Upstream Ag Professional

Welcome to the 145th edition of Upstream Ag Professional

Index

Agribusiness Results: Bayer, UPL, Mosaic, ICL and Bioceres
Fertilizer Market Dynamics: Insights and Intelligence from Fertilizer Company Executives
BMO Farm to Market Conference Highlights: Corteva, Nutrien and FMC
1. How else will Vylor monetize the Pioneer Dealer Network?
Weeds Don't Resist, They Adapt.
Reducing Fungicide Rates Without Sacrificing Control
The Chemistry Playbook
Quick Hits (2 this week)
Agribusiness News
Software in the Age of AI
Other Interesting Ag Articles (6 this week)

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This week’s audio edition can be found here and covers the following:

How else will Vylor monetize the Pioneer Dealer Network?
The Seductiveness of Silver Bullets in Weed Management

1. Agribusiness Results: Bayer, UPL, Mosaic, TELUS, ICL, & Bioceres - Upstream Ag Professional

Highlights

Bayer Crop Science Q1 2026

Revenue of €7.56 billion vs. €7.58 billion in Q1 2025, reported down 0.3% but up 6.8% on a currency-neutral basis. €448 million licensing agreement resolution recorded in Soybean Seed & Traits which drove the biggest upside.
- Crop Protection was the biggest challenge for Bayer in Q1 with them down double digit percentages across insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
EBITDA before special items of €3.014 billion vs. €2.56 billion, up 17.9%
EBITDA margin before special items expanded to 39.9% from 33.7%
R&D down 13.5% year-over-year, reinforcing Bayer's cost management focus. If the pace holds through the remainder of 2026, full-year R&D would fall below $2 billion (USD) for the first time since the 2018 Monsanto acquisition.
Bayer CEO Bill Anderson signalled that an adverse SCOTUS ruling would force the company to reconsider U.S. launches of new crop protection innovations, with Plenexos specifically at risk. Anderson also indicated “structural consequences”, implying headcount reductions if the ruling undermines Bayer's ability to freely commercialize innovation in the U.S.

UPL FY 2026

Overall company revenue of $5.76 billion, up 11% including increased volumes, but some decreased pricing. EBITDA of $1.07 billion (margin 18.5%).
Balance sheet progress continues for UPL with gross debt reduced by $850 million to $2.33 billion. Net debt down by $405 million to $1.62 billion. Net debt/EBITDA improved from 2.1x to under 1.6x. Net working capital days at 57, up 4 days year-over-year.
UPL Corp (Global Crop Protection) Segment Highlights from the Capital Market Day:
- 6 straight quarters of revenue, EBITDA and volume growth
- New product launch revenue exceeded $160 million in FY26.
- Innovation rate moved from ~14% to ~16% and guiding to ~18% innovation rate in FY27 and a pathway to >20% by FY30.
- CEO Mike Frank shared comments on their NPP business and Pipeline:
  - "The natural plant protection business remains one of our top priorities and it's a key pillar for our sustainable growth."
  - "We have 10 new technologies in our natural plant protection development pipeline and we are pleased to report that we are on track to achieving close to our target of US$700 million in revenue in this upcoming financial year…We're also confident that we can generate close to the $1 billion target we have in revenue for this segment by FY31."
  - "Our current pipeline value is approximately $4.4 billion at peak sales, of which around 1.5 billion will be actualized by FY30. What is particularly encouraging is the composition of our pipeline. At peak around 80% of our pipeline is made up of differentiated and sustainable solutions with about 20% coming from post patent products."
  - “We have 27 molecules in our development pipeline with five new entrants since our last capital markets day and 17 new solution platforms."

Next week I will share integrated coverage of commentary from executives surrounding the crop protection and seed segments across all of the major companies. Below are some highlights in the interim: