AVD

American Vanguard Corporation

A maker of crop-protection chemicals and specialty products, American Vanguard produces insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and soil fumigants for farmers, plus products for turf, public health, and animal health. Founded in 1969 in Los Angeles as a regional contract manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, it now operates mainly through its AMVAC Chemical subsidiary. Its name comes from "vanguard"—the foremost part of an advancing force—and its SIMPAS system lets farmers apply several inputs at planting.