SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Brandt, an Illinois agricultural company with its headquarters in Springfield, recently opened a new office in Beijing, China. Although the company has been working in China for the past 10 years, Brandt established its first Chinese office in April.

Brandt was founded in 1953 by Glen Brandt and his sister, Evelyn Brandt Thomas.

Brandt has expanded into a company with three divisions: Specialty Formulation, Retail Agronomy and Dealer Support. Brandt produces new technologies that are created in the United States then marketed around the world. Products include crop nutrients, crop protection, seed and several other services.

Beijing is not Brandt’s first international expansion. Karl Barnhart, Brandt’s Chief Marketing Officer, said, “We have distribution in 46 countries around the world. This is the first office in China. We also have offices in Costa Rica, Brazil, Australia and France.”

He added, “Brandt started internationally in Mexico 25 years ago.”

This latest expansion is an establishment of a new office which will work with two Chinese agricultural distributors Xinhefeng Agrochemicals Co., Ltd (XHF) and Shenzhen Noposion Agro Chemicals Co., Ltd. (Noposion) to carry foliar micronutrient products. The new office currently has one employee, Lisa Fanhui, a technical agronomist that can help explain to both distributors and customers how to use Brandt’s products.

“We are working hard to build our team and to build our distribution network here in China,” said Lisa Fanhui. “I am eager to get to work with XHF and Noposion.”

HXF is located Beijing and will distribute Brandt’s Manni-Plex line which helps plants reach their full genetic potential by correcting nutrient deficiencies and build stronger root systems. Noposion is based in Shenzhen and will carry Brandt’s Innside line of advanced micronutrient products, a foliar micronutrient based on proprietary polyhydroxl agents that is formulated for a range of crops.

Barnhart said Innsides advantage is improving fruit set, size and uniformity. He described Foliar micronutrient products as “specialty fertilizers (that) are sprayed onto the leaf of a plant so it gets the micronutrients calcium, boron and manganese.”

In the United States, farmers are likely to use foliars on corn and soybeans. The U.S. foliar is Brandt’s Smart Trio. In China, the foliar fertilizer is sprayed on plant leaves of produce such as apples and exotic fruits.

Chandra Roberts, Brandt’s Marketing Director of Specialty Formulations, explained that Brandt has a wide variety of products created through the years.

“We have over 300 products used on over 400 crops,” Roberts said. “The products are proprietary, and our chemist and the lab is out in Pleasant Plains. A key point is the products are manufactured here or in Fresno, Calif. before going to China.”

This is a win/win for all, with jobs and product development in the United States and an office in China jobs and product expansion happen in both nations with U.S. products being exported to China rather than imported in this case.

Product development is a long process. “It takes years. First there is product development, then registration you are probably looking at 4-5 years in development,” Barnhart explained. “Here in the U.S., the product has to be registered in each state, then internationally each country has its own registration and laws too and each is different. That is a huge burden to go through.”

Barnhart added, “At the end of the day we are all trying to create a crop but the processes in each country are different. Food, fiber, fuel we are all trying to do the same thing.”

For more information about Brandt, visit them on the web at www.brandt.com