Syngenta's President of Crop Protection provides product insights

Securing certain herbicides may be a challenge for farmers in 2023 like this year and crop protection products will likely cost more, according to Vern Hawkins, Syngenta Crop Protection President. Hawkins discussed supply chain issues and other topics important to growers at the recent Syngenta Media Summit in New Orleans.

Hawkins also talked with DTN about ongoing litigation involving the company that may or may not affect growers in the future, new products and other issues. The bi-annual media event was held on Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. It included a tour of Syngenta's main crop protection manufacturing and packaging plant in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, where products such as atrazine are produced.

Here's Hawkins' one-on-one interview with DTN.

DTN: What would you like farmers to know about 2023, especially when it comes to crop protection product availability?

Hawkins: 2023 is going to be another year of challenges. I think there will be improvements in some of the product supply situations, but a number of the products are still constrained. We've been working hard with our retail partners to make sure that we have good customer forecasting plans related to intentions. I think farmers certainly need to be connected with their suppliers so those needs are understood ... to make purchases on time frames that make sense for farmers. There are a number of things that are freeing up in parts of the logistics supply chain as far as some (herbicide) components, but there are still a number of components that are quite tight, which is making it difficult to make some products in advance of the season.

DTN: What type of crop protection products are you talking about? What chemicals may farmers want to get locked up?

Hawkins: It's a little bit difficult to pin it to a specific product. But we certainly know of some supply constraints in some of the corn herbicide chemistry areas due to a raw material needed by all suppliers. What we need most from farmers is to understand their (herbicide use) intentions because we can still influence the mix of where those active ingredients get put into end products. We have a certain amount of active ingredients ... to make (products) that farmers are planning to purchase. That's a big part of our supply chain planning, which is underway right now.

(Hawkins said during the Media Summit that raw materials to make chloroacetamide herbicides, Group 15 products with the active ingredients metolachlor, acetochlor and alachlor, have been difficult to obtain. This could include brand names Acuron, Dual II Magnum and more.)

DTN: What should farmers expect as far as pricing for crop protection products in 2023 and beyond?

Hawkins: Pricing is going to continue to go up in 2023. It will be quite broad depending on the product, but generally it could be as high as single digits or near 10%. I think many farmers probably have already seen that. The largest reason is input costs for raw materials have increased in price. Logistics is still quite expensive as well. I do hope that as we go through 2023 into '24, we'll begin to see some of that (high costs) subside.

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