Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional Big Three Stories of the Week ?????? Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating in the United Stated! This weekend's edition of Upstream Ag Professional, detailing essential agribusiness news and analysis, includes: 1. Q3 2024 Crop Protection and Seed Company Earnings Results Highlights and Analysis After diving into dozens of earnings call transcripts and quarterly reports, I’ve synthesized several major themes shaping the crop protection industry over the last quarter and the outlook for 2025, including: ?$5B+ in Q3 net losses across Corteva Agriscience, UPL, and FMC Corporation, lead by a significant write-down at Bayer. ?LatAm struggles with destocking, pricing pressure, and generics. ?>10% growth in biologicals across most companies. ?A summary of digital innovation announcements, specifically around artificial intelligence, including from Bayer, Corteva and Syngenta. Plus more from Nufarm, Bioceres Crop Solutions, Syngenta Group, and BASF. For a high level comparison, check out the image attached. 2. The Insight is the Edge: How Insights Drive Agribusiness Performance | Upstream Ag Insights In early 2024 I wrote about CNH waiting for their customer rather than leading them and stated that: World-class companies lead their customers. These companies lead their customers based on unique insights. In most industries, the businesses with the unique insights have the edge. I have broken this down further into non-ag examples, agtech examples and shared where to look for novel insights. 3. How The Mosaic Company Biosciences Is ‘Bridging the Knowledge Gap’ for Biologicals What can be learned from Mosaic to grow a biologicals business? I break down what has enabled Mosaic to grow its Bioscience business to more than 9 million acres and why they are well positioned for further growth. Plus much more, including a look at Carbon Robotics LaserWeeder stats and new commentary from Farmer's Business Network, Inc. Check out the link in the first comment to subscribe. #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #strategy #innovation Upstream Ag Ventures

Corteva 2024 Investor Day Highlights and Analysis ?????? Last week, Corteva Agriscience held it's 2024 Investor Day. I took in the event and poured over the shared materials to dive into some of the most important insights, and takeaways for agribusiness professionals. Here are a few of the of the highlights: ?Corteva is expecting 65% of its crop protection product sales to be “differentiated,” up from 55% last year. Differentiation supports incremental margins with the average margin differential being 10-15% higher compared to overall crop protection portfolio average. ?65% of US Soybean acres had Enlist E3 Trait in 2024, up from ~55%. ?Corteva biological revenue was $420 million in 2023, with 81% of that revenue from Brazil. For 2024, they expect revenues to come in at ~$500 million. ?Corteva announced hybrid wheat, expecting 10-20% yield increases vs. conventional, for 2027. ?Corteva emphasized biofuels, and sees more than 100 million acres of double cropping potential. Winter canola is a significant part of Corteva’s biofuel initiatives. Corteva announced an MOU with BP to develop a JV focused on crop-based biofuel feedstocks for sustainable aviation fuel. ?Corteva aims to launch short stature corn by 2027 via traditional breeding methods, with a gene edited version currently going through regulatory for the future. ?Announced the launch of CARL (Corteva Agronomic Resource Library), their LLM co-pilot tool for advisors, and the Pioneer channel. For a deeper dive into hybrid wheat, biologicals, digital initiatives, biofuels, AI impact on R&D, Pioneer Channel dynamics, investment initiatives and more, check out the full break down at the link in the first comment and take a look at the attached images, some created by Upstream Ag Insights and others shared at the Corteva Agriscience event. #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #strategy #innovation Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Insights presented by Headstorm- Week of November 25th 2024 ?????? This week's essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders includes: ?Corteva Agriscience 2024 Investor Day Highlights and Analysis A deep dive into the Corteva investor day and R&D pipeline, including hybrid wheat, Biofuels, biologicals and new digital initiatives. ?John Deere Q4 2024 Results Highlights and Analysis A look at See & Spray order book, digital acre growth, inventory (see how companies like Titan Machinery inventory is going below) and more. ?Bain & Company Funds Purchase of BW Fusion, Agronomy 365 and Biodyne: Will we see more? What are the biggest acquisitions to date? (see below image) ?EarthOptics Raises $24M in Financing ?Indigo and Truterra, LLC launch strategic collaboration ?What 1,000 Farmers Told Us (Boston Consulting Group (BCG)) About Tech Adoption and the Power of Psychosegmentation ?Conduit by Landus Cyber Week Highlights How to Cut Costs For Inputs: How are they different? ?Evogene Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results: Similarities to Nimbus Therapeutics? ?AgTech Advisory Collective forms to guide agrifood corporates, startups: ‘We’re not your typical consulting firm’ | Patrick Honcoop + more! Check out the below for just a few images from the more than 30 that appeared in this week's edition and written articles. For the full edition, check out the link in the first comment. #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #innovation #strategy Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional Big Three Stories of the Week ?????? This weekend's edition of Upstream Ag Professional, detailing essential agribusiness news and analysis, includes: 1. Corteva Agriscience Investor Day Highlights and Analysis This week I attended Corteva's Investor event where they broke down the strategic dynamics of their business in the morning and then went through their innovation pipeline in the afternoon. In this weekend's edition I breakdown: - Corteva Growth Platforms out to 2027 and then 2027 and beyond, including their biological business, licensing efforts and hybrid wheat and bio fuel initiatives and how those are linked. - The relaunch of Granular Insights and what it means for Corteva and enabling their Pioneer channel, including their new CARL LLM initiative. Plus, - Do AI discovery initiatives speed up time to market for new traits and active ingredients, which currently sit at 16 years and 12 years, or is there a risk of the increasing time to market? - How do Corteva executives view John Deere's See & Spray system impacting their business? Plus, much, much more. 2. John Deere Q4 2024 Results Highlights and Analysis Highlights of Deere's fiscal year, including a look at production and inventory levels, prospects for the business in 2025, growth in digitized acres, pre-orders for See & Spray systems growing rapidly and more. 3. Bain Capital Purchases BW-Fusion, Agronomy 365 and Biodyne-USA A look at the strategy behind the roll-up and what it indicates about the PE and biological landscape. Plus, what Nimbus Therapeutics can teach us about Evogene, Indigo and Truterra, LLC collaborate (a hint at something in future?), EarthOptics Raises from Conti Ventures, the launch of an AgTech Advisory Collective (Patrick Honcoop) and a look at Landus's Conduit strategy. Check out the link in the first comment to subscribe and receive essential news and analysis direct to your inbox this Sunday. #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture Upstream Ag Insights Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional - Week of November 11th 2024 ?????? This week's essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders includes: ?Tech Companies, AI Initiatives and Agribusiness Implications | Apple Amazon Salesforce ServiceNow Alphabet Inc. Microsoft Meta ?Q3 2024 Agribusiness Earnings Results Week of November 4th to November 8th Nutrien Lavoro Agro CHS Inc. CNH AGCO Corporation Corteva Agriscience Novonesis ?Is a Super App Possible in North American Agriculture? | Rhishi P. Jake Joraanstad Bushel Software is Feeding the World ?Carbon Robotics Sues Laudando & Associates LLC & Associates Over Alleged Laser Weeding Patent Infringement ?Light as an Multi-Purpose Agronomic Weapon | BioLumic ?Tessenderlo Kerley International Kerley Inc. Acquires Tiger-Sul Products + more! Check out the link here: https://lnkd.in/g_uR_Th6 #agtech #agribusiness #innovation #strategy Upstream Ag Ventures Upstream Ag Insights

