Communication at core of advisory team success

Image: Bayer Market Development team member, Matt Willis explaining the details of an EverGol Energy trial to growers at Mingenew in Western Australia.

The team acts as an essential bridge for taking technical information from Bayer’s research, development, regulatory and marketing teams across to farmers, distributors and agronomists.

Headed up by Rick Horbury, there are seven advisors within the Market Development Team, each located in key regions around Australia working in broadacre agriculture, horticulture or cotton.

According to Rick, one of the team’s key roles is to provide technical support for farmers, distributors and agronomists in order to help deliver new innovations to the field.

That process begins two to three years prior to commercial launch in the form of trial and development work, where advisors are informed on how to get the best out of a product before working with growers and advisors on how it fits in their programs.

Image: Bayer Market Development team member, Craig White, speaking to growers and industry representatives at a trial site near Katanning in Western Australia

Throughout the process, Rick said they were always looking to gather feedback and ensure they delivered products that filled the market need and were ready to go when registration was achieved and first sales began.

Post-launch, they continue to support growers on integrating new innovations into their programs to ensure confidence and a return on investment from using Bayer’s products.

If they have a positive experience, they will continue to use the product and get the best out of it. In addition, along with the rest of the sales team, Rick said they were always looking to identify opportunities for further development of products.

“We have a great range of experience within the team, not only in terms of time on the tools but also in our breadth of knowledge,” Rick said.

“Each person has their specialist interests and skills that they bring to the team, which are really complimentary, and as a whole it’s a strong, well-rounded group.

“Geographically the market development representatives are located within the regional sales teams, but we still work strongly together as a team and I believe we have a good, supportive culture.

“We have been focused on bringing greater consistency to the protocols that we work to in the field, across the program nationally. The obvious benefit from this is that we develop larger pools of comparable data, which gives our customers greater confidence in how our products perform, not only in their local environment but across other environmental conditions as well.”

Image: Bayer Market Development team member, Angus Calder presenting to growers during a Sustainable Farming Systems field day at Inverleigh in Victoria.

With the Market Development Team having put so much effort into the field program for EverGol Energy, Rick said it had been rewarding to see the product being so well-received by the market so far.

While there is an understandable degree of focus on Bayer products, Rick said the team’s broader commitment to industry was something they all took very seriously.

They work closely with grower groups and other affiliated organisations, offering expertise and education for the betterment of the industry.

“We consider ourselves to be industry leaders, so we’re not just looking to further develop Bayer’s position, but to help progress the industry as a whole,” Rick said.

“We often become specialists on management of pests and diseases, which invariably require more than just a Bayer-only solution.”

During the summer months, the team remains busy by assisting the horticulture sales team with trial development across southern and northern Australia, with a current focus on Serenade® Opti biofungicide in grapevines, strawberries, tomatoes and capsicums, and Infinito® fungicide in leafy vegetable and brassica vegetable crops, along with some exciting new innovations soon to be registered.

Image: Bayer Market Development Representative Gus MacLennan walks growers through a field demonstration at Temora in New South Wales

Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto has also seen the re-emergence of cotton as a crop of importance for the team.

This year they will be implementing a number of small-plot cotton trials involving the recently registered EverGol Xtend and other potential concepts.

There are other exciting developments in the wings, with the team also working on the development of a new herbicide, Bayer-167, for use in the Australian cereals market.

While he remained tight-lipped on the details, Rick said he believed Bayer-167 had big potential.

“We’re working closely with our development team to make sure that we’re bringing a product to market that’s aligned to grower practice, but is also hitting the mark with efficacy on key weeds and crop safety as growers’ demand,” he said.

“I’m as excited about the potential for this herbicide as I have been about any of our herbicide portfolio I’ve worked on to date – and I’ve been fortunate to see Velocity, Sakura and Precept come to market.

“Bayer-167 looks to be a herbicide that will provide great flexibility and performance to growers, and the Market Development Team really looks forward to spending the next few seasons bringing it to market and demonstrating it in the field.”