Swan Hill Chemicals (SHC) began some 50 odd years ago in Swan Hill in Victoria and has been diligently servicing the community and surrounds since 1966.
Not content with maintaining the status quo, owners Gary and Jo Jeans went about expanding the business to Mildura, Nangiloc, Robinvale, Kerang and finally in 2020 to Darwin in the Northern Territory.
The beginnings of the Darwin Branch called NT AG Supplies came after a chance meeting in China at a fertiliser conference between Gary Jeans and the current NT Operations manager Peter Johnson.
Mr Johnson had worked for Swan Hill Chemicals early in his career and had established himself as a very well-respected agricultural scientist who had a natural flair for sales and relationship building. At the time Mr Jeans and Mr Johnson found themselves with similar interests and ideas for the Top End market, which consisted of only the big corporate agencies.
So, at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic and from that chance meeting with a former staff member in China, the decision to set up a business in the Northern Territory and operating out of Darwin went from an idea to a reality.
As luck would have it there was a vacant commercial lot with an existing shed and office space at 15 Toupein Rd Yarrawonga, NT which was available and suitable at the time for a business to operate out of. The business was to be called NT Ag Supplies and began operating with three staff.
From that shed the team began custom blending their own liquid and granular fertiliser which was branded as Aurora NT. Mr Johnson enlisted the assistance of Chris Ash for manufacturing and Anthony McGregor in agronomy sales to kick off the start of the NT Ag Supplies adventure.
After two short years the business had exceeded everyone’s expectations and it was clear they had already outgrown the premises at 15 Toupein Rd – both in staffing and output.
Luck had followed Mr Jeans and Mr Johnson and by chance the adjoining premises at 17 Toupein Rd had just become vacant and Mr Jeans was quick to strike and secure the location.
The fences were cut and NT Ag Supplies was now occupying both 15 and 17 Toupein Rd, marking a sizeable interest and investment in the Northern Territory by the Swan Hill Chemicals Group.
By August of 2022 the business had grown from three staff to eight, which included dedicated irrigation and animal health and rural supplies members as well as its first branch manager to oversee the coordination of the staff and to assist structure the business as it continued to grow.
On the 29 November 2022, NT AG Supplies and Swan Hill Chemicals held an opening for the new Darwin based retail premises which was attended by clients, board members and industry representatives both local and interstate.
NT branch manager Ben Liebelt said it was a fantastic chance to catch up with a diverse range of interested parties – some of whom have supported the business from its inception.
NT Ag Supplies provides custom blended liquid and granular fertilisers, agronomy advice, rural and merchandise sales as well as a dedicated irrigation and water expert serving a wide variety of horticulture, broadacre, pastural and commercial agricultural enterprises.
