April 10, 2026
By Gerhard Uys, for Farmers Weekly
System reduces need for synthetic N and answers price, supply and environmental needs, H&T says.
Biological treatments that reduce the need for synthetic nitrogen make sense in a world where input prices skyrocket and environmental concerns abound, says H&T managing director Paul Oliver.
Oliver said his company’s new product, AlwaysN, is a microbial seed treatment that can be used in maize, cereals, brassicas and pasture seed.
The seed treatment helps growers reduce nitrogen losses and their environmental impact while maintaining yield.
He said more and more farmers and growers are seeing the sense of using biological products.
Price is one motivator for using it.
Another is that a product like AlwaysN allows you to reduce the amount of synthetic nitrogen that you’re applying, which reduces the risk of nitrate leaching.
The nitrogen that’s supplied to the plant through the AlwaysN mechanism isn’t prone to leaching, he said.
In practice, unforeseen circumstances such as weather make it impossible for farmers to always side-dress when it’s the most agronomically advantageous, but a seed treatment delivers a constant source of nitrogen, he said.
A seed treatment allows you to bridge the gap to when conditions allow application. It also delivers nitrogen as soon as root growth starts.
Oliver said AlwaysN is sourced from the United States.
He said it is becoming harder to both maintain registrations of synthetic products and register new products.
The pathways to registration and regulatory compliance with biologicals is generally easier, he said, although in the European Union proof of efficacy is becoming a strict requirement.