GROWING A BETTER TOMORROW
HOW NUSEED IS EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY
Growing a better tomorrow:
How Nuseed is embedding sustainability within the agricultural industry
Silvana De Lima,
Global Supply Chain Director at Nufarm Seed Technologies (Nuseed), on how globalising its supply chain function has facilitated rapid growth and transformation within the company.
Established in 2006, Nuseed, the seed technologies platform of Nufarm Limited, an Australian company that saw the strategic opportunity to bring more value to agriculture, is today strategically focused on being a global agriculture innovator enabling the transformation of select crops into renewable and traceable sources of lower-carbon energy and plant-based nutrition.
he company has grown to offer cutting-edge germplasm, advanced molecular capabilities and world-class R&D in more than 30 countries.
With a high-performing team, they have grown beyond a commodity seed business and are now attracting global customers, managing strategic partnerships, and value chains, driving incredible change and adoption at the farm gate, with channel partners and end-use customers.
Joining us from Nuseed is Silvana De Lima, Global Supply Chain Director, to discuss the company’s rapid growth in recent years, and the role that supply chain innovation has played in facilitating that expansion.
To begin, Silvana dives into the recent journey of transformation the company has embarked upon.
“Our goal is to grow a better tomorrow, while delivering real value today,” says Silvana. “We’ve focused on partnering with organisations such as the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisations (CSIRO), one of the largest and most diversified scientific research organisations in the world, and acquiring businesses to build a stronger portfolio and expand our international presence.
“By partnering with key global players, we’re able to introduce new technologies that can improve agronomic practices, offering alternatives that foster a better environment and human nutrition, opening up more opportunities for our long-term vision. As we’ve expanded our reach, Nuseed’s business today is built on three main platforms.
“Our first is seeds and grains, which our genetics bank uses for the discovery and development of new products for our crops across our regions of operation. This is really the foundation of our genetics development, in which we add the characteristics needed for us to create better food, new ingredients and more environmentally efficient products.
“The second is our nutritional (Omega-3 Canola) platform. We’ve developed the world’s first land-based source of long-chain omega-3 fatty
“Our third area of business is Bioenergy. In 2018, Nufarm acquired new assets to expand low-carbon solutions for the biofuel industry, and offer a plant-based solution for sustainable aviation fuel. This came in the form of a crop called carinata, which is found in the same family as canola. This acquisition was a catalyst for the offtake and market development agreement with bp in 2022, which has enabled expansion of our Carinata feedstock programmes to help replace fossil oils and reduce carbon.”
“Our people are super smart, very dedicated and enjoy nurturing our development to help us flourish”
Silvana De Lima, Global Supply Chain Director
acids, which is an essential nutrient. Our omega-3 canola is processed into two proprietary oil ingredients. One is called Aquaterra® for aquafeed, and the other is Nutriterra®, designed for human nutrition markets. These aren’t just alternative sources of omega-3 –they’re both uniquely rich in DHA, EPA and ALA because they’re long-chain fatty acids, vital for good nutrition.
“Most recently, Nufarm announced that we were granted a commercial licence to produce oil in Camelina, a crop that omega-3 can be extracted from, expanding the plant-based alternatives that we can offer to our customers.
Continuing investment in their vision, Nufarm acquired sugar cane breeding assets in 2023, an energy cane for biofuel as sugar mill energy source.
However, the growth that Nuseed has seen in recent years, Silvana stresses, would not be possible without the development of a dynamic and innovative supply chain network.
“The foundation of Nuseed is its global sourcing supply chain,” says Silvana. “It enables new development and facilitates our acquisition and deployment of new technologies to our business partners and customers. Within the supply chain function,
we’re responsible for developing flexibility and the ability to identify the best strategy and the best suppliers to adapt to the design of the new business and execution.
“As we develop new strategic partnerships and continue to expand, the way we operate develops and changes. So, the supply chain team needs to not only work efficiently now but continue to adapt and change as new business models are brought into place so that we can continue to deliver on our vision.
