DuPont Executive Vice President James C. Borel outlined growth drivers across the seed, crop protection and nutrition and health businesses at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2014 Global Agriculture Conference – highlighting the launch of a next generation decision services platform for U.S. farmers.
"Increasing global demand for more nutritious, safe and affordable food is driving growth at DuPont," said Borel. "We are focused on increasing our return on research and development through innovation; expanding our global reach; and strong execution in our Agriculture and Nutrition & Health segments."
One of DuPont's three strategic priorities in its plan to build a higher growth, higher value company is to extend its leadership in the science-driven segments of the agriculture-to-food value chains, and to leverage the linkages across these segments. In 2013, DuPont's Agriculture and Nutrition & Health segments comprised more than 40 percent of company sales and segment operating earnings.
"Our agriculture research pipeline, strong positions in global markets and today's launch of a new suite of whole-farm solutions continue to demonstrate our commitment to innovate and deliver valuable agriculture and food solutions," Borel said.
Leading the Way in Whole-Farm Decision Services
DuPont Pioneer, the advanced seed and genetics business of DuPont, launched EncircaSM services, a suite of whole-farm decision services to help improve productivity and profitability of grower operations. These tailored, brand-neutral offerings will be delivered through local EncircaSM Certified Services Agents who work directly with farmers to analyze and customize recommendations based on individual needs and priorities to make timely business decisions.
"The launch of EncircaSM services represents an increasingly important part of the Pioneer growth strategy," said Borel. "There is enormous potential for these services to help improve productivity for North America corn and soybean farmers and extend globally to a wide range of crops and markets. Our offerings put the customer's need for flexibility and convenience first, draw on the capabilities of industry-leading collaborators, and tie in one of the industry's largest teams of professional agricultural advisors."
EncircaSM View will be the first offering to launch under the EncircaSM services brand umbrella this March. Growers will have the option of signing up for a free mobile-enabled information platform that organizes crop observations and notes and provides access to Pioneer expert advisors; or opting for a premium, fee-based program which also includes market news and analysis, innovative grain trading capabilities and field specific weather forecasts.
DuPont Pioneer will release EnciraSM Yield later this year – a fee-based offering that will help growers effectively assess, plan and analyze critical inputs such as seed, nitrogen/fertility and water to improve placement and management.
In the next decade, EncircaSM services are estimated to deliver a peak revenue stream of more than $500 million annually for Pioneer. Additional services will be rolled out under the EncircaSM services brand in 2015 and beyond.
Positioned for Growth Across the Value Chain
The Agriculture and Nutrition & Health segments are poised for continued growth – supported by strong global market positions and innovative products and services. DuPont is using global science to deliver local solutions through customer-focused product and application development, elite genetics, biotech and native traits, novel chemistry and seed-applied technologies.
"DuPont has an important role to play in helping the world meet the challenge of feeding a growing population," said Borel. "As a leader in sustainable agricultural productivity, animal and human nutrition, and food protection solutions, we are focused on delivering superior value to growers and food companies while shaping global agricultural and food systems for all stakeholders."
Over the next five years, about half of the DuPont Agriculture segment growth is expected to occur outside of North America. The global seed pipeline released reinforces an integrated approach to product development and highlights agricultural solutions through differential breeding, plant protection traits, corn agronomic traits, soybean output traits and hybridization systems. These solutions build on the recent product success of Optimum AQUAmax corn hybrids and Optimum AcreMax corn products validated by last year's gain of more than one point in North America corn market share.
DuPont Crop Protection has a robust pipeline of novel insect, weed and disease control products to complement the success of Rynaxpyr® products, which exceeded $1 billion in sales in 2013. In addition to Rynaxypyr, Cyazypyr and new fungicide products, the launch of new seed treatments in 2014 under the Lumigen™ Seed Sense brand is anticipated to contribute meaningfully to future growth.
DuPont Nutrition & Health is using science to deliver customized nutrition solutions to improve health and protect food. As the global population increases, becomes more urbanized and the middle class expands, DuPont is committed to science-based solutions to improve the nutritional value of food while preventing food waste in the value chain.
