CropLink

The joining of Dow and DuPont in 2017 brought more than a dozen agricultural brands together selling seeds, genetics and traits in the U.S. DowDuPont’s agriculture division, Corteva Agriscience, has announced a new multichannel, multibrand strategy that will focus on seed marketing, distribution and licensing opportunities.

Pioneer remains the global flagship brand for the company, says Judd O’Connor, vice president, North America, Corteva Agriscience.

Pioneer corn hybrids and the majority of Pioneer soybean varieties will continue to be exclusive to the Pioneer brand.

In addition, Corteva Agriscience will go to market through five regional corn and soybean seed brands in the U.S. Those include Dairyland Seed, Hoegemeyer, NuTech Seed, Seed Consultants Inc. and Terral Seed. Each will have a strengthened and expanded portfolio.

Five other brands will be blended into the new regional lineup. They include Brodbeck Seeds, Curry, Doebler’s, Pfister and Prairie Brand. O’Connor says popular products from these brands will continue to be available through the remaining regional seed brands.

Geography played a role in the brand consolidation decision, O’Connor explains. Hoegemeyer will be the regional brand for the Western Corn Belt; NuTech, the central Corn Belt; Dairyland, the northern Corn Belt; Seed Consultants, the Eastern Corn Belt; and Terral, the South.

The U.S. retail channel (local cooperatives and national distribution networks, for example) will be served by Mycogen and Terral. The company will maintain the AgVenture independent network of regional seed companies and will continue to sell cottonseed through its PhytoGen brand and alfalfa through Alforex Seeds.

“We will be competing in the retail market in a much more robust way than we have in the past,” O’Connor says.

He sums up the changes in this way: “This is a multichannel, multibrand strategy with Pioneer being the flagship. The regional anchor brands will be very geographically focused with their own identities within those geographies. They will be offering the retail channel another option.”

Find more details on DowDuPont’s agriculture division, Corteva Agriscience, becoming an independent, publicly traded company by June 1, 2019, at www.dow-dupont.com.

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