Corteva Agriscience

Background

Corteva is a major U.S.-based agricultural and chemical firm. It was formerly the agricultural unit of DowDupont, which spun it off as an independent publicly-traded company in 2019.

In 2019, Corteva reported annual revenues of US$13.85 billion USD, US$6.26 billion of which came from the sales of “crop protection” products. In 2020, the company reported US$14.217 billion USD in annual revenues. For the quarter ending September 30, 2021, Corteva reported US$2.371 billion USD in revenues, a 27.3 percent increase from the previous year.¹

In 2019, The North American market accounted for half the firm’s sales, along with 21 percent in Latin America, 20 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 9 percent in the Asia-Pacific region.²

Corteva currently operates in roughly 140 countries, with a workforce of about 21,000 employees. The firm operates 75 seed facilities, as well as 104 manufacturing sites, including 29 crop protection sites: seven in North America, 10 in Latin America, seven in the Asia-Pacific region, and five across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.³ ⁴

Stance on Climate Change

The Dow Chemical Company and DuPont were both members of the Global Climate Coalition, an industry group active in the 1990s that fought against measures to curtail climate change.⁵ The firms merged in 2017 to form DowDuPont.⁶

DuPont was also a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has lobbied against climate action.⁷ Dow Chemical discontinued financial support for ALEC in 2018.⁸

In 2020, a page on Corteva’s website said it would “establish… appropriate [greenhouse gas] reduction targets by June 1, 2021.”⁹The company’s Sustainability Goals webpage has since been updated with specific targets, including a 65 percent intensity reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions and 20 percent intensity reduction in scope 3 emissions by 2030. The company also claims that every new Corteva product will meet internal sustainability criteria by 2025.¹⁰

In 2018, Corteva CEO Jim Collins announced a focus on investments in technology-driven solutions to climate change, saying: “As climate change has moved some cropping practices around, new pests are constantly emerging and we have to stay ahead of these changing trends.”¹¹

In a column published by the American Farm Bureau Federation in 2019, Collins announced a US$500,000 “Corteva Agriscience Climate Positive Challenge,” which the company says will reward farmers for pursuing carbon sequestration techniques.¹² “Some folks believe that agriculture is part of the problem and causing all this (climate change) when, in reality, we believe agriculture is part of the solution,” he told trade publication Successful Farming when the challenge was announced.¹³

Collins also advocated for Corteva to have a seat at the table during conversations on climate change, according to a September 2019 report by trade publication Agri-Pulse. “‘An integral part of the mission of Corteva is to use our convening power within our industry and across the entire food value chain to help bring about more sustainable and more collaborative solutions,’ Collins said. “For too long, the conversation around climate change has taken place in echo chambers: Businesses talking to business leaders, regulators talking to regulators, scientists, just talking to scientists and NGOs, with other NGOs. It turns out all of us are part of the solution here.”¹⁴

In 2018, representatives from Corteva and the U.S Agency for International Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop relations and support Feed the Future, a U.S. initiative to reduce global hunger and improve food security.¹⁵ In 2019, the company Longitude carried out research for Corteva that found around 52 percent of European consumers would be willing to pay up to 20 percent more for sustainably-produced food.¹⁶

In November 2019, Corteva Vice President of Global Responsibility Henri Moore participated in a panel discussion on “New, Inclusive Definition of Sustainable Food Production,” held during the Financial Times Global Food Systems Summit. According to a summary of his remarks, Moore said that “farmers who invest more in sustainable farming, lose more” because “consumer willingness to pay more [for sustainably grown food] has not been passed on to the farmers growing their food.”¹⁷

Moore also said that Corteva’s annual US$1.2 billion investment in research and development would be “vital to supplying the innovations in green crop protection, new plant breeding, and digital technologies that will fuel a climate-positive agricultural transformation,” helping the company ”make agriculture part of the solution to climate change.”¹⁸

In its 2020 Sustainability report, its first as an independent public company, Corteva claimed that it has been “delivering innovative climate positive agriculture solutions to farmers and ranchers that benefit our planet, our industry, and the global food system.”¹⁹

Corteva has claimed that it is possible to “restore and preserve desirable habitat for pollinators and wildlife in harmony with producing an affordable and abundant food supply.” The firm claims a goal of “enhanc[ing] biodiversity on 10 million hectares of grazing lands and natural ecosystems globally through sustainable management practices and habitat conservation by 2030.”²⁰

In an opinion piece titled “Farming for the Future,” published in Politico Europe to mark the release of the report, Corteva Senior Vice President for External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer Anne Alonzo wrote:²¹

“We at Corteva measure success by the role we play in making climate-positive agriculture more productive, environmentally beneficial and profitable. We will work with farmers and other stakeholders in the food supply chain around the world to impactfully reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated from agriculture activities.”

