Upstream Ag Insights - February 24th 2025

Essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders.

February 24, 2025 • Read Time: 17 minutes

Welcome to the 251st edition of Upstream Ag Insights—the most trusted resource for strategic insights by over 20,050 agribusiness leaders. Below you’ll find the most critical industry news, strategic frameworks, and detailed analysis designed to give you a competitive edge and satiate your curiosity.

Index

  1. Agribusiness FY 2024 Earnings Results Week of February 17th: Nutrien, TELUS Ag & Consumer Goods, CF Industries, Valmont and Citi Bank Conference Transcript Highlights from Ag Equipment Companies

  2. 6 Ways I Would Use GenAI If I Were Still an Agronomist

  3. POC to OMG! The Realities of Deploying GenAI at the Farm Gate

  4. Jord BioScience Raises $7 million Series B: The Performance Enhancing Enabler

  5. EPA’s Final Herbicide Strategy Sets A New Trajectory For Applications: What companies can help?

    1. New Precision Spray Report Coming Soon!

  6. Quantum Computing and Agriculture

  7. Biostimulants and Advanced Fertility Insights

    1. Acadian Plant Health Launches Abiotic Stress Management Portfolio of Biostimulants

    2. Bioscience in practice: Shedding the snake oil rep of biostimulants

    3. Biostimulant Products for 2025 Benchmarking Study

    4. How Advances in Micronutrient Technology Are Helping Meet Increased Demand

  8. The Case For Being Harder on Yourself

  9. Other Interesting Ag Articles (7 this week)

News about Upstream Ag Insights

For years, Upstream has focused on being a trusted resource for agribusiness leaders.

My target moving forward is to deliver that with a best-in-class subscriber experience.

That starts next week.

I’ve built a brand-new web platform that will serve as the hub for Upstream Ag Insights. 

I have built out numerous improvements, including:

  • All Reports & eBooks in One Place – Easily browse and download every Upstream Ag Professional report and eBook. For Insights subscribers, there will be the ability to purchase reports (which come with a complimentary Professional subscription) in one spot.

  • Visualization Hub – Exclusive for Upstream Ag Professional members, a dedicated home for every image, framework, and chart, so you can readily reference them or use them in your own work.

  • In-Web Search – Quickly find past topics, insights, and research without digging through emails.

  • Earlier Access - Some insights and analysis shouldn’t have to wait. Some articles will begin to be posted to the website throughout the week, exclusively for Professional members.

  • Full Archive – Every past article and report, all in one place.

  • Podcast Access – Exclusively for Professional members, readily listen to audio content to complement the written insights and free up your time.

These changes are designed to make Upstream more accessible, user-friendly and ultimately more valuable.

The emails will still come direct to your inbox every, but now there is a Hub to augment the email for those that want to easily leverage resources on an as-needed basis.

The website will officially launch next week.

With the new website, that means a change in email delivery system.

The goal is for no disruption to the emails being delivered to your inbox each week. However, I am cognizant that issues can always arise. I am working with a team on the seamless migration to the new webpage, but there is always a risk that something happens.

If any issues arise, please just send me an email at [email protected]

This week’s edition of Upstream Ag Insights is brought to you in partnership with Farmers Edge:

The Hidden Advantage in Agribusiness: Cost Arbitrage

Cost arbitrage isn’t a new concept, but it’s underutilized in agriculture. By outsourcing technology services through Managed Services Providers, like Farmers Edge, agribusinesses can reduce tech spend by an average of 30% while also addressing capability gaps with top-tier talent. This isn’t about cutting corners—it’s about reallocating capital more effectively. Instead of sinking resources into maintaining in-house systems, businesses can focus on operational efficiency, innovation, and growth.

As margins tighten and tech complexity grows, cost arbitrage is becoming a critical lever for agribusinesses looking to stay ahead.

Get the full breakdown here:

Highlights

Nutrien

Nutrien's 2024 performance saw a decline in revenue (-11% YoY) and net earnings (-45% YoY), largely due to lower potash and nitrogen prices.

However, the Retail segment had higher margins driven by strong proprietary product growth in crop nutrition and biostimulants. Crop protection margins also improved, supported by strong operational execution and lower-cost inventory sell-through.

Potash volumes hit a record high (+5% YoY), though revenue fell (-20% YoY) amid lower pricing. Nutrien is aggressively moving potash into the U.S. ahead of potential tariffs, which they warn will ultimately impact farmers. Nutrien is trying to get as much Potash into the US as possible prior to any tariffs being in place.

