Why yield protection is moving up the priority list

Hotter seasons are reshaping crop management decision-making in Australia, with heat and sun stress now part of routine planning rather than an occasional risk. For quiet innovator AgNova Technologies, that shift has sharpened its focus on helping growers manage extreme conditions without adding complexity.

With margins tight and seasonal variability increasing, protecting yield has become one of the few areas where growers can still exert control.

“We can’t help with water or commodity pricing,” says AgNova Business Manager and agronomist Andrew Glover. “But we can help growers protect yield and offset some of those pressures.”

Filling gaps others leave behind

 AgNova is an Australian-based crop protection company focused on specialist products and technologies for agricultural markets.

Founded in 2003 by six industry specialists, AgNova set out to fill gaps left as larger multinationals stepped away from smaller horticultural markets.



It has since grown to a portfolio of more than 40 niche offerings across herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, nutrition, and non-chemical technologies.

“We’re not a generic company,” Andrew explains. “We prefer products that have their own niche — solutions to specific problems for growers.”

Products such as Surround® WP Crop Protectant are gaining traction across horticultural crops as growers see the impact extreme conditions can have on crop performance.

Rigour before release

 AgNova reinvests a significant share of its revenue into research and development, operating in-house technical and registration teams while outsourcing trials to specialist third-party operators, including universities and independent trial companies. Before any new product reaches the market, it undergoes at least two years of efficacy and safety testing, with trials across multiple climates in line with Australian regulatory requirements.

That rigour extends beyond conventional chemistry. In partnership with Griffith University, a world leader in future-focused agriculture, AgNova developed a non-chemical fruit fly management tool targeting egg-laying females. Fruit flies are a major issue for many growers across numerous crops. In the field, Fruition® Nova® Fruit Fly traps can reduce crop losses from about 30% to about 5%. And as with all AgNova products, there is a strong focus on ongoing development to maximise the benefit for growers.

AgNova joined the US-based American Vanguard group in October 2020 and continues to operate independently in Australia, gaining access to a broader pipeline of biological and green technologies.

“Whether it’s chemistry or biologicals, we trial everything thoroughly,” Andrew says. “That’s how growers can have confidence it will perform under Australian conditions.”