energized by how quickly our people can identify a strategy, product or everyday problem, then align on a solution and deliver for customers. No matter the complexity, no matter the discipline, we are adaptive, creative, resourceful and decisive.
The ultimate industry sin is to negatively impact the customer. We take it personally if we fail. So, Atticus chooses to engage with customers through a relentless pursuit of results, saying what we are going to do and then doing it. It sounds simple, even basic, but most of our competitors don’t do this consistently. We have found this is the way to be accountable and reliable.
Operational excellence will remain part of our living cultural framework, embedded in the way we think to drive our actions and results. We aspire to be a triple-A supply chain team; agile, adaptable and aligned. And when you couple that with the most extensive branded-generic product portfolio in the industry and knowledgeable, well-networked business and sales managers, Atticus is unrivaled in its organizational alignment with a focus on the future.
Mike King has been in the agricultural chemical industry his entire 30-plus year career. He started with FMC two weeks out of high school and worked his way up through various manufacturing, operations and supply chain roles, including plant management. He then moved to North Carolina to work for MANA (now ADAMA) and then to Verdesian Life Sciences, spending a large portion of that time integrating acquired companies and building a scalable and sustainable operations and manufacturing platform. For the last two years King has served as vice president, operations, for Atticus.
Specialty crop growers are high-stakes gamblers. Despite meticulous planning and vast experience, any grower can succumb to factors out of their control. Every season, they put everything on the line, taking a chance on a crop to make a profit — or lose it all.
Like any gambler, growers aim to stack the deck to ensure they’re not leaving success up to chance. And, as their partner, you are there to help increase their odds with experience and sound advice.
Shan Brooks, Atticus director, Florida & specialty markets/products, is no stranger to the risks growers take season after season. Working closely with the Southeast region, he is well aware of how harsh environments, tricky soil, government regulations and the pandemic can deal growers a tough hand.
“The growers in my region are putting a lot on the line to raise a profitable crop that may or may not get harvested,” he says. “It’s high stakes, but with the proper planning, rolling the dice on a growing season doesn’t have to be quite so risky.”
Flexibility and variety to increase odds
One of the best strategies to ensure that gamble pays off is investing in a strategic, custom crop protection plan. Finding a committed partner like Atticus to help you evaluate geographical challenges, crop-specific needs and the land’s history to customize a specific combination of crop protection products is a good bet to drive success for your customers.
The depth and breadth of the Atticus product portfolio allows for great flexibility to ensure a crop protection plan is both effective and affordable.
“Cost is a major factor. With growers coming out of the volatile 2020 growing season, they’re under extreme stress. Anything we can do to help them evaluate with costs top-of-mind, we do,” Brooks says.
In the south Florida region, for example, nutsedge has reared its ugly head and crop protection experts needed to develop new approaches to take this variety down. Exploring newer products for the area like Stadia™ (Halosulfuron-methyl), StreliuS™ II (S-metolachlor) and the Aquesta™ (Sulfentrazone) line of herbicides has been showing promising results for this troublesome weed. Further, with glyphosate no longer an option, these active ingredients are proving to be effective alternatives.
“It’s our ultimate goal to work hand-in-hand with retailers, crop protection advisers and growers to review all relevant history and information to put together a tailored program that will help them achieve their desired results,” says Brooks.
Building trust and making a game plan
Though post-emergent applications can be successful, avoiding the appearance of weeds from start to finish is the ultimate goal. Brooks advises pushing for a proactive strategy that will keep fields, groves and orchards clean from the get-go.
“Following harvest, cleaning up the fields is a priority to set your growers up for success in the next season,” Brooks says. “Ongoing management and follow-up treatments to cover any gaps in a program can pay dividends.”
Work with your customers to put together a plan to start clean and stay clean. Ensure it addresses resistance issues, adequate modes of action and strong, season-long defense against unwanted weeds.
Don’t forget to factor in insecticides
When embarking on the planning process, growers often overlook preparing for insecticide treatment.
Brooks says “I don’t think growers spend enough time thinking through a strategy to tackle insects. It’s something you can usually predict based on past experience with insects and when they’ve typically caused issues with your crops in the past.”
Spending some time in the off-season to think through application timing and options is time well-spent. He recommends retailers work with growers to outline a foundational plan for if/when an expected insurgence of insects occurs. It can be far more costly to eliminate an insect infestation after an issue is observed than proactively treating.
