We landed at the A Campo Abierto conference, organized every year by the Association of Argentine Cooperatives (ACA), with a challenge: we joked that we had inherited an extensive field and that we needed help to put it to production. Marco Prenna, the director of Agricultural Inputs and Industries of that immense network, did not shrink. On the contrary, he listed each and every one of the services that producers can find in their cooperatives.
-What do you offer your partners?- disappear him.
-Well, I think we have the most complete palette of agricultural inputs in the country.
Let’s start with the seeds.
-We have seeds of different species: hybrids of sunflower, corn, sorghum.
-Do you produce them?
-We do our own research and development, we produce them in our own hatcheries and our production center and we process them in our seed processing plants. That to boot. ACA, through its entire network of cooperatives, places them at the service of producers. All this palette of inputs that includes the seed, the soil analysis, the fertilization recommendation, the application service and the provision of fertilizers.
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-So they not only sell the seed but it comes with instructions?
-We have a network between the cooperatives and ACA of about 500 agronomists who are distributed throughout the country. They can help you hand in hand so that you can make the best crop possible.
-But there are pests, there are weeds… I’m going to need some agrochemicals.
-You’re going to get everything. We also have fuel.
-ACA produces its own agrochemicals?
-We have a phytosanitary formulation plant in Campana, for many years, we have a very complete palette of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and this year we incorporated a bio-inputs plant on that same site, because what is coming is that type of inputs . There we are already producing inoculant for soybeans and other legumes and a bio-fungicide for wheat and soybeans. And we have a project to gradually incorporate a series of products, which is what is coming in the future. We also have an animal nutrition division, we have a balanced feed factory. whatAre you going to do some livestock?
Watch the game-interview with Marcos Prenna:
Prenna continues to list each and every one of the inputs that the ACA offers to its producers: a very complete line of animal nutrition that includes the well-known and proven Ruter; another line of animal health; Silols for both fodder and grain…
-I was seeing that they recycle them too.
-In Canada de Gomez. If you are an environmentally responsible producer, you would have to separate the plastics, order them and clean the drums with triple washing; and through the entire network and reverse logistics, we can process it in our plastic recovery plant.
-There is another aspect of the agricultural business: fertilization.
-That seems like an expense, but it is an investment because what you put in returns several times in production. ACA of course has Also the most complete line of liquid and solid nitrogenous fertilizers, plus specialties. In other words, you have everything and you have the service. As I was saying, we start with a diagnosis of soil fertility. You can make a map through the ACA Mi Campo platform, and thus achieve the setting of your lot, to Add the right amount of inputs to each portion. Following that pprescription, in addition, you can make a variable dosage in different batches and, within each batch, you will have variability to make correct use of the inputs. The ideal thing that you do with this type of agriculture.
-Where does one go to access all these services?
-To the nearest cooperative. There is a network of ACA cooperatives that can give you everything. All these services that also include, as you may have seen, the comprehensiveness of everything that has to do with agricultural insurance, grain marketing, grain marketing strategies, financing.
-A lot of things. Finally, the meaning of this game is to show that there is a whole palette from the cooperative sector that competes against commercial companies in each area.
-I think it is the most complete on the market. I don’t think there are any private company that does everything at the same time. No.none that has such a complete palette and diversity of services and the integration that cooperatives have. That tells you that our business model is more current than ever. And I think that, in difficult years like this one, we are strengthened by being close to the producer. It makes us stronger even in adversity. ANDn the bad is where we have to be closer than ever.
