Agrotek Industries
Ask growers what they are most proud of in their work and the majority will say it’s the ability to provide healthy food and ingredients to others. But, when soils degrade from constant production or unsupportive management practices, plants can’t deliver the same level of nutrient-rich fruit they once did.
Yields decline. Plant vigour is impacted. Fruit nutritional value decreases.
Living soil with humic acid
There is a way to bring life back to the soil while improving a grower’s bottom line. Jonathan Mathias, CEO of Agrotek Industries, believes humic acid is the basis to restoring soil’s life-giving properties.
“I’m not a scientist, but I’ve learned a great deal about how to regenerate soil,” he says. “Humic acid supports the biology and structure of soil, which is the foundation of regenerative growing.”
Humic Acid 6 is one of Agrotek’s primary products. Made with Canadian- sourced leonardite, HA6 improves soil health over time by stimulating microbial activity, enhancing water retention and ensuring greater nutrient access for plants.
“In simple terms, it helps bring the soil back to life so crops can perform better, naturally,” Mathias says.
Leonardite is a non-soluble amendment that, despite its dark black colour, has life within its shiny granules. HA6 is the perfect blend of humic acid ready to be mixed into the earth to restore living ecosystems.
Indigenous land stewardship values
Mathias is Algonquin and his upbringing instilled the awareness that healthy land, healthy water, healthy soil and healthy communities can only exist in tandem, when each supports the others. This value system directly aligns with regenerative farming.
“Regenerative growing is about restoring biological life in the soil and leaving it stronger for future generations,” he says. “Look at some of your soil under a microscope, there should be life there. You want to feed it and support it. If there isn’t life, it needs to be restored to have healthy plants and strong yields, now and years to come.”
These beliefs about supporting, enhancing and bringing life back to soil led him to purchase Agrotek six years ago. He saw the potential to help farmers with practical tools that allow productivity and land stewardship to thrive together rather than compete with each other. Mathias wants to promote long-term relationships with growers so they can share the mission of supporting the land.
“We stay rooted in building trust, listening to farming realities and being open to innovation,” he says. “I give training sessions about creating a habitat within the soil. Once it exists and is flourishing, you don’t put chemicals on it, you feed it to keep it healthy. Soil is alive. Dirt is dead. We need soil to grow food.”
Sustaining soil health
Agrotek also provides solutions to keep living soils at their best so that crops yield quality fruit without draining the soil. Squid Juice, sourced from Ontario partner Green Flow, supports microbial activity and nutrient cycling. It’s a planet-friendly soil-enhancer suitable for conventional and organic growing.
Another line Agrotek has recently introduced is vegan fertilizers from Dutch-based Biota Nutri. These sustainably-produced, plant-based, liquid fertilizers are vegan-certified and free from sodium and chlorides. The line includes options that support specific needs like vegetative growth, flowering, fruiting and crop-driven nutrition which gives growers the control they want for their growing situation.
“We are always looking to bring the best products to our customers, so when we find partners who have innovative, quality products and similar values to our own at Agrotek, we want to include these options,” Mathias says. “It’s another way for us to work holistically to support the soil.”
The right options for today’s growers
In the past few years, Mathias has intentionally streamlined the Agrotek product portfolio to ensure growers can easily access the products they need to maximize yields while minimizing inputs. This focus has led to a solid line of high-value products that create stronger soil biology, better nutrient efficiency and practical regenerative outcomes.
“We want to first ensure soil health, whether that’s rebuilding it or enhancing the life in the existing ecosystem; then we want to support that biological activity with products like those from Green Flow and Biota Nutri, to ensure soil has what it needs to support plant health and ultimately great fruit quality,” he says.