Upstream Ag Professional Big Five Stories of the Week ?????? This weekend's edition of Upstream Ag Professional, detailing essential agribusiness news and analysis, includes a more dynamic array of ideas, insights and analysis than any edition ever before: 1. Tech Companies, AI Initiatives and Agribusiness Implications What are Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Meta, ServiceNow and Apple doing in AI and LLMs? How how might it impact your business? You as an agribusiness professional? What key takeaways are important to pay attention to? This week I went through the earnings calls and AI strategy of major tech companies to extrapolate what they are doing in AI and the implications for agribusinesses. 2. Can there be a Super App for North American Agriculture? Rhishi P. interviewed Bushel CEO Jake Joraanstad (highly recommend checking it out in Software is Feeding the World) and I dialled into one concept Jake mentioned: A super app for agriculture. What is a super app? How do they start? What is important? I go through all of this and then breakdown the conditions in agriculture and analyze whether a super app is possible, and who is best positioned. 3. Q3 2024 Agribusiness Earnings Results Week of November 4th to November 8th Highlights and analysis of Nutrien, Corteva Agriscience, CNH, AGCO Corporation, Lavoro Agro, Novonesis, Valmont Industries, Inc. and CHS Inc. results. 4. Carbon Robotics Sues Laudando & Associates LLC Over Alleged Laser Weeding Patent Infringement A breakdown of the patents and the lawsuit. 5. New Approaches to Herbicide and Bioherbicide Discovery Highlights and Analysis A look at concepts like Eroom's Law in Crop Protection, AgbioInvestor data on R&D discovery and a look at the companies and technology seeking to help overcome the challenges in new molecule discovery and commercialization in crop protection (image below). Oerth Bio Moa Technology Enko? Plus much more, including 'Light as an Agronomic Weapon' (BioLumic) and Tessenderlo Kerley International Acquires Tiger-Sul Products. Subscribe at the link in the first comment to get all of this direct to your inbox this Sunday. #agtech #agribusiness #innovation #strategy #agriculture Upstream Ag Insights Upstream Ag Ventures

Upstream Ag Professional Big Five Stories of the Week ?????? This weekend's edition of Upstream Ag Professional, detailing essential agribusiness news and analysis, includes: 1. Q3 2024 Agribusiness Earnings Results as of November 1st Highlights and insights from companies that reported their earnings from the last week, including Yara International, FMC Corporation, Syngenta Group, ADAMA Ltd., Lindsay Corporation and BASF. In earnings calls, Lindsay CEO Randy Wood highlighted growth in technology sales and FMC CEO Pierre Brondeau highlighted challenges in LatAm, changes to R&D and North American and diamide sales dynamics. 2. Making the Intangible, Tangible. There is ample opportunity for adjuvants to improve crop protection performance. New AgTech companies are making that even more possible. AgZen 3. What’s driving ag robotics innovation? ‘Labor, labor, labor,’ say FIRA USA 2024 attendees "Numerous FIRA attendees believe ag robotics and automation will create more jobs, rather than take them away as some fear." Breaking down why this is true using the Lump of Labor Fallacy plus using the Jobs to Action Framework to help think through what comes next. My take: Autonomy will not solve the labor challenges within agriculture. In some areas, it could exacerbate them. 4. Growth Through Acquisition with Kyle McMahon, Founder & CEO of TractorZoom Breaking down TractorZoom business segments and what they might tackle next. Mark Blackwell Remi Schmaltz Builders VC 5. The Everyone Trap Dan Schultz reinforcing that success lies in extremes. Looking at the Barbell Effect and what we can learn from Meristem Crop Performance, Costco Wholesale, the questions to ask including "who's my target customer?" and even how that has shaped Upstream Ag Insights. Plus more, including Greeneye Technology news and company highlights (image below), more on the Biostimulant Playbook and The Rise in Biologicals and Specialty Fertilizer Report! Subscribe to get this weekends edition direct to your inbox: https://www.upstream.ag/ #agtech #agribusiness #innovation #strategy Upstream Ag Ventures

New Report! Unlock Insight into the Largest Crop Protection and Fertilizer Manufacturers Biologicals & Specialty Fertilizer Businesses ?????? Biologicals and specialty fertilizers aren’t just a trend— they’re reshaping entire product portfolios and go-to-market initiatives and changing competitive dynamics between crop protection and fertilizer incumbents. The latest Upstream Ag Insights report, "The Rise of Biologicals and Specialty Nutrition," breaks down what industry leaders like Corteva Agriscience, Bayer | Crop Science, FMC Corporation, Syngenta Group, Yara International, The Mosaic Company, Nutrien, ICL Group, BASF and UPL are doing to lead in this important segment. This report is essential for agribusiness professionals aiming to not only understand, but lead in the biological and specialty fertilizer segments. Here’s what you’ll gain: ?Exclusive M&A and Partnership Analysis – See how agribusinesses are leveraging strategic alliances to lead the biologicals market, including the partnership efforts of every major fertilizer and crop protection manufacturer. ?Winning Models – Discover an overview of regional growth efforts, product adoption along with future initiatives, such as how Mosaic is thinking about its N-fixing microbe strategy, how FMC might lean into an integrated insect management system, Nutrien's focus to grow specialty fertilizer, and what Corteva might do with seed channel distribution and their biological segment. ?Key Growth Drivers Unpacked – Understand four primary forces behind the booming demand for bio-based inputs, including useful images to understand their implication. Also included is the The Biostimulant Playbook: A Definitive Guide to Positioning Biostimulants as a bonus! With this, you’ll access frameworks and a real-world case study on biostimulant positioning. Plus other benefits, including Upstream Ag Professional access and a new Upstream Ag Insights Foundation Series article, The Winners Mindset: Influencing the Market vs. Letting the Market Influence You, a crucial concept for thriving in a challenging market. Check out the link in the first comment to purchase the full Report and Playbook! #biologicals #agriculture #agtech #agribusiness #innovation #strategy Upstream Ag Ventures

Meristem Crop Performance Partners with Bridgepoint to Catalyze Growth ?????? Bridgepoint, a PE firm with $72 billion in AUM, has taken a stake in Meristem Crop Performance, one of North America’s most innovative crop input companies. This is notable for a few reasons. The investment amplifies Meristem’s potential in the biologicals and crop protection market both in North America and globally. Meristem already has $150 million in revenue and are now positioned to grow beyond North America through its BIO-CAPSULE IP. Their patented BIO-CAPSULE technology enables farmers to integrate biologicals into their planting operations with no extra steps. Meristem’s ability to package biologicals, crop protection and nutrition in one delivery system sets a new standard for simplicity and effectiveness in delivering these inputs to crops. Additionally, Bridgepoint's investment not only provides capital but aligns Meristem with Rovensa, a giant in biostimulants and biocontrols. The potential? A licensing strategy that could take BIO-CAPSULE into new markets, allowing both companies to capture grow in Europe and LatAm. The potential for licensing Meristem's technology doesn't stop at Rovensa - I think major North American players could see the value of leveraging Meristem IP and evolve input distribution. For the full Upstream Ag Insights deep dive into Meristem's novel insights that enabled the business to flourish, what "picks and shovels" approaches look like in ag biologicals, how crop input companies can benefit from Meristem IP, what ag retailers need to be paying attention to and a look at the next evolution of Meristem's product line, check out the link in the first comment. #Agriculture #Biologicals #Agribusiness #Innovation Upstream Ag Ventures Mitch Eviston Rob McClelland

Upstream Ag Insights brought to you in partnership with Headstorm - Week of October 28th 2024 ?????? This week's essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders includes: ?From Chatbots to Digital Teammates: How AI Agents Fit Into Agribusiness | Upstream Ag Insights ??Patrick A. Walther?? Including a chart for assessing Agent Level below. ?Meristem Crop Performance?Partners with?Bridgepoint?to Catalyze Growth | Rob McClelland Mitch Eviston Including an image of biological challenges to overcome ?How market realities have tossed a wrench into Telus’s spinout plans:?TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods?Implications ? AgroSpheres?and?BASF?Announce Major Strategic Partnership plus BASF and ELICIT PLANT?Partner to Promote New Bio-Solutions including an image of crop protection and seed bio-based product initiatives. ?Carbon Robotics?Raises $70 Million Series D Investment Round ?Nitrogen Fixation Remains Questioned in Scientific Community | Pivot Bio including an image of companies that claim Nitrogen fixation in non-legumous crops. + more! Check out the full edition at the link in the first comment, including audio commentary. #agtech #agribusiness #agriculture #strategy #innovation Upstream Ag Ventures