Looking ahead to 2025, Nutrien expects strong retail performance, with projected growth in proprietary crop nutrition and biostimulants (+~15% YoY).

TELUS Agriculture and Consumer Goods

TELUS Ag and Consumer Goods business segment grew 16% in the quarter and 12.4% for 2024. On their earnings call they stated that they have had “eight consecutive quarters of records sales.” They also stated in their MD&A that they had “higher agriculture and consumer goods margins” in 2024.

It’s also interesting to consider the Agriculture & Consumer Goods segments separately.

On an organic basis, I’d suggest the aggregate Agriculture & Consumer Goods business shrank.

For the full breakdown, including a look at TELUS Ag and Consumer Financials and Growth, a look at AGCO 9-figure write-down of PTx Trimble, Nutrien retail business breakdown along with executive commentary, exclusive images and deeper analysis, become an Upstream Ag Professional member:

This is a full article available to all Upstream Ag Insights subscribers that looks at 6 Ways I Would Use GenAI if I Were Still an Agronomist.

The index is below with a detailed expansion and examples included on each.

Index:

  1. Leverage Deep Research Tools for Agronomic Learning

  2. Build a GPT for Tailored Agronomic Data & Questions

  3. Create a Weekly Customer Communication with AI Assistance

  4. Leverage an AI-Driven CRM Voice System

  5. Develop Personalized Sales & Marketing Assets

  6. Template Building: Fertility Recommendations

Looking to add agronomy to your tech stack?

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  • Unify all your farm, field, crop, machine, satellite and sensor data in one place

  • Make data-driven decisions about irrigation, nutrition and disease

  • Track your crop performance, farming activities and sustainability practices

Join leading companies like PepsiCo, Sumitomo, and NEC using CropX to optimize agronomic decisions and manage farming operations.  Learn more about CropX:

Rhishi Pethe of Software is Feeding the World put together a compelling white paper on GenAi. The document provides structure for how to think through GenAi strategy for agribusinesses looking to build products, or leverage various systems in the segment.

One of the most interesting aspects for me was the sharing of Bayer’s cost development breakout for their ELY system:

In the initial phase of the project, 50% of the budget was allocated for the data science team, 30% for building the right user experience, and 20% for product management. The biggest contributor to cost for Bayer as well was the human resources required to do the work of modeling building, data management, software engineering, training, and scaling.

There is a full chart in the white paper.

If you are interested in GenAi, I encourage you to download the free white paper at the link above.

Jord BioScience, a microbial solutions company, has raised $7.1 million in Series B funding to accelerate its technology development. Spun out of the University of Minnesota, Jord focuses on improving the performance and consistency of biological crop inputs by identifying synergistic microbial consortia.

By leveraging a proprietary library of over 6,000 microbial isolates and advanced screening techniques, Jord helps agribusinesses enhance bio-based products, improving things like stability, efficacy, and field performance. The company partners with agribusiness with microbial products, operating as an enabler rather than a direct-to-farmer supplier.

With microbial consistency being a major challenge in biologicals adoption, Jord’s approach could be useful for the sector.

For the full look into Jord BioScience patents, technology, business model, benefits, potential collaborations and more, become an Upstream Ag Professional member:

After decades of uncertainty regarding how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) applies to pesticide use, the EPA’s Final Herbicide Strategy, now provides more clear guidelines for herbicide application. This marks a significant shift in regulatory oversight, with insecticides and fungicides to follow.

One key initiative is Spray Drift Mitigation.

I cant help but see the value of two specific startups in this segment: AgZen and MagrowTec

For a look at AgZen, how their technology might be utilized and why it is valuable, along with an overview of Magrowtec, become an Upstream Ag professional member:

New Report Coming!

I have been collaborating with colleagues in developing a deep dive report on Precision Spraying, including:

  • the history of precision spraying

  • the types of precision spraying

  • the trends driving it, the benefits, and the challenges to overcome

  • market adoption by region

  • a look at more than 30 precision spraying, or related companies

    • product breakdown, including features and technical components

  • analysis and frameworks for considering the impact on the crop input industry.

  • + more!

Stay tuned for the full Report in the coming weeks!

6. Quantum Computing and Agriculture - Upstream Ag Professional

This week, Microsoft announced an advancement in quantum computing with the introduction of Majorana 1, the world's first quantum chip powered by a topological core architecture.

