How Hugh Loomans built Sylvite

When the United States attacked Iran in April of 2026, Hugh Loomans was already making plans to reroute agricultural supplies head to his Hamilton, Ontario-based company, Sylvite. Staying on top of global events and responding quickly has been key to Hugh’s success as an entrepreneur.

When Russia attacked Ukraine, Hugh pivoted the same way he did when the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1980s. As an independent supplier of agricultural nutrients and equipment, Sylivte is competing for the market at home in Ontario, Quebec, and in eastern states of the US.

It’s a highly competitive market with major international players vying to elbow him out of the way. Hugh says, “There have been so many nights at 3 am where I’m pacing the floor, trying to figure out how to make the seemingly impossible work.”

He’s succeeded! For more than 40 years, Hugh and Sylvite have innovated in sourcing products, packaging them in ways that meet the needs of customers, adding transportation services to his company to lower costs and, in doing so, spawning new divisions of the company.

Hugh Loomans has met the challenges of the ag sector with the same determination his customers – farmers – do everyday, because just like farming, the ag supply business changes from minute to minute.