Corteva, FBN Splits Foreshadowing More in 2026?
January 5, 2026 As another year draws to a close, it seems as if the agricultural industry is once again at the dawn of a new age. Now I could be referring to how uncertainty regarding commodity prices and export markets is affecting the marketplace or how the rapid expansion of Smart Tech is reshaping how ag retailers and their grower-customers do business.
But in this case, I’m referring to something now taking place in the agricultural supplier world – splitting up business interests. In many ways, this is something entirely new for this market.
For much of the 2000s, the trend among agricultural suppliers was to consolidate their operations into ever larger business entities. Examples of this would include Dow and DuPont merging to form Corteva Agriscience and CNH Industrial acquiring Case IH, New Holland, and Raven Industries. In these cases, the executives involved with these companies decided that “bigger is better” was the path to follow.
However, this ideal is now being put to the test. A pair of well-known agricultural suppliers have decided that the best way for their business models to move forward is to take separate paths instead of a united one.
On October 10, Farmers Business Network (FBN) announced that it was dividing its business into two distinct parts – FBN and Global Crop Solutions (GCS). FBN will operate as an open, digital marketplace for farmers and ranchers while GCS will serve as an independent supplier of crop protection products.
“This separation marks a pivotal moment for FBN, allowing us to operate as a pure technology platform dedicated to bringing farmers more choice, savings, and convenience,” said Diego Casanello, CEO of FBN, in a press release.
Perhaps not coincidentally, one week earlier, Corteva announced plans to split its business in half by separating its crop protection products operations from its seed/traits offerings. While this split won’t be finalized until the second half of 2026, Corteva gave the following justification for the move in a press release: “The separation will unleash two distinct market leaders, both farmer-centric, both with technology and innovation at their core and both with operating models and capital allocation priorities tailored to support their respective growth outlooks, strategic directions and value propositions.”
In addition, some market watchers believe this move represents a way for Corteva to shield its seed business from potential lawsuits against its crop protection products (such as the one targeting Enlist registration filed this past August).
Truthfully, I’ve seen these kinds of “split decisions” made in other markets before. For instance, PepsiCo once owned a trio of fast-food restaurants (KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut). However, as other fast-food chains such as Burger King began to worry about doing business with Pepsi for fountain drinks (essentially giving money to their competition), the company spun-off this group into Yum! Brands to alleviate the concern.
Going into 2026, the question now becomes this: Will other large agricultural suppliers also feel the need to split their businesses? As always, stay tuned . . .
Subscribe Today For
