Lethbridge, Alta. (Rural Roots Canada) – What started as a family research venture in southern Alberta 25 years ago has grown into a biotechnology company helping farmers rethink how they manage crop inputs and profitability.

For AdvancedAg CEO Joshua Day Chief, the company’s 25th anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on a journey that began with his mother’s interest in microbial technology, long before biological crop products became a growing part of the agricultural conversation.

“We’re a bit of a 25-year overnight success,” says Day Chief.

“The company was started 25 years ago by my mother, and over the first 10 or 15 years, we did mostly research; we had only a few customers.”

It was a time when the role of bacteria in agricultural soils received far less attention than it does today.

While conventional fertilizers and crop protection products dominated discussions about agricultural productivity, AdvancedAg investigated how naturally occurring microorganisms could help farmers make better use of the nutrients already in their soils.

The company dedicated its early years to understanding the science rather than selling products.

From Research to Farmer Demand

Day Chief says the turning point came about a decade ago, when farmers began looking for alternatives to an increasingly expensive approach to crop production.

“That’s when things really started to shift for us,” he says.

“We had a lot of farmers coming to us saying, Hey, do you have anything for soil health? Do you have anything for my crops?”

Those conversations reflected a growing concern among producers about the cost of conventional agricultural inputs and whether those investments were delivering sufficient returns.

“We were spending more and more money on these conventional chemical inputs, and we’re not making more money. We’ve hit a wall.”

For AdvancedAg, the growing interest represented an opportunity to take years of microbial research and apply it to practical farm challenges.

Building on the Biology Already in the Soil

One of the company’s first developments was ACFSR, a biological product containing five naturally occurring bacterial species.

The technology is designed to help make nutrients already present in the soil more available to plants.

Day Chief points to phosphorus as an example. Although phosphorus can be present in agricultural soils, some of it is bound in forms plants can’t readily access.

Certain bacteria can help convert that phosphorus into plant-available forms.

“Bacteria are quite amazing,” says Day Chief.

“So rather than adding chemical fertilizers that are plant-available, that are very expensive and very inefficient, we are using what’s already there.”

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That early work laid the foundation for a broader product portfolio.

AdvancedAg has since expanded into seed treatments, biofertilizers and biological control products. Its research now includes microorganisms that may help manage fungal diseases and improve crop resilience against environmental stresses during the growing season.

The evolution reflects the company’s efforts to move beyond a single biological solution and address several challenges farmers encounter throughout the crop production cycle.

A Shift from Higher Yields to Better Profitability

Perhaps one of the biggest changes over the company’s 25-year history is how AdvancedAg measures success.

Day Chief says the company initially followed a familiar approach in the crop input industry, promoting products based on their potential to increase yields.

But its philosophy has evolved.

“I think when we first got started, we tried to do what all the other chemical companies are doing. Buy this product and your crop will yield more.”

Today, he says, the focus is on finding ways to help farmers spend less while maintaining productive operations.

“And at the end of the day, we don’t want to be another crop input that costs the farmer more money and trying to yield more.”

Rather than recommending the same approach for every operation, AdvancedAg wants to understand the individual circumstances of each farm.

Different soils, growing conditions, climates and crops all influence where biological products might fit into a producer’s management practices.

The objective is to identify opportunities to reduce conventional inputs while improving the overall economics of crop production.

Looking Toward the Next 25 Years

After spending much of its early history researching technology that was not widely discussed in mainstream agriculture, AdvancedAg is now operating in an industry attracting interest from major multinational companies.

Day Chief says that growing investment in biological research demonstrates how much the agricultural landscape has changed since his mother started the company.

For AdvancedAg, the next chapter involves continuing to develop biological products that address farm challenges while keeping profitability at the centre of its work.

The company is researching additional applications for beneficial bacteria, with the goal of expanding its product offerings.

“And we’re excited because the research we’re doing today, we know we’re gonna build an entire line of products that are ultimately going to make farmers money no matter where they use them.”

Twenty-five years after its founding, AdvancedAg has evolved from a research-focused family business into a company developing a growing range of biological agricultural technologies.

And while the science and products have changed, the company’s direction is increasingly shaped by a straightforward question: How can farmers get more value from the resources they already have?