In response to the European Union’s Farm to Fork Strategy, which is designed to make the European agriculture and food system more sustainable as part of a wider package of measures introduced under the EU’s European Green Deal, Corteva stated:²²

“We at Corteva believe in the objectives of the EU’s Green Deal. And we look forward to contributing to the European Commission’s Farm To Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system.”

The Green Deal package, which encompasses the Farm to Fork strategy and the EU Biodiversity Strategy, aims to transform European agriculture into a sustainable food system by shifting food production away from industrial farming. The package includes targets to reduce pesticide use 50 percent and expand organic agriculture 25 percent by 2030.²³ ²⁴

Regenerative Agriculture

Corteva’s leadership has been heavily involved in promoting regenerative agricultural strategies on climate change. “‘We believe that farmers are the solution to mitigate climate change,’ Collins said at a March 2020 Canadian Crops Convention, according to the trade publication World-Grain.com. “Progress will only come if we develop a regulatory environment that allows farmers greater flexibility, not more restrictions.”²⁵

In a 2019 column published by the American Farm Bureau Federation, Collins argued that regenerative agriculture techniques could allow farms to sequester greenhouse gases in their soil. “In fact, when practices like diverse crop rotation, cover crops, reduced tillage, precision nitrogen management and improved grazing systems are fully adopted,” he claimed, “farmers and ranchers could achieve net-negative GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions.”²⁶

In 2020, Corteva joined Danone, MSD Animal Health, Neogen FutureCow, Yara and DSM in the “Farm 4 Generation,” a three-year coalition to support dairy farmers in implementing regenerative agriculture practices across the U.S., Russia and Europe.²⁷

In April 2021, Corteva announced the launch of a “Carbon and Ecosystems Services portfolio,” which it claims will “enable the carbon sequestration process, ease access to carbon credits and create flexible solutions to help farmers increase profitability while contributing to a climate change solution.” Speaking about the portfolio, Alonzo said: “There is increased understanding that sustainable climate change mitigation is not only critical for our environment but also for ensuring the ongoing health of the farming sector globally.”²⁸

In June 2021, Corteva announced a goal to offset 100 tons of carbon from its UK farming operations, which it said it would deliver by working with Gentle Farming, an umbrella group for UK farms employing regenerative farming practices that also offers certified carbon offsets.²⁹

In August 2021, Corteva announced a partnership with farm technology and services provider Indigo Ag to expand its U.S. agricultural carbon trading program for 2022. The project, named the Corteva Carbon Initiative, allows farmers implementing “sustainable” practices — such as reducing tillage and increasing the efficiency of nitrogen use — to earn money by selling “credits” to other companies seeking to offset their own carbon emissions. The initiative will initially pay farmers around US$15 USD per acre for “shifting to practices that pollute less, use fewer chemicals or farm crops that pull carbon from the atmosphere and lock it in the soil.”Karl Plume.³⁰

Digital and Precision Agriculture

On its website, Corteva suggests that “the future of agriculture and our world’s food supply will likely come down to those who can adjust their techniques and employ new innovations to adapt to current conditions.”³¹

In 2019, Collins told Agri-pulse that “no industry has been impacted more by climate change than agriculture.” The industry needs to “work smarter, more efficiently, and with a smaller carbon footprint,” he said. The publication described Collins as “optimistic that farmers could reduce greenhouse gas emissions through new crop traits, precision agriculture and improved farming practices.”³²

In a Corteva-sponsored Politico article in June 2020, Alonzo used the COVID-19 pandemic as a framework to promote the company’s goals in increasing the “resilience of our global food system over the next 10 years.” Alonzo made specific reference to using “integrated solutions that combine seeds, seed applied technologies, agronomy advice, and digital services with crop protection products” to navigate through the crisis.³³

Amid the pandemic, Corteva has called for a focus on “innovation” in farming. Teslenko said in EURACTIV that “the current COVID-19 health crisis has laid bare the vulnerabilities of our seemingly strong system and it is more important than ever that we address our weak points by focusing on education and promoting the innovation that enables farmers to keep improving.”³⁴i

Teslenko went on to say that “embracing innovation remains key,” and argued that Europe needs to commit to “introducing adaptation measures and innovative agricultural management ideas to balance social demand, climate change and mitigate risks.”³⁵

In its reporting of Teslenko’s comments, NGO Corporate Europe Observatory stated, “Why exactly the corona crisis would require less focus on social and environmental demands remains unclear.”³⁶

Role in Pesticides Controversy

Herbicides comprise about 52 percent of Corteva’s pesticide sales, insecticides 26 percent, and fungicides 17 percent.³⁷

