Upstream Ag Professional - March 9th 2025

Welcome to the 84th Edition of Upstream Ag Professional

My apologies about the layout of the edition last week. The issue has been fixed and I know what caused it, so it will not happen again.

One new feature being used this week is a linked index. I have received many requests to be able to click the story title in the index and be taken to that section without scrolling. This is now enabled in the new platform. While most e-mail clients DO NOT enable, if you click the #3 story this week for example, it will take you directly to that section on the Upstream webpage.

The Login process has been streamlined thanks to feedback, too. If you go to www.upstream.ag there is a white login button in the top right corner— simply click the button and enter the email you subscribed with and you will get a login link emailed to you.

Thanks for all the feedback, good and bad, over the last week. All suggestions have been noted and I will be working to improve things like website layout, the Visualization Hub grouping and links to articles the image appears in and Search.

I appreciate all of your patience through this process. Please never hesitate to reach out if anything arises.

Index:

1. FY 2024 Crop Protection & Seed Company Results: A Deep Dive into Themes, Highlights and Analysis

2. Bayer Crop Science FY 2024 Results Highlights and Analysis

   a. Glyphosate it’s Own Business Unit

   b. Dicamba and Glyphosate: Burn it to the Ground?

3. Bayer Introduces Vyconic™ Soybeans, 5-way Herbicide Tolerance

4. AgVend: Building an Industry Platform in Agriculture—And Why We’re All In

5. Solving for Adoption and Channel in AgTech… So what? with Shane Thomas

6. AgZen Raises $10M in Series A Funding to Enable Feedback Optimized Agriculture

   i. The Precision Spraying Revolution

7. Signs of recovery in global agrifoodtech as funding levels out at $16bn

8. BioLumic Launches World’s First Commercial Light-Activated Seed Traits

9. AgronomyArena.com Launches

10. Audio Edition

11. What You’re Made For

12. Other Notable Ag Articles (9 this week)

1. FY 2024 Crop Protection & Seed Company Results: A Deep Dive into Themes, Highlights and Analysis - Upstream Ag Professional

Over the last month, I have read dozens of earnings call transcripts along with quarterly crop protection and seed earnings results, working to synthesize the themes, trends and key takeaways across the crop protection manufacturers segment of the agriculture industry.

This report is an aggregation of those materials and includes:

• one financial comparison chart of major crop protection and seed companies

• four macro areas of emphasis from FY 2024 leading into 2025, highlighting executive quotes and insights from earnings calls:

  • Crop Protection Revenue Down 5%

  • Supply Chain and Go-to-Market

  • Biologicals a Focus

  • Tariffs

• three other notable comments and takeaways

  • Bayer and Glyphosate as a Stand Alone Business

  • Corteva M&A Priorities

  • Dicamba and Glyphosate: Burn it to the Ground?

• highlights and key takeaways from six crop protection and seed manufacturers

  • Bayer Crop Science

  • BASF

  • Corteva

  • FMC

  • UPL

  • Nufarm

  • TELUS Ag and Consumer Goods (digital)

For the full breakdown, check out the link above.

2. Bayer Crop Science FY 2024 Results Highlights and Analysis - Upstream Ag Professional

1. 2024 Financial Overview

2. 2025 Outlook

3. Notable quotes and Executive Commentary

   a. Profitability Now a Priority?

   b. Crop Protection Challenges

   c. Glyphosate its Own Business Unit

   d. Five Year Framework and Margin: Inventory Management

   e. Dicamba and Glyphosate: Burn it to the Ground?

   f. DSO Update

4. Final Thoughts

Highlights from the results and earnings call:

• Bayer Crop Science reported a 2% decline in FY revenue, bringing total sales to €22.3 billion in 2024. EBITDA before special items decreased 14.2% to €4.3 billion, with the EBITDA margin falling to 19.4%.

• Bayer aims to increase EBITDA margins back to the mid-20% range by 2029, but near-term profitability remains pressured by generic competition, regulatory hurdles, and price declines.

• Glyphosate Business as a Drag on Margins: The glyphosate business experienced a 13% drop in pricing, though volume increased by 7%.

• Pricing pressures are expected to continue in Q1 2025, forecasting revenues will decline mid-single digits in the quarter.

• Bayer took a €3.78 billion impairment in 2024, with €3.27 billion in goodwill write-downs due to weaker market conditions and regulatory challenges including in cotton seed, soybean seed and glyphosate business segments.

Glyphosate it’s Own Business Unit

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