Latest Shakeup: Corteva Splits

I’m often surprised by which of my LinkedIn posts get the most views. My brief and, I thought, fairly obvious comment on the announced Corteva division not only got a lot of views, but apparently sent several people in the business to my LinkedIn page, apparently wondering who in the world would say such things.

I’m not sure anyone really knew what we meant several years ago at Bayer, pre-Monsanto, when we touted the unification of seeds & CP as a major benefit of that particular combination. Heck, just a year or so before, as Editor of Farm Journal, I heard Robb Fraley and Liam Condon explain that particular benefit to a room full of USB farmer-leaders, on a roadshow seeking support for the purchase. I didn’t understand it then, either.

I’ve never been sure it’s a message that resonated with the audience that day, or others among the companies’ customers— the farmers who fork out tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars each season for their premium brands.

Many of those farmers have watched the marketplace for seeds & CP shift and consolidate over the years, even equipment suppliers and retail outlets that serve their needs have become fewer, and farther away.

Now, they’re only in the middle, probably, of a downturn that is sending more farms into bankruptcies, ending more family legacies, driving up more farm debt (if they can still get it) than in years.

It will be interesting to see how Corteva communicates here. Often, from my understanding, a leader in customer service, how will Corteva translate this corporate reconfiguration to their customers? Who cares, Corteva, besides your investors? Not a rhetorical question.