The advancement leverages a new class of materials called topoconductors, enabling the creation and control of Majorana particles to produce more reliable and scalable qubits—the fundamental units of quantum information.

Microsoft's approach aims to develop quantum computers capable of solving complex industrial problems within years rather than decades. 

For a look at what Quantum Computing is and 6 ways Quantum Computing can be used for agriculture, become an Upstream Ag Professional member today:

7. Biostimulants and Advanced Fertility Insights

I was encouraged by one announcement and two articles this week surrounding biostimulants and micronutrients.

Acadian Plant Health unveils its Abiotic Stress Management (ASM) portfolio, an exciting advancement propelling the industry beyond currently available biostimulants. Proven to reliably enhance plant growth and stress tolerance, the ASM portfolio helps crops combat abiotic stress, the leading cause of yield loss.

I like the positioning of Acadians new biostimulant portfolio, specifically emphasizing abiotic stress as a leading cause of yield loss:

Acadian has also begun to emphasize abiotic stress with specificity:

ASM combines the most effective biological compounds that feature actives specifically formulated to target and counter key crop stressors.

The approach is consistent with how I think the most successful biostimulant companies will approach crafting a portfolio, building products and positioning them in the market place.

For a detailed breakdown of what I believe is the most effective way to think about those efforts, you can find the Upstream Ag Insights Biostimulant Playbook, available here:

Additionally, I read this article this week, along the same lines:

Up until now, farmers and agronomists have used phenotypic observations such as changes in leaf biomass or green leaf area to assess the effectiveness of biostimulants…. “While these visible changes are important, they don’t explain the underlying mechanisms. “Through genomics, we now have the tools to connect these phenotype responses to their genotypic causes, offering a more precise understanding of how and why these changes occur.”

In the attached Playbook, I emphasize omics analysis as a key first step in understanding and positioning a biostimulant:

There is a need for omics work, and third party research on what the microbe or natural molecule stimulates in the plant and the implication of that in a field setting. A deep understanding of “how” and “why” goes a long way to increasing confidence in farmers and/or advisors.

Related to the above, I think the below is a cool initiative for biostimulant based entities to benchmark their products:

Layne Harris of Foresight Agronomics shared the following this week:

I’m conducting a biostimulant benchmarking study this year and am looking for companies interested in submitting their products for analysis. This study will evaluate the effects on crop gene expression of products containing humic acid, fulvic acid, protein hydrolysates, amino acids, microbial extracts, or seaweed extracts to provide valuable comparative insights for current products and future product development.

What’s in it for participants?

A detailed Foresight Agronomics report with key findings

Your product’s raw RNA-Seq data from our analysis

40% discount on project costs

Full anonymity—company and product names will not be disclosed.

I think this is a great initiative. You can contact Layne for more details in the link above.

It’s easy for growers to see the value of micros in $7 corn, but would that stick at sub-$5 corn? The practice of using micronutrients did indeed stick which was good news. There is better awareness of the benefits of using micros, which is limiting the swings in volume we used to see.

In the article, nutrition company personnel state that demand for micronutrients is remaining stable even in a more challenging economic environment.

The statements from the companies are consistent with what retailers in a CropLife survey said about 2025, with the general sentiment to be growth in the segment:

I have previously highlighted the Hierarchy of Agronomic Needs as a play on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs— suggesting that the bottom inputs are deemed more crucial than those at the top:

I suggest micronutrients are at the top, meaning they are the first to get eliminated in difficult market or environmental conditions. That isn’t because I think they should be, rather, that was my overall experience with farmer sentiment towards them as an agronomist.

In the original article I state that the majority of the inputs and tools are mobile, meaning it’s possible for biostimulants, for example, to improve in perception and become closer to a “foundational need” over time.

What the article linked is suggesting is that there is a trend towards micronutrients moving down the hierarchy.

This occurs when farmers and advisors become more comfortable— generally after company investment in improved technology, investment in education and commitment to demand generation (marketing, people etc).

For a deep dive into what major agribusinesses are doing to invest in these areas and what that might mean for the future of this segment, you an check out the The Rise of Biologicals and Specialty Fertilizers Agribusiness Initiatives Report:

Non Ag Article

The most successful people in any field are simultaneously confident in their abilities and brutally honest about their shortcomings.

Other Interesting Ag Articles

A Samurai Without a Master: Wade Barnes - Growing the Future Podcast