Ballance supports the future of farming and growing with a strong customer rebate

Ballance Agri-Nutrients has delivered strong results for the financial year ended 31 May 2021, as well an increased customer rebate, in a year of uncertainty around the globe and locally across rural New Zealand. This result has been achieved using clever science and innovation to help farmers and growers adapt to changing consumer demands, environmental requirements, and government policies.

The world has changed a lot in the past 12 months, but the challenges to kiwi food producers remain the same - to feed a global population while protecting our natural resources, says Ballance CEO Mark Wynne.

“We are in a strong position to help farmers and growers continue to be productive and sustainable and our results show that they are benefiting from this.”

Ballance’s shareholder rebate of $50 per tonne for 2021 will return $60.2 million to its over 17,500 shareholders. Revenue before rebate for the year was $897 million and total sales volume for the year, including nutrient products, animal feeds and industrial ingredients, increased to 1.55 million tonnes.

“Farming and growing are influenced by an evolving consumer and social landscape as well as changing government policies. We are committed to providing tools, services and advice to help them adapt and thrive and we know they appreciate it.”

Innovation has been a key factor in providing the solutions, with the Government agreeing to co-fund Ballance’s $25m Future Ready Farms programme over five years. The programme consists of 12 projects aimed at helping farmers and growers meet their national environmental targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, agrichemical use and nutrient loss to waterways.

This year, the company launched Ballance with Nature, a promise to support farmers and growers, across seven pillars, to be future-ready and enable them to protect their natural resources.

“We operate under the values of Kaitiakitanga. As farmers and growers, our customers are guardians of the land, and we see it as our role to help them protect it for the next generation”.

As an example, Ballance’s sustainable phosphate fertiliser SurePhos, which was launched in 2020 after ten years’ research and development, continues to help farmers reduce nutrient loss to waterways and customer demand has exceeded expectations.

The MyBallance online customer platform continues to help farmers manage their farm inputs, complemented with tools, such as geo-spatial mapping to help identify exclusion zones, with a popular mobile version being launched in FY21.

As well as helping farmers and growers reduce their environmental footprint, Ballance is also making its own operations ‘greener’.The company’s joint venture with Hiringa Energy to produce ‘green’ hydrogen, which will provide a carbon-neutral fuel for the transport sector as well as a ‘greener’ nitrogen fertiliser, is progressing well and should be up and running by early 2023.

Ballance Chairman Duncan Coull said the business had navigated a year of global uncertainly well, which the strong results reflect.

“In a tumultuous year, including COVID-19-related impacts such as global freight delays and severe weather events here in New Zealand, we have worked hard to minimise impacts to customers,” says Mr Coull.

“This is testimony to, not only the hard work and dedication of the Ballance family throughout the country, but also to their skill and expertise that help drive a strong co-operative and allows us to deliver value to our shareholders and customers”.

2021 Annual Results and Rebate