Familiar faces lead innovation

Familiar names head up an innovative push to incorporate biofertiliser, biocontrol and biostimulant products for agricultural purposes.

Ben Barlow, former owner of “Ulonga”, on the One Tree plain, is now the Managing Director of New Edge Microbials, and with a 20-year history of success behind the business, NEM now holds a 45 per cent market share across Australia.

After realising he wanted to be part of an agricultural revolution involving biotechnology Ben purchased a controlling share in NEM five years ago.

From roots in agribanking, including a stint as Vice President of the Great Western Bank of America, Ben is turning his passion for the industry into a lucrative business, right on the cutting-edge of biological work.

Widely featured in trade publications, Ben told CEO Magazine his business model holds great appeal.

“I’ve had the luxury of being a farmer all my life, and I’ve been in commerce as well, and the two have come together.

“The notion that we could be a regional business at the forefront of global biological work, supporting communities that we’ve had a lot to do with during our lives, appeals to me.”

Based in Albury, NEM is also home to another familiar face, that of Grant Kelson, who joined the business in 2018 as General Manager of Major Projects and Business Performance.

Grant holds an integral role in the enterprise as the lead in NEM’s current $15m capital expansion of production facilities.

Ben Barlow (below ) and Grant Kelson lead the way in bio fertilisers and control methods, as part of the innovative company New Edge Microbials. Images supplied.