Get set for Brevant seeds.
That’s the new retail Corteva Agriscience seed brand that will be sold exclusively in the Midwest and Eastern Corn Belt in 2021.
This brand isn’t new, as it was launched in 2018 in nine countries including Canada. Brevant will be replacing Mycogen Seeds as Corteva’s primary U.S. retail-focused brand. Brevant seeds will be available for planting in 2021, say Corteva officials.
In Southern, Southwestern and Western U.S. markets, Corteva will offer corn and soybeans through its single flagship brand, Pioneer. As part of this strategy, Corteva will expand the number of retailers offering Pioneer seed in select geographies and will also retire Terral Seeds and the REV brand. PhytoGen cottonseed will continue to be offered for sale through existing retailers and distribution partners. A unified Pioneer and PhytoGen sales team will serve customers in the Mid-Southern and Southeastern U.S and support both brands, say company officials.
Why the Change?
The “merger of equals” between DuPont and Dow in September 2017 spawned Corteva AgriScience and all the seed companies owned by the two former companies. The move for bringing Brevant on-board has to do with the one-third of U.S. farmers who prefer to purchase their seed inputs through retail, which is also the primary route-to-market for Corteva Agriscience crop protection product sales.
The move will follow a philosophy of “We’re not here to be new. We’re here to bring new,” says Brian Barker, multi-channel seed brand leader for Corteva Agriscience. He adds Brevant will allow more focus on the retail level compared to Mycogen Seeds, which was split between retailer and farmer-dealer channels, he says.
“It’s not just a name, it’s really a more focused approach on retail partners and the buying experience that they (farmer-customers) want,” Barker says. “What this new launch allows us to do is be very focused on taking this brand and designing it for the retail channel, and then letting that flow through to the growers who want to buy from the retail channel. It’s a refresh, a resurgence that the new brand allows to get that focus that we weren’t able to achieve with Mycogen.”
Mycogen Seeds’ strong point has been silage corn, and that will continue to be part of Brevant’s lineup, too, says Barker. New products, though, will also be part of the Brevant line, he adds.
“Enlist E3 soybeans will be one of the marquee offerings,” says Barker. “On the corn side, there will be a significant amount of new hybrids and new traits. “
He adds that the Brevant brand will pull in from Corteva’s research and development to launch these new products.
Retail is the common way farmers buy seed, chemical, and other agricultural inputs in Southern, Southwestern and Western U.S. markets, Barker says. In those areas, it makes sense for Corteva to streamline its offerings through a single brand like Pioneer in retail channels, he adds.
Retail is also the channel that Corteva Agriscience crop protection products—such as herbicides and fungicides—are sold through. Bundling these products with seed has accelerated in recent years. For now, though, Barker says Corteva is concentrating on working to find what will work best for its retail partners in trying to find which products fit on a farmer’s farm.
“The number one thing that’s going to drive this will be product performance through our retail partners,” he says. “We have to make sure we work with our retail partners and get those (products) on those farmer acres and get that performance that they’re looking for.”
Regional Companies
Then as now, Corteva has is retaining Pioneer as its flagship brand. However, it has revamped its regional brands down to four that include:
* Dairyland Seed
* Hoegemeyer
* NuTech
* Seed Consultants
Corteva officials say it will maintain its AgVenture brand with its independent network of regional seed companies, the Alforex brand and also build its trait and genetics licensing business.
Barker expects this move to be the final piece of reorganization in honing efficiencies brought by merging different organizations into one. “This one is a bit different in that it is making some adjustments in our focus and in our brands in the retail channel,” he says.