DowDuPont’s decision to spin off Corteva has been linked by some to the company’s liability for worldwide perfluorooctanoic acids (PFAS) pollution, which scientists call “forever chemicals,” because they strongly resist breaking down in the environment.³⁸ “Chemours [another DuPont spin-off], with primary responsibility for the estimated tens of billions of dollars in PFAS obligations, does not have anywhere near the money or assets to cover [PFAS liabilities],” NBC News reported in March 2020. “If Chemours becomes insolvent, Corteva Inc. will be responsible, corporate filings show. Corteva does not have the funds to cover tens of billions in estimated PFAS costs either.”³⁹

PFAS are a group of over 4,000 poly- and perfluoroalkyl human-made chemicals that include PFOA, a chemical used by DuPont to make Teflon-coated products.⁴⁰ ⁴¹

In litigation later made famous in the movie Dark Waters, attorney Rob Bilott uncovered internal DuPont company documents showing early evidence of PFOA’s hazards and won lawsuits over PFAS’ harmful health effects and their ability to cause cancers.⁴² PFAS are now publicly known to be nearly indestructible, have spread rapidly worldwide, and can now be found in most people’s blood.⁴³ ⁴⁴

Corteva’s 2019 annual report discloses a number of significant environmental lawsuits and liabilities.⁴⁵ These include a deadly release of methyl mercaptan in La Porte, Texas in 2014 –– an incident that later led to a US$3.195 million settlement in June,⁴⁶ 2020 and the permanent closure of the plant in 2016. Other disclosures include a “discussion” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice about Clean Air Act non-compliance at Corteva’s Denka La Place, Louisiana neoprene business, contamination at a New Jersey facility, and extensive PFAS/PFC/PFOA liabilities.⁴⁷

A February 2020 investigation by Greenpeace’s Unearthed journalism project found that “close to half” (41 percent) of the leading products of the agrochemical giants BASF, Bayer, Corteva, FMC and Syngenta, all of which are members of CropLife International, contained at least one ”highly-hazardous pesticide.“ Unearthed reported that of the firms’ US$13.4 billion USD of sales, US$4.8 billion involved chemicals found by regulatory agencies to pose human and environmental health hazards, including acute poisoning or chronic illness in people, as well as high toxicity to bees and other wildlife.” The reporting highlighted a fungicide called cyproconazole, manufactured by Corteva, which the European Chemical Agency classifies as a reproductive toxin.⁴⁸

Corteva announced in February 2020 that it would cease production of the controversial pesticide chlorpyrifos.⁴⁹ In August 2021, the EPA issued a final rule banning all food uses of the pesticide.⁵⁰

Genetically Modified Organisms

Gene editing in agriculture is the process of adding, enhancing or removing specific traits from the DNA of an organism. Genetic modification can make crops more resistant to certain environmental conditions, including pests, chemicals, diseases and weather. While some scientists and industry representatives argue that more widespread use of gene editing techniques will lead to significant environmental benefits, the environmental impacts of these technologies are currently contested.⁵¹

Some studies show that the adoption of genetic modifications to make crops more insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant has reduced farmers’ need to spray pesticides, thereby decreasing the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on these crops.⁵²

One study suggests that while the widespread adoption of genetically modified crops has decreased the use of insecticides, it may have also increased the need for weed-killing herbicides as weeds became more resistant. According to the study, which looked at 14 years of farm-level data from across the US, farmers that used genetically modified soybean crops used 28 percent more herbicides than those that did not. The study found that while herbicide use had slightly decreased for maize farmers using genetically modified crops, the usage of herbicides by maize farmers in the industry as a whole had increased, indicating that weed-resistance overall had risen.⁵³

Many studies, however, conclude that there is still not enough data to assess the long-term safety or environmental impacts of genetically modified crops.⁵⁴

There is also public concern about the safety and environmental impacts of GMOs. A 2021 survey by Ipsos found that a majority of European citizens want food products to have compulsory labelling so consumers can be aware of the presence of genetically modified ingredients.⁵⁵

In July 2018, the European Court of Justice confirmed that gene-edited organisms created through new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) fell under the EU’s GMO regulations and therefore were not allowed to be commercialized in Europe.⁵⁶ In a 2018 EURACTIV article reporting on the decision, József Máté, Corporate Communications Leader at Corteva, commented that the decision was a “bad day” for the industry and would “prohibit European consumers, producers, researchers, [and] entrepreneurs from accessing the benefits of these innovations.” According to EURACTIV, environmental groups welcomed the news, saying the court had prevented “new GMOs” from entering the European market.⁵⁷

A 2021 investigation by Corporate Europe Observatory looked into lobbying by agribusiness industry bodies and companies, including Corteva, to water down the regulation of new GMOs, and lower the standards for risk assessment, monitoring and labelling requirements. The investigation also detailed lobbying efforts by groups that represent agribusiness companies including Bayer, BASF and Syngenta.⁵⁸

