French agtech company trials natural crop supplements with Australian farmers

Australian farming is keen to embrace new forms of ecologically friendly crop stimulants. The challenges to uptake are huge, however. Successful adoption requires long-term partnerships with farmers, rigorous crop trials – and plenty of research. 

One agtech company that’s built new partnerships in Australia is France’s Axioma Biologicals. The company, based in Brive-la-Gaillarde in southwest France, has developed non-synthetic growth stimulants for crop farming. In 2022, Axioma Biologicals commenced trials in Australia. 

‘The trials so far have delivered excellent results, with yield increases of 5% to 10% in canola and cereals,’ says Ben Barlow, Executive Director of Axioma Biologicals Australia. ‘This is a scientific solution with multiple applications. The product helps the plant maintain optimal health and deal with abiotic stress to improve yield and increase farm profitability.’

Individually developed crop stimulants

Axioma Biologicals is a young company with global ambitions. Founded in 2012, the core idea was to create a range of natural products to aid crop growth. 

‘Our goal is to create products from active ingredients that boost crop resilience to climatic challenges,’ says Thomas Brandt, Deputy Chief Executive, Axioma Biologicals. ‘This improves crop yield – notably for cereals and canola – but also quality. For example, we can increase post-harvest fruit conservation by a couple of days.

‘What’s unique is that we don’t include NPK [nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium] or synthetic chemicals,’ he says. ‘Our stimulants are made from natural plant extracts. This means we can help farmers with the agriculture transition while increasing their profitability. 

‘We have created individual stimulants for multiple crop types, including cereals, corn, oilseed, vines and vegetables in our labs in Brive. They provide a green solution that can be used for organic farming.’

The company initially expanded in France and Europe. But Axioma Biologicals’ goals are shared by farmers around the world – especially in geographies that experience major climate stress. By 2022, Axioma Biologicals began to explore potential partners in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Australian farming a natural partner

According to Brandt, Australia was natural partner for global growth. 

‘We visited Australia in early 2022 and identified Australia as one of the most promising markets,’ says Brandt. ‘We liked the Australian mindset: we saw that farming was open to innovation.

‘Australian farmers are well ahead in terms of looking for products that help plants grow without contaminating the soil,’ he adds. ‘They are also conscious of gas emissions associated with traditional fertilizers.’

One of the people in farming that Brandt met is Ben Barlow, who now advises on Axioma Biologicals’ operations in Australia.

‘The challenge here in Australia is that there are no homegrown Australian companies that do what Axioma Biologicals does,’ says Barlow. ‘It’s in our interest to identify products from overseas that show promise. This means we can shorten the time it takes to introduce non-synthetic growth stimulants to Australian farming.’

Mass trials underway

Within 2 years, Axioma has signed partnerships, commenced trials, and set up an office in New South Wales.

‘Twelve months after setting up in Australia we had over 10,000 hectares of crops using Axioma products in commercial settings,’ says Barlow. ‘We are already supplying some of the leading broadacre farmers in Australia.’

Brandt stresses the importance of close relations to the successful introduction of new crop products. Partnership is essential, and that’s been characteristic of the company’s work in Australia. 

‘We are a small, overseas R&D company and we need to work with large farms and big companies,’ he says. ‘This can be tricky, especially when big distances are involved. 

‘In Australia, we feel we are working with friends. We have partnered with large family farmers and agriculture corporates – and we’ve found they are early adopters. We have now had very good results for 2 years in a row.’ 

How Austrade helped

Austrade has helped Axioma Biologicals with market insights, contacts and one-on-one support. 

‘In 2022, we helped Axioma Biologicals with their decision-making process,’ says Paris-based Axel Ouvrard, Director for Foreign Direct Investment, Austrade. ‘We supplied market information, and insights on how Australian farming differed from farming in France.’

Austrade also provided legal advice on how to set up a company in Australia. Advisors identified service providers who could help Axioma Biologicals establish an onshore business. 

Austrade also helped the company plug into the Australian agtech ecosystem. Advisors introduced Axioma Biologicals to evokeAG. This is an agrifood tech-innovation event, held annually in Australia. Axioma Biologicals has attended twice.

‘Our Australia-based teams also introduced Axioma Biologicals to potential research partners,’ says Ouvrard. ‘These included the University of Adelaide, Australia’s Co-operative Research Centres, and academics who work in agriculture.’  

‘Austrade has been tremendous, and we have been very well supported,’ says Brandt. ‘Austrade advisors helped us find the best organisations to partner with. They helped with the basics for developing an office in Australia – including optimal location.’

Future growth

Axioma Biologicals plans to expand steadily in Australia by partnering with farmers and with Australian agricultural research. 

With excellent trials results, the company is already helping farmers explore ways to combine increased crop resilience with new forms of land custodianship. 

‘Our partnerships are contributing in a meaningful way to the ecological future of Australia,’ says Barlow. ‘Our products help farmers move towards more sustainable farming and help them make more money, and that’s excellent.’

Axioma Biologicals’ Brive-based leadership says the strategic move into Australia has been well justified.

‘Australia has been very welcoming to us, and we have already had talks with Australian universities about joint R&D,’ says Brandt. ‘The relationships we have built in Australia are very special: it feels more like friendship than business.’