“We also need to prioritise implementing strong integrated business processes. Supply chain is a business enabler to build and operate a true value chain. The Nuseed value chain covers grower contracting, regulatory, harvesting & storage, to the rail system, shipping to crush, actual crushing itself and quality management. We’re connecting growers, industry, and end-use customers – adding value at each step, and for every participant. Because of this, our team needs to ensure that everything is integrated in a way
“We’ve
built a very strong partnership with Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance Provider to industries worldwide – working together to enhance expertise and developing international methods for consistent results across regions, utilising globally advanced breeding and quality control testing methodologies”
that gives us clear communication of overall strategies, so we can work seamlessly alongside other areas of the business. If we’re aligned, we can make decisions quickly and intelligently to enable business growth.”
In order to stay aligned in all areas of the business, the company is prioritising the implementation of new
Did you know? From seed to fork, Intertek’s Precision Agriculture, Sustainability and AgriTech services help you manage risk and ensure transparency along your entire product value chain, whilst supporting your ability to operate effectively and act responsibly. Intertested? Contact us today to learn more.
technologies and the development of robust strategic partnerships.
“Our technology acquisitions in the past five years have played a huge role in enabling our growth,” says Silvana. “And these acquisitions wouldn’t be possible without the strategic partnerships we’ve been building.
“For instance, we’ve built a very strong partnership with Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance Provider to industries worldwide – working together to enhance expertise and developing international methods for consistent results across regions, utilising globally advanced breeding and quality control testing methodologies. Partnerships like
this enable us to continue to look at more supplementary technologies and innovative processes in order to broaden our reach and better help us realise our vision.
“Digitalisation has been key to our growth. Implementing nutritional and bioenergy end-to-end value chain platforms has required a new look from the business. This means there has been a need to build capabilities like product traceability to make our product planning more efficient when operating in several markets on a global scale. We’ve put a lot of focus and a lot of effort into ensuring that we can enable these new functions – as the business shifts, you have to adjust your processes and systems accordingly.”
And Silvana foresees a bright future for the company as it continues to shift and grow.
“Looking to the future, we would like to be seen as a key worldwide contributor to nutrition and environmental sustainability,” says Silvana. “We will continue to expand our global capabilities with the help of our strategic partnerships, and we will continue to facilitate research and development opportunities and sustainable initiatives. But at the core of it all, we want our products to continue to be recognised as high value – from the seed to the end consumer.”
But Silvana believes that this growth and innovation wouldn’t be possible without the people within the company.
“I want to take this opportunity to celebrate our seed technologies team,” says Silvana. “As an innovative and entrepreneurial company, we wanted to create a fun and safe environment, where people can share ideas, challenge processes, and feel included. We’ve been able to nurture a strong culture in teams around the world, which I’m very proud of.
“A business that has grown as fast as we have, and continues to bring in new opportunities, we need a team that demonstrates extraordinarily strong competencies and feels the passion of the business. Our people are super smart, very dedicated and enjoy nurturing our development to help us flourish.”
Learn more about Nuseed here.
ADDED VALUE
The Power of Vulnerability
“There’s a TED Talk by Brené Brown called The Power of Vulnerability,” says Silvana. “She develops this topic so beautifully, focusing on the idea that in order for a real connection to happen – be that between you and your spouse, you and your friends or you and your employees – you have to allow yourself to be authentic and to be seen.
“It’s important to first develop the self-awareness that you need in order to know yourself, because then you’ll better understand your strengths and weaknesses, and be humble enough to ask for help.
“With this mindset, you understand that you are unique, and that everyone around you is unique. You have your flaws and your talents, but it’s you and you have to be proud of who you are. By accepting yourself as you are and recognising that there are always areas where you can develop, you can strengthen your relationships. This requires courage and compassion, to others and to ourselves, but it can transform the way we interact with the world around us.”
Kintsugi
“Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art that embraces imperfection,” says Silvana. “It’s a fantastic metaphor for life, rooted in a philosophy of embracing the beauty of human flaws. With Kintsugi, you take a broken piece of ceramic and glue it together with gold. In the end, it’s a beautiful piece of art.
“I see it as a useful tool in the workplace – encouraging making the best out of mistakes by seeing what you can learn out of it. At the end of the day, the collection of your mistakes and the things you have learnt in your life makes you the person that you need to be. Every year you grow with every new experience you have.”
Connect with Silvana
nuseed.com