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ARTICLE
Australian farmers face unprecedented challenges: climate variability, soil degradation, and rising input costs. In this evolving landscape, many are turning their attention underground — to the living systems that sustain healthy, resilient crops.
For over 20 years, New Edge Microbials (NEM) has been at the forefront of this biological revolution, developing and manufacturing high-quality, tailored biological solutions specifically for Australian soils and farming systems. Our mission is clear: to unlock productivity below the surface by harnessing beneficial microbes, fungi, and natural compounds that improve soil health, enhance nutrient uptake and stimulate plant growth.
Built by Listening, Designed for Growers
At NEM, everything begins with listening. We partner with growers to understand their on-farm challenges and realities, then back those insights with rigorous science and innovation. A key part of this approach is our collaboration with global microbial leader Lallemand Plant Care, whose century-plus of expertise complements our deep local knowledge.
While Lallemand brings world-class research capabilities, the development of our products always starts in the field — with direct grower feedback, soil microbiome studies, crop stress profiling, and real-world farming practices shaping every formulation. This ensures our products deliver reliable, practical benefits where it matters most.
Soil First: The Foundation of Resilient Farming
Healthy soil is the cornerstone of productive agriculture, yet decades of intensive cropping and synthetic inputs have impacted the microbial life that drives nutrient cycling and root health.
NEM’s biological products — including inoculants made with live microbes — work to restore and enhance this vital ecosystem by:
* Increasing microbial diversity and activity around roots
* Improving soil structure and moisture retention
* Unlocking nutrients such as phosphorus and zinc
* Enhancing root development and nutrient efficiency
* Helping crops tolerate heat, drought, and transplant stress
Our Flagship Biological Solution
* Biostimulants: Our foliar spray LALSTIM OSMO SP contains 97% natural glycine betaine, helping plants stabilise enzymes and membranes under stress. Australian growers have seen improved fruit set, better crop uniformity, and faster recovery after drought, heat, or salinity stress in key horticultural crops like tomatoes, berries, grapes, and leafy greens.
* Biofertilisers: Products like LALRISE START SC and LALRISE MAX WP supply beneficial bacteria and fungi that unlock nutrients and extend root reach. LALRISE START SC contains phosphate-solubilising bacteria for early root and shoot growth, while LALRISE MAX WP uses endomycorrhizal fungi to increase uptake of phosphorus, zinc, and copper — supporting long-term soil fertility.
* Legume Inoculants: Rhizobia-based inoculants are vital for sustainable nitrogen fixation. Our range includes EasyRhiz™ (Exclusive formulation - freeze-dried vial), NoduleN™ (peat-based inoculant), designed to boost nodulation in challenging soils, improves plant performance and yield gains.
Collaborating with Lallemand: Science That Listens
Our partnership with Lallemand Plant Care strengthens NEM’s commitment to science-driven solutions built from grower insights. Lallemand’s extensive research expertise complements our local focus — helping us develop products that respond to Australian growers’ needs with credibility and performance.
Together, we bring to market biologicals that are not only scientifically validated but designed for real-world results. From field trials to feedback loops, our collaboration ensures continuous innovation guided by what works on Australian farms.
Supporting Australian Growers with Practical Solutions
All NEM products are tailored to suit local soils, climates, and cropping systems. They are compatible with most commonly used chemicals when tank mixed, crop safe, and shelf stable, making them practical and reliable for on-farm use. We provide expert technical guidance to help maximise grower success. NEM delivers proven biological solutions that support Australian growers with science backed, sustainable, and practical tools.
The Biological Advantage: Sustainable and Profitable Farming
Biologicals are a vital tool in meeting today’s farming challenges. They improve soil health, optimise nutrient use, and enhance crop resilience — helping growers achieve better yields sustainably and profitably.
At NEM, the best solutions come from listening to growers first, then delivering science-backed products that work beneath the surface, where it counts.
Combined use of LALRISE® MAX WP and LALRISE® START SC improves nutrient use efficiency, promotes vigorous early growth, and enhances plant resilience to abiotic stress, supporting stronger tree architecture. In a two-year apple trial, trees treated with LALRISE® START SC (for promoting early-stage nutrient uptake and growth in young plants) and LALRISE® MAX WP (for sustained mycorrhizal root colonisation and improved nutrient and water uptake) and showed increased vegetative growth: leader shoot diameter increased by 24% and 20%, and leader shoot length by 52% and 32% compared to untreated controls across two growing seasons.
* New Edge Microbials (NEM) partners with global biocontrol, biostimulant and bio-fertiliser group, Lallemand Plant Care, a division of Canada’s Lallemand Inc.
* The partnership will deliver new and globally proven biological products for distribution to farmers in Australia and New Zealand, significantly improving soil health, crop yield, and sustainability. It will facilitate access to global markets for NEM’s Australian technologies.
* NEM remains majority Australian-owned, regionally-based (Wodonga, Victoria) and committed to harnessing the best science for soil and plant health.
New Edge Microbials, a business started by microbiologist Sandy Montague 20 years ago, has partnered with Canada’s Lallemand Inc. in a deal that will contribute significantly to transformation in the productivity and sustainability of broad acre and horticulture farming in Australia and New Zealand.
