Post by
15Stanmore on Feb 20, 2021 4:42pm
Practical advice from Farmer shareholders
Hello fellow shareholders,
I am looking for some practical input from among the many farmers who I know have been long term Verde investors. As a finance trained person, I have very limited hands on experience in the agricultural/farming environment, so am turning to the local experts for your advice.
In my investment thesis and models for Verde, I try to cover all aspects of the business and to identify any and all risks the Company may face, and how the Company's management team can go about eliminating, reducing or mitigating these risks.
At the far end of the production/marketing chain is the practical use of the Verde fertilizer products at the field level. We know one of the challenges to the widespread adoption of Super Greensand is its delivered consistency, which has been described as like flour or talcm powder - a very fine dust like material. This presents two problems. The first is that moisture or even humidity can be an issue - if the product gets wet it becomes almost impossible to handle and use. The second is that existing hopper fed rotary fertilizer spreaders are not ideal tools with which to deliver the Verde product onto a farmers' field. One can imagine the huge dust cloud that would be created in such applications, and easily spread and disbursed by any breeze or wind. Certainly not the best way to ensure the product is accurately deliverd and disbursed over the soil.
From a limited documentary review, it appears there are indeed a number of alternative delivery systems that would work much better. I am sure the Company has aggressively investigated these options, but I have yet to see much evidence of their findings or recommendations for risk mitigation of this area of challenge. Can our farming friends lend their experience to this problem?
Farmers have been using lime for generations as a way to improve soil Ph levels. I believe it is dispenced in a similar form or consistency to Super Greensand. The tractor towed or mounted hopper dispenser delivers the lime dust inside a canvas/plastic shrouded skirt so that it settles directly on the ground, with limited wind-borne dispersion. Would this type of dispenser work with the Verde product?
I have also found a number or articles and research reports which praise the use of liquid suspension distribution, either as a sparyed application or injected into the soil. There has clearly been extensive research into this methodology, particularly when matched with computer applications which dynamically control the flow to each nozzle providing a way to deliver the exact amount of the material to specific parts of the field (pesticides where there is an infestation, nutrients to areas that are deficient, etc.) using GPS guidance.
Has anybody had hands on experience mixing non-soluble material (such as Super Greensand) in a liquid for distribution, with particular focus on maintaining the concentration of the suspension during the time it is being sprayed. There are a series of US patents in the 1980s dealing with internal agitators inside the spray tanks carring the prepared medium to ensure a uniform mix throughout the delivery process. These also address nozzle design to address potential clogging of the non soluble suspension.
Where specialized equipment might be required, perhaps Verde can partner with an existing fertilizer delivery contractor or develop an internal division which would acquire and operate this equipment as an integrated service - the farmer buys the Verde fertilizer and gets it efficiently spread on their fields as required, all for a single all in price (vertical integration)
Hopefully this post will encourage others to turn their mind to this challenge and we can use the "Wisdom of Crowds" to brainstorm a variety of possible solutions that Mr. Veloso might appreciate receiving.
Looking forward to seeing your input, thanks for reading this appeal.
Cheers.
S