Stack your deck with a reliable partner
Partnering with Atticus is a good bet not only because of its broad portfolio of crop protection products, but its team of experienced professionals are unmatched in the industry. With an unwavering commitment to operational excellence, Atticus is a retail distribution partner that’s on a mission to be the superior source for high-quality crop protection.
Brooks also touts its cost-efficient pricing. “We are coming in priced to value. We’re evaluating every one of our active ingredients before they launch and we’re choosing to price them in a way that offers value for our customers,” concludes Brooks.
Reach out to an Atticus representative today to discover how a custom crop protection plan can benefit your customers’ operations.
CARY, N.C. (February 15, 2021) — As the weather starts to warm, insect numbers – and calls from customers – rise. By partnering now with Atticus, LLC, retailers can help specialty crop growers manage what Mother Nature throws at them this season with integrated pest management advice and relevant crop protection solutions.
“Pay attention to the degree days, weather, and what’s going on out in the field,” said Tanner Lowrey, Atticus area business manager based in Fresno, California. “In my experience as a PCA, any time is relevant to discuss when insects are a problem. But as soon as those degree days start climbing and you start getting 80-plus days, you’ll see more aphids, mealybugs and more.”
The best way to help customers evade economic losses from insect pressure is to be sure they adopt an integrated pest management (IPM) plan. Lowrey recommends that retailers go beyond just setting up a spraying schedule and take an all-encompassing approach to combat insect pressures.
According to the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program, six major components should be included in any successful IPM program:
- Identifying pests
- Monitoring pest numbers and assessing damage
- Consulting guidelines to take management action
- Preventing pest problems
- Using a combination of biological, cultural, physical/mechanical and chemical management tools
- Assessing the effects of pest management after the fact
University of California IPM specialists also advise pesticides be used only when needed and in combination with other practices for the most effective, lasting control. That means choosing the best selective product for the pests present and assuring products are safe for other organisms and air, soil and water quality.
“Retailers should consider, in planning out a grower’s insecticide use strategy, the prior chemistries that have been applied. You don’t want to use consecutive chemistries year after year on things like scale and some of the ant baits that build up resistance over time,” said Lowrey. “If it’s been used in the past, it’s not going to be as effective year two or year three. You’re just going to see less and less efficacy going forward.”
Atticus offers a wide range of chemistries in its insecticide portfolio to assist retailers and their customers in managing insects and resistance at the same time during the 2021 growing season, such as multiple pyriproxyfen offerings and methoxyfenozide, bifenazate, hexythiazox and etoxazole products.
Atticus insecticides are a critical part of an IPM program that includes flexible application options and optimal mixability. “Atticus keeps on top of what the relevant post-patent chemistries are, providing them to our customers at a reasonable cost and working with retailers to rotate out chemistries they’ve used in prior years,” added Lowrey.
“We can be an ideal partner for retailers – we have multiple solutions for the issues they’re facing in a wide range of crops at any given time and at the right value.”
Reach out to an Atticus representative today to discover how a custom crop protection plan can benefit your customers’ operations.
By Mike King, Vice President, Operations, Atticus—Supply chain dynamics have changed significantly over the last 12-18 months. Agriculture has faced challenges with global trade and tariffs, a change in administration, the global pandemic, international and local manufacturing delays, stateside port congestion, and local logistics capacity constraints.
While these challenges affect the entire industry, Atticus has been able to work through these extraordinary times with a deliberate approach to build resilience.
We have pushed ourselves to persevere through every obstacle while learning, developing and strengthening personal and company-wide competencies for adaptability and decisiveness; forge new strategic relationships and define new strategies for sourcing and manufacturing, and deepened our manufacturing and logistics diversity to sustain our arsenal of weapons. We continue to improve processes and automate systems where applicable, and review and challenge every aspect of our supply chain.
In short, Atticus has adapted to the new normal. Operational excellence for us is a mindset solidified in a cultural framework. That includes human resource structure and staffing, systems and processes, and communication and coordination.
Simply put…our people, processes and structure, with a heavy dose of discipline, allow us to succeed.
When we began, like most small companies, we had a few professionals doing multiple functions with little defined by way of documented processes. As Atticus grew, so did the complexity. We took the time to “process map” the entire operations team, restructured for logical workflow and staffed for longer-term scalability with an eye on bench strength and succession planning.
