Corteva’s rivalry with Bayer over soybean seeds ups ante

Corteva’s push to a majority share of the multibillion-dollar market for soybean seeds in the United States marks the latest chapter in its rivalry with Bayer. The two companies in the past few years have sought to outdo each other in developing crops that help farmers to improve their output.

The stakes are high for both companies as soybeans are the second-biggest crop in the United States after corn. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated almost 83 million acres of farmland are planted with soybeans, and will yield more than 4 billion bushels.

Bayer in 2018 became the biggest maker of crop seeds with its acquisition of Monsanto, which for years had dominated the soybean market with seeds that had been genetically modified to withstand the herbicide Roundup.

Corteva, which was spun out of DowDupont in 2019, that year introduced the seed-and-weedkiller combination called Enlist E3 to compete with Bayer’s Xtend soybeans that are resistant to an herbicide called dicamba.

Enlist was the first soybean genetically engineered to tolerate two weed chemicals in addition to glyphosate, which was the main ingredient in Roundup. With Enlist, Corteva expanded its share of U.S. soy plantings from 20% in 2020 to 30% by the following year.

A major advantage for Enlist, made with an herbicide called 2,4-D choline, was that it didn’t evaporate and drift in the wind to damage other crops – a significant concern with dicamba at hotter late-summer temperatures. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and some states limit when farmers are allowed to spray dicamba. Amid legislative debates over proposed regulations, seed companies have lobbied state lawmakers to support or challenge bills that enact stricter rules.

Corteva’s 2,4-D choline weedkiller, a key ingredient in Enlist, doesn’t evaporate from soybean plants and drift in the wind as dicamba does, studies have shown. Corteva touts those advantages to farmers.

Facing a greater competitive threat from Corteva, Bayer in 2021 introduced XtendFlex soybeans to tolerate an additional chemical herbicide, bringing the total to three.

Since then, Corteva continued to gain ground. Enlist this year will be used for at least 55% of soybeans planted in the U.S. this year and may reach more than 60% next year, Corteva said to The Wall Street Journal.

The rivalry between Corteva and Bayer will only continue. Bayer plans to introduce in 2027 a biotech soybean called HT4 that will be the first to resist five different weed-killing chemicals, the company said.