Biagro Western Sales, Inc. was founded in March 1993 by two agriculturists who have a rich history in California agriculture and agricultural research and development. Biagro Western is a research and technology driven company that believes good science and good business go hand-in-hand. The company has established an excellent track record of taking innovative approaches to problem solving from the laboratory to the market place.

The company's current product portfolio includes Nutri-Phite®, and Nutri-Grow® phosphite plant nutrition products, which are patented and licensed by the University of California. Biagro Western has recently introduced Sulfone™, derived from technology developed and patented by Dr Joe Gauges in England and assigned to Biagro Western Sales. Biagro Western has developed these products for global markets including both agriculture and horticulture (turf, ornamental, bedding and landscaping) uses.

Coupled with good agronomic practices, Biagro Western products have proven to be essential tools for success. Because Biagro Western has established deep roots in the global research and development community, they have access to the science that supports and explains their high performance products. The science based experience of the company principals have led to the belief that plant nutrition and health should be the determining factor for yield and other desirable plant responses. The management of plant nutrition with Biagro Western's phosphite derived fertilizers helps bring that belief to reality.

Biagro Western, with its seven geographically diverse divisions, has seen its organization grow significantly to include technical and product development departments as well as marketing departments. Domestically, the company distributes into most states producing significant amounts of agricultural and/or horticultural crops. Internationally, the marketplace continues to grow and currently Biagro Western is exporting into several other countries.

Manufacturing

To meet the production needs for all divisions, Biagro Western has four formulation and packaging plant locations strategically placed around the United States. Serving the Eastern US, facilities are located in Tampa, Florida and Westwego, Louisiana.

Serving the West is a newly constructed, company-owned facility located in Visalia, California, which is in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. This state-of-the-art facility is also an EPA certified packaging facility. The second facility, located in Oxnard, California is on the Southern California Coast. A foreign toll blender and repackager, has been contracted in the United Kingdom to service Europe.

The Science

The use of Nutri-Phite®, Nutri-Grow® and Sulfone™ products in production systems requires a different management approach to plant nutrition because of the increased product efficacy. Initial screening tests are conducted at Biagro Western's greenhouse facility in Visalia, California. However, once materials are proven at the screening level, they go into controlled and replicated field trials on annual crops and permanent plantings in cooperation with reputable independent researchers as well as Cooperative Extension or University scientists. Since its beginning, Biagro Western has invested in and supported work by researchers through such prestigious agricultural research centers as University of Florida, University of California, University of Kentucky, Washington State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas A&M, Michigan State University, Clemson University and North Carolina State University.

The Principals

Ray D. Copeland, is co-founder and President of Biagro Western. He spent most of his career in the citrus industry as a research specialist with the University of California and served as superintendent of the Lindcove Field Station in Tulare County for 22 years. Besides his role with Biagro Western, Copeland does consulting for citrus growers in California, Mexico and Morocco.

Mr. Copeland received his Bachelor's of Science degree in from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona and his Master's of Science from Oregon State University.

Peter E. Alvitre is co-founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Biagro Western. He oversees the daily operations of the company. Mr. Alvitre received his Bachelor's of Science degree in Agricultural Management from California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo.

Nigel M. Grech is a plant pathologist serving as Vice President and Director of Research and Development for Biagro Western. A native of London, England, Mr. Grech received his BS and MS degrees from London University in microbiology, plant biochemistry and plant nutrition, respectively. His doctoral (Ph.D.) studies were in the areas of plant pathology and nutrition at the University of Natal, South Africa.

Prior to joining the Biagro Western team as a partner, Grech was a visiting Research Fellow for the Department of Plant Pathology, UC Riverside. Before coming to the United States, he served as a senior agricultural researcher and eventually department head for the Citrus and Tropical Fruit Research Institute, Nelspruit, South Africa. Since leaving the academia, Grech has been an independent consultant on nutrition and root health to domestic and foreign farming companies.