Upstream Ag Professional - April 21st 2024
Essential news and analysis for agribusiness leaders.
Welcome to the 38th Edition of Upstream Ag Professional
Index:
2023 FMC Annual Report Highlights and Analysis
22 Mental Hacks for Agribusiness Leaders
Distribution is King: The AgTech Distribution Dilemma
AI Precision Spraying Pioneer Greeneye Technology Raises $20M to Scale U.S. Operation
BioLumic Gets $3 million (USD) Investment
TraceCOMPLETETM now includes guidance on Nitrogen management
The Pyramid of the Flexible Mind
Search and LLM Functionality
1. 2023 FMC Annual Report Highlights and Analysis - Upstream Ag Professional
Key Takeaways
FMC revenue declined to $4.5 billion in 2023, a decrease of $1.32 billion or 23% compared to 2022.
Almost 90% of FMC’s business come from Insecticides and Herbicides, at 59% and 29%. At 59% from insecticides, that’s $2.65 billion, coming from insecticides.
FMC’s diamide insecticide business, Rynaxypyr® and Cyazypyr® active ingredients, continue to be the key portfolio driver, making up approximately $1.8 billion in combined sales and 39% of the total revenue in 2023.
Rynaxypyr alone makes up almost 80% of the diamide business, which means around $1.4 Billion, or just shy of 33% of FMC revenue comes from one molecule.
27% of FMC granted patents are related to two active ingredients, that make up 39% of revenue and potentially upwards of 50% of EBITDA.
According to portfolio pipeline images, around 40% of the FMC pipeline is related to bio-based molecules, specifically pheromone based insecticides.
FMC revenue per employee in 2023 was $680,300 and EBITDA per employee was at $148,000.
FMC revenue declined to $4.5 billion in 2023, a decrease of $1.32 billion or 23% compared to 2022.
On a regional basis, sales in Latin America decreased by 33%, sales in Asia decreased 21%, sales in North America decreased 16%, and sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa decreased by 14%.
The decreases were primarily impacted by the industry wide channel destocking.
Approximately $590 million in 2023 revenue came from products launched in the last five years, representing 14% of the total revenue. Products launched in 2023 accounted for approximately $146 million in sales, or 3.2%. Revenues from FMC products launched in the last five years were down only 2%
For the full highlights and analysis, check out the link above.
2. 22 Mental Hacks for Agribusiness Leaders - Upstream Ag Insights
Over the past several years I have published a “professionals tips” based article for new University and College grads entering the agriculture industry.
One of the most commonly cited pieces of feedback I received around it was that it shouldn’t be emphasized to just new grads, but all agribusiness professionals. Taking that into account I decided to emphasize it more broadly.
I won’t claim the principles to be novel for industry veterans, but I know for myself the 22 principles act as a reminder to help improve my output, critical thinking, professional development and ability to be disciplined.
With that in mind I rewrote and added to portions of the article, renaming it 22 Mental Hacks for Agribusiness Professionals.
These 22 mental reminders are the aspects that have had a disproportionate impact on me and my short career.
Here are five of my favorite from the twenty-two:
2. Learn Broadly and Be Curious (Always Be Capturing - ABC) Being an experienced professional doesn’t mean you can stop learning. In fact, I believe you have to work harder to learn the further you get into your career, at least that’s what I have found.
A quote that sticks out to me illustrating this comes from Alvin Toffler:
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
The world changes fast. Your learning habits have to too. Never stop learning.
3. Embrace Complexity Agriculture is at the intersection of numerous technological innovations. This leads to an increasingly “complex system” that is the agriculture industry.
Complex systems are unforgiving places for companies, and people who shy away from the challenge. Get excited about complexity, not scared. Overcoming complexity is where the asymmetric upside lies.
5. Be Open Minded The world is changing faster than ever. Don’t shut down new ideas; ask “why not” and “what would need to be true for this to work?”
Reframing preconceived notions in an opportunistic way can help eliminate the logic of “the way things were” and get to “what could be”.
7. Expand Your Time Horizons 3 years out seems like a long time, but it’s likely <10% of your working life. Think 10 or 15 years out instead when it comes to things like skill development, career moves or how a technology could impact you.
11. Become Great at Numerous Things Being in the top 1% of a specific area is hard. But being in the top 80% of 3 - 4 diff areas/skills is more achievable & differentiates you plus opens more doors. You’ll be known for a very specific skill combination & increase your career options and the value you bring to customers, employers and the industry. A CPA (accountant) that is also a CCA (Certified Crop Advisor) that has also developed a strong skillset in C++ or Python (coding) is uniquely positioned in the ag industry today.