KALO: The Hidden Innovator Redefining Agricultural Efficiency

For more than nine decades, KALO has quietly powered the fields of modern agriculture, fairways and other ornamental crops. The Kansas-based company, founded in 1932, made its name by improving how the world’s crops grow – improving how crops grow, by creating lasting impact through partners. Its adjuvants and biological enhancers have long carried the logos of other brands, making KALO an invisible backbone of an industry now on the brink of reinvention.

That anonymity is changing. As sustainability, biologicals, and precision agriculture reshape global farming, KALO is stepping forward under new leadership. “What we do is we make agricultural inputs better,” says Jon Barrett, the company’s incoming president. “Our products make the inputs more efficient and more effective.”

From Inoculants to Innovation Cycles

When KALO began, the idea of pairing biological organisms with plants was radical science. “Back in the nineteen thirties it was not a common practice,” Barrett says. “It was the very beginning of understanding that if you take biological entities and put them with plants, you have better soil health and better yield.” Over time, KALO identified other frontiers: adjuvants in the 1970s, seed-treatment additives in the 1990s, and now the return to biologicals and bio-controls – a full-circle moment that connects the company’s origins to agriculture’s future.

That scientific curiosity has become a commercial advantage in a market now scaling rapidly. The global agricultural biologicals industry is projected to expand from about $15 billion in 2024 to over $44 billion by 2032, growing more than 14 percent annually, while adjuvants are expected to climb from roughly $4 billion to $8 billion in the same period. The common driver: sustainability mandates, input-cost pressure, and the need to grow more food on less land.

Barrett believes KALO’s independence is its greatest strength. “We are not burdened with having a lot of capital tied up in infrastructure,” he says. “You tell us what your need is and we’ll go figure it out. We can move quickly, and we’re not beholden to any one factory or process.” That agility allows the company to source new chemistry or biology from anywhere in the world, then adapt it for a client’s local use. One of its current launches originated in Germany – unknown in the U.S. market until KALO imported it.

Precision and Partnership

KALO’s business model thrives on collaboration. For decades it supplied distributors and retailers under private labels, letting others take the spotlight. “Instead of trying to compete with their business, we find other products which bolt on and make theirs better,” Barrett explains. “They earn the credit with the grower because they have a better option.”

The market, however, is consolidating fast. Barrett sees this as an opening. “Now is the time to remind the market of KALO’s name and credibility,” he says. “It’s about maintaining the relationships we’ve had for forty years, but also growing with new business.”

The company’s new seed-focused biologicals, along with their soon to be launched broader bio-control portfolio, underscore its ongoing innovation. KALO’s technology applies bio-control products directly on the seed driving efficiency. “The microbes do not have to find each other in the dark,” Barrett says. “They are connected.” That precision delivery lowers cost and improves scalability, solving a problem that has limited adoption of biologicals despite billions in R&D by major agriscience players.

Culture, Credibility, and the Next Chapter

For all its technical focus, KALO’s advantage remains human. “Leadership in agriculture is being the first person they call when they have a problem,” Barrett says. “Even if it’s not about a product we service, we want people to know they can call us.” That approach has anchored decades of trust across distributors and growers.

Inside the company, Barrett is pushing a renewed sense of pride and creativity. “What KALO has done over ninety years is a testament to the people more than the product,” he says. “I want my team to know they deserve to be in any room, because we’re the oldest one around and we know what we’re doing.” The company is expanding into new territories, hiring generalists who understand seed, crop protection, and adjuvants alike.

Founded in 1932 and proudly family-owned, KALO’s strength has always come from its people. Under Jere Wise’s leadership, the company spun out from its decade of ownership by Marion Laboratories in 1986 to become an independent force in agriculture again, setting a foundation of innovation and integrity. When Chuck Champion took the helm as President in 1995, he carried the legacy forward, leading for more than 30 years with the same spirit of craftsmanship and quiet determination that defined the brand that the announced third successor, Jon, will soon be leading forward.

Integrity, Jon insists, is the constant. “Our word is gold. That goes back to 1932,” Barrett recalls, crediting many legacy industry mentors for introducing him to KALO’s reputation long before he joined. That ethos, he argues, is how the firm supports a range of companies with various levels of complexity while remaining a trusted partner rather than a rival.

Leading through Complexity

For decades, KALO has stood at the centre of a broad and trusted network of agricultural solutions. A company whose influence has always been felt, even when it chose to let its success speak for itself. Its formulations, partnerships and quiet innovations have long powered progress across the industry.

Now, KALO is stepping forward with intention, sharing the insights and perspectives shaped by nearly a century of leadership. As the connective force behind adjuvants, bio-controls, and seed treatment additives, KALO is not introducing itself, it is lending its expertise to the conversation it helped define.