All of this gives Atticus a competitive advantage and our customers real benefits. We excel as a small team of high-performing professionals relentlessly driving for results. Day in and day out, I am energized by how quickly our people can identify a strategy, product or everyday problem, then align on a solution and deliver for customers. No matter the complexity, no matter the discipline, we are adaptive, creative, resourceful and decisive.
The ultimate industry sin is to negatively impact the customer. We take it personally if we fail. So, Atticus chooses to engage with customers through a relentless pursuit of results, saying what we are going to do and then doing it. It sounds simple, even basic, but most of our competitors don’t do this consistently. We have found this is the way to be accountable and reliable.
Operational excellence will remain part of our living cultural framework, embedded in the way we think to drive our actions and results. We aspire to be a triple-A supply chain team; agile, adaptable and aligned. And when you couple that with the most extensive branded-generic product portfolio in the industry and knowledgeable, well-networked business and sales managers, Atticus is unrivaled in its organizational alignment with a focus on the future.
Mike King has been in the agricultural chemical industry his entire 30-plus year career. He started with FMC two weeks out of high school and worked his way up through various manufacturing, operations and supply chain roles, including plant management. He then moved to North Carolina to work for MANA (now ADAMA) and then to Verdesian Life Sciences, spending a large portion of that time integrating acquired companies and building a scalable and sustainable operations and manufacturing platform. For the last two years King has served as vice president, operations, for Atticus.
“Pinzola EC ensures growers have access to an affordable and accessible crop protection solution,” stated Henderson. “Similar to how Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile industry with his assembly line by making vehicles accessible and affordable, Atticus has an inexpensive alternative to PGRs currently on the market, allowing growers to positively impact wheat yield without negatively impacting their bottom line.”
Mike Henderson
By Mike King, Vice President, Operations, Atticus—Supply chain dynamics have changed significantly over the last 12-18 months. Agriculture has faced challenges with global trade and tariffs, a change in administration, the global pandemic, international and local manufacturing delays, stateside port congestion, and local logistics capacity constraints.
While these challenges affect the entire industry, Atticus has been able to work through these extraordinary times with a deliberate approach to build resilience.
We have pushed ourselves to persevere through every obstacle while learning, developing and strengthening personal and company-wide competencies for adaptability and decisiveness; forge new strategic relationships and define new strategies for sourcing and manufacturing, and deepened our manufacturing and logistics diversity to sustain our arsenal of weapons. We continue to improve processes and automate systems where applicable, and review and challenge every aspect of our supply chain.
In short, Atticus has adapted to the new normal. Operational excellence for us is a mindset solidified in a cultural framework. That includes human resource structure and staffing, systems and processes, and communication and coordination.
Simply put…our people, processes and structure, with a heavy dose of discipline, allow us to succeed.
When we began, like most small companies, we had a few professionals doing multiple functions with little defined by way of documented processes. As Atticus grew, so did the complexity. We took the time to “process map” the entire operations team, restructured for logical workflow and staffed for longer-term scalability with an eye on bench strength and succession planning.
All of this gives Atticus a competitive advantage and our customers real benefits. We excel as a small team of high-performing professionals relentlessly driving for results. Day in and day out, I am energized by how quickly our people can identify a strategy, product or everyday problem, then align on a solution and deliver for customers. No matter the complexity, no matter the discipline, we are adaptive, creative, resourceful and decisive.
The ultimate industry sin is to negatively impact the customer. We take it personally if we fail. So, Atticus chooses to engage with customers through a relentless pursuit of results, saying what we are going to do and then doing it. It sounds simple, even basic, but most of our competitors don’t do this consistently. We have found this is the way to be accountable and reliable.
Operational excellence will remain part of our living cultural framework, embedded in the way we think to drive our actions and results. We aspire to be a triple-A supply chain team; agile, adaptable and aligned. And when you couple that with the most extensive branded-generic product portfolio in the industry and knowledgeable, well-networked business and sales managers, Atticus is unrivaled in its organizational alignment with a focus on the future.
Mike King has been in the agricultural chemical industry his entire 30-plus year career. He started with FMC two weeks out of high school and worked his way up through various manufacturing, operations and supply chain roles, including plant management. He then moved to North Carolina to work for MANA (now ADAMA) and then to Verdesian Life Sciences, spending a large portion of that time integrating acquired companies and building a scalable and sustainable operations and manufacturing platform. For the last two years King has served as vice president, operations, for Atticus.