AgGateway launches new Specialty Chemical Council

AgGateway members have created a new council to address electronic connectivity issues related to the specialty chemical business. Segments covered by the council will include professional vegetation management, pest control services, and turf and ornamental, as well as subset segments such as aquatics and forestry. The council will address “pain points” related to the exchange of business data within these segments, and will collaborate with industry partners to implement standards and guidelines that provide timely, accurate and standardized data. 

 

“As with crop protection, we want to use best practices and set standards for efficient data exchange, in a way that meets the unique characteristics of the specialty chemical business,” said the council’s new chair, Sarah Moster, Manager of Business Analysis and CRM for BASF. “Electronic standardization and coding on products will enhance the accuracy and timing of billing and payments to distributors while also reducing complexity within the industry. Reducing complexity will solve pain points for everyone, improve efficiency and save money.”

 

The council charter was approved at AgGateway’s annual conference last week. In addition to Moster’s election as chair, Carol Contino, ‎Customer Service Manager for Environmental Science at Bayer CropScience, was elected vice chair. Companies participating in the council to date include AgData, BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow, Entira, F4F, FMC, Focus Technology, XS, Inc., Land O’Lakes/Winfield, River Valley Cooperative, Syngenta, Tessenderlo Kerley, Wilbur-Ellis, and Koch. Moster notes that the new council may be able to leverage some of the work already done in AgGateway’s Crop Protection Council, but that the specialty chemicals industry is unique in a number of ways.

 

The council will begin work to determine 2016 priorities with a conference call on December 17, including incorporating product codes into the Ag Industry Identification System (AGIIS), starting the process of using standard product identifiers, and creating consistent industry guidelines for contract-to-invoice and sales reporting. Companies interested in joining the council and participating in the December 17 meeting can contact AgGateway’s member services at member.services@AgGateway.org. 

 

AgGateway now has eight active councils addressing eAgriculture implementation: Ag Retailers, Allied Providers, Crop Nutrition, Crop Protection, Grain & Feed, Precision Ag, Seed, and Specialty Chemical.