A Saskatoon company that manufactures pesticides and fertilizers from mustard seed will soon be seeking more capital to expand its business.
MPT Mustard Products and Technologies thinks enough demand is developing for its products to justify doubling production at its new 12,000 sq. foot commercial-scale manufacturing facility.
The plant produces five tonnes of fertilizers and biopesticides a day, and the goal is to increase production to 10 tonnes per day “pretty quickly,” said chief operating officer Jay Robinson.
A significant marketing opportunity has emerged for the company in Canada, where it recently received regulatory approval for its MustGro Crop biofumigant on a variety of berries.
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Robinson said the timing couldn’t be better because Dow AgroSciences recently discontinued the use of Telone in Canada.
“For us, that was excellent because (growers) don’t really have any other option,” he said.
Telone was a popular fumigant used in the fruit and vegetable industry. It took over from methyl bromide, a pre-plant soil fumigant that was banned from use in Canada in 2005 for depleting the ozone layer.
Robinson said MPT should have a national distributor for MustGro Crop within the next six weeks to start booking spring orders. The company also planned to launch its MustGro Invest biopesticide for turf and ornamentals in Florida Sept. 23.
Those two developments are ex-pected to double demand for MPT’s products, which are primarily sold in California, Florida, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.
MPT intends to raise $1.5 to $2 million in equity in October or November to fund the increased production and marketing activity. Money will also be spent finalizing the development of a new technology.
The company will use 4,000 tonnes of mustard seed a year once production increases to 10 tonnes per day.
Canadian farmers are expected to produce 138,000 tonnes of the oilseed in 2012, about 26,000 tonnes of which will be used domestically.
MPT is buying its mustard on the spot market, but it hopes to forward contract next year’s needs with a major supplier, such as Viterra.
The eventual goal is to contract directly with growers, but the company doesn’t have the ability to do that yet. MPT’s technology allows it to process lower grades of mustard that could otherwise be difficult to sell.
