AgroPages-Corteva Agriscience executive outlines future strategy-Agricultural news

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Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™ Chief Operating Officer James C. Collins, Jr. presented an update on the Agriculture Division financial performance and strategic progress during the 2018 Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Agriculture & Chemicals Conference – providing a view of the Division's recent cost synergy achievements, as well as near-term product launches and longer term portfolio growth drivers.

"We are coming out of 2017 from a position of strength, with a strong pipeline and playbook of cost and growth synergies that will enable us to continue to deliver earnings growth even within an uncertain market environment," Collins said.

In an update on the Agriculture Division's progress toward its expected spin by June 1, 2019, Collins affirmed the Division's cost synergy commitment of approximately $1.1 billion – sharing plans to deliver approximately $300 million in cost synergies in 2018 vs. 2017. Synergy progress in 2018 is expected to come from actions to further streamline its operating structure, minimize its asset footprint and optimize its product portfolio.

Growth drivers in the near term include product launches across the combined R&D pipelines – with $4.5 billion in peak sales expected from recent and upcoming launches in the 2017 to 2018 timeframe.

Delivering a Complete Solution for the Farmer

Collins presented a first look at the combined R&D pipeline – highlighting technology solutions in the Seed and Crop Protection business platforms that, together with innovation progress in the unique cross-platform and emerging digital agriculture areas, are expected to enable near-term results and strengthen the Agriculture Division's long-term competitive position.

"The industry-leading innovation pipelines we're bringing together have robust offerings today," Collins said. "Our scientists and experts are making critical headway in important areas such as targeted breeding and digital agriculture – all while delivering advanced biotechnology, crop protection and agronomic solutions that farmers need." Programs in the broader product pipeline are expected to deliver peak sales of greater than $22 billion over the long term.

In the Seed platform, Collins commented on the value of its leading competitive position across key market segments and geographic regions – and presented examples of how this position and continued technology innovation are supporting ongoing sales strength in Seed.

Pointing to its solid North America presence and strengthening global position as primary drivers, Collins highlighted key anticipated Seed launches expected to enable near-term progress such as Enlist™ and Qrome® in North America, as well as ramp-up of Leptra® and PowerCore® penetration and introduction of Conkesta E3™ soybeans in Latin America. "Longer term, increased strength and depth across core Insect and Herbicide trait areas will serve as key drivers in enabling this combined pipeline to deliver against multigenerational needs for insect and weed control," Collins said.

Collins provided an update on recent achievements in the Division's breeding portfolio that continue to accelerate scale and quality of the combined breeding pipeline. Collins said, "We are expanding the strength of our digital breeding technology and utilizing innovative methods to drive productivity and shorten our time to market." Collins commented on recent early success in targeted breeding, "We are quickly adopting and deploying CRISPR-Cas technology to accelerate development of new trait concepts broadly across crops."

In an update on the Crop Protection platform, Collins emphasized its focus toward driving cost-advantage and increasing differentiation to further strengthen results. "We are rapidly ramping up new Crop Protection solutions that will build on our strengths and position in key market segments, targeting higher margin returns while maintaining a strict focus on strong portfolio discipline," Collins said.

Crop Protection solutions such as Inatreq™, Vessarya™ and Zorvec™ for disease-control, Rinskor™ for rice-protection, and Pyraxalt™ and Isoclast™ for insect control are among the recent and upcoming launches that – together with the acceleration of existing products such as Spinetoram and Spinosad – are expected to drive near-term growth broadly across the combined Crop Protection business platform. Longer term, looking across the Crop Protection portfolio, the Division expects more than $3.5 billion of peak sales from existing pipeline programs in stage two and beyond.

Collins emphasized the Division's ongoing focus on simultaneously delivering against cost-synergy commitments and employing a best-owner mindset across its Crop Protection product portfolios. "We are building competitive cost advantages across the platform – leveraging our strong market position, enhanced scale and right-sized operating model to make targeted margin improvements."

Recent technology collaborations and innovation advances at the intersection of the Seed and Crop Protection business platforms are enabling an emerging cross-platform innovation leadership position for the Division – with innovations such as the full Enlist™ system and recent seed applied technology advancements as most notable proof points.

In the emerging area of digital agriculture, Collins provided an update of the Division's ongoing efforts. "We are expanding our solutions to enable greater choices for farmers via end-to-end operational management software." Collins continued, "As the first in our industry to deliver both an agronomy and a complete farm management solution, we are opening up new pathways of growth for the agriculture industry."

About Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™

Corteva Agriscience™ is currently the agriculture division of DowDuPont™ (NYSE: DWDP) and is intended to become an independent, publicly traded company once the previously announced spin-off is complete by June 2019. The division combines the strengths of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection and Dow AgroSciences. Corteva Agriscience™ provides growers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry, including some of the most recognized brands in agriculture: Pioneer®, Encirca®, the newly launched Brevant™ Seeds, award-winning Crop Protection products while bringing new products to market though our solid pipeline of action chemistry and technologies. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.