Production Blog

Corteva Wears Its Own Hat

Corteva will wear its own hat after spinning off from DowDuPont on June 1. (DTN photo by Pamela Smith)

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- Farmers can officially say hello to Corteva Agriscience on June 1 when it spins off from parent company DowDuPont. It's another step to divide the mega-company, which was valued at $131 billion upon its merger in 2017, into three focused businesses.

On June 3, executives of the new company will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), announcing the first day for Corteva as a publically traded company. The agriculture company has expected 2019 Pro Forma net sales of $14.3 billion and becomes a pure-play agriculture company offering seed, crop protection and digital solutions with a global presence in over 140 countries.

Corteva brings together the heritage of the portfolios of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection and Dow AgroSciences. Jim Collins, serves as the CEO. Corteva shares will trade on the NYSE under the symbol "CTVA."

DowDuPont management spun off Dow Inc. (which focuses on producing commodity chemicals) to shareholders in April 2019. The company intends to implement a reverse share split (reduce its shares outstanding) and operate the materials and specialty side of the business under the DuPont name.

Since the September 2017 merger close, the agriculture division has undergone a number of changes to streamline, confirms Kacey Birchmier, Corteva media relations manager:

-- Employee numbers dropped from 25,000 to about 21,000 in 2018.

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-- Seed production sites dropped from 90 to 68.

-- Research and development sites decreased from 233 to 163

The company has said in public documents that these efficiencies will be put into a renewed focus on the seeds and traits market over the next few years. Some of the recent trait platform introductions from Corteva include:

-- PowerCore, launched in 2017, and PowerCore Ultra, launched in 2019, are together expected to bring in about $300 million this year.

-- Enlist traits, launched in cotton in 2017; in corn in 2018 and in soybeans in 2019, are expected to generate $100 million in 2019.

-- Qrome corn, launched in 2019, is expected to bring around $50 million in 2019.

The crop protection solutions pipeline contains a new class of nematicides and a new mode of action for disease control, among other innovations. For a detailed list of products and to see the research portfolio go to: http://s21.q4cdn.com/….

It's not the first time an agriculture company has created an all-new name for itself. Cor means "heart." Teva means "nature." The combined company name is pronounced: /kor.teh.vah/.

Need a mental reminder of how to say Corteva? Think of the word "for-ev-er" and stick an "h" on the end.

Pamela Smith can be reached at Pamela.smith@dtn.com

Follow her on Twitter @PamSmithDTN

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