Since 2019, Corteva has helped shape the discourse around gene editing by sponsoring a series of events and articles on EURACTIV.⁵⁹ ⁶⁰

During the June 2019 Corteva Open Innovation Forum, the company promoted a message from Dr. Ernst van den Ende, Managing Director of the Plant Sciences Group at Wageningen University & Research (WUR). In response to the question “Why do you think young people should be more involved in the public dialogue on plant-breeding?” van den Ende said: “What I see is that a lot of the younger people are far more open to technologies. And they can be of influence in the political debate about this technology. And I think, especially the younger students in biotech, they are far better in trying to bridge the people of the NGOs, the political parties, to make this a better world, together.” The video ends with a message from Corteva that reads: “The younger generation of plant breeders can help bring science and society together, to solve future food challenges.”⁶¹

On October 12, 2021, WUR published a report commissioned by CropLife Europe and CropLife International (both of which count Corteva as a member) on the impact of the EU’s Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies.⁶² ⁶³ A university announcement regarding the report’s release stated that a “probable consequence” of the policies “is that the yields of agricultural crops will decline.” The announcement also stated that the decline in yield could lead to price increases, fewer European exports and “more imports of agricultural products from outside Europe.”⁶⁴

The article acknowledged that “Researchers of Wageningen University & Research have calculated this in a study commissioned by CropLife Europe and CropLife International with involvement of other stakeholders in the food supply chain.”⁶⁵

In 2021, Corteva launched a new genetically modified soybean seed in Brazil, following approval of the product in the European Union. Reuters said the move was “likely to fuel competition on the local biotech seeds market.” The seed is the first alternative in the Brazil agricultural market to Bayer’s genetically modified soybean, which had enjoyed a virtual monopoly.
Reuters.⁶⁶

Lobbying

Corteva spent between €900,000 and €999,999 on EU lobbying in 2020, according to its record in the EU Transparency Register.⁶⁷ ⁶⁸

In 2019, Corteva reported spending US$1,271,000 USD on US lobbying, hiring 21 lobbyists from five different firms, as well as engaging in in-house lobbying, according to OpenSecrets.org.⁶⁹

In 2019 and 2020, Corteva lobbied U.S. officials on issues relating to agriculture, environmental pollution, trade, taxes, the federal budget and appropriations, the chemical industry, defense, energy and nuclear power, the food industry, homeland security, and the automotive industry. The firm lobbied at least four agencies:⁷⁰

One lobbying report for Corteva shows the following topics under “specific lobbying issues:” the regulation of “bioengineered foods and other biotechnology matters,” “pesticide matters”, “other renewable energy matters,” legislation related to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the Clean Air Act, climate change and “water quality matters.”⁷¹

In 2020, iPolitics reported that lobbyist Phil Baldwin of Tactix, a public affairs and lobbying agency, was lobbying for both Corteva and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.⁷²

Corteva actively engages in media partnerships with Brussels-based media outlets, primarily Politico Europe and EURACTIV, where it promotes and supports relevant content, organizes events and sponsors newsletters targeted towards EU policymakers and stakeholders.

Since 2019, Corteva has sponsored Politico Europe’s “Brussels Playbook” newsletter, allowing it to insert sponsored messages into newsletter content.

In one such newsletter from June 2019, a sponsored message from Corteva said that the company was a “new pure-play agriculture company using continuous innovation and new technology to transform the industry,”⁷³ along with a link to a page on its website in which the company claimed to be “protecting and preserving the source of our food and helping our agricultural communities thrive.”⁷⁴

In an October 2019 Brussels Playbook newsletter, a message from Corteva stated that the company was “committed to feeding a growing planet by using resources wisely for sustainable food production,” adding, “We support small-holding farms, develop digital farming methods, and believe in the circular economy – minimizing waste and maximizing use of resources.⁷⁵

In another sponsored message from October 2019 Corteva claimed that “farmers stand at the crossroads of climate and business. Their livelihoods continue to be impacted by increasingly severe and volatile weather conditions created by climate change. Since farmers are impacted by climate changes first, Corteva Agriscience is constantly exploring ideas that will generate a climate positive agriculture industry.”⁷⁶

Ties to the Trump Administration

In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump appointed Scott Hutchins, a “pesticide guy” who had spent his career at DowDuPont, as the new head of scientific research for the Department of Agriculture. This nomination was met with criticism from the Union of Concerned Scientists, which wrote that “Dow is particularly tight with the Trump administration,” adding, “now former Dow officials and lobbyists are literally holding the reins of government.”⁷⁷

In 2018, Dow lobbyist Ted McKinney, Corteva special advisor Ken Isley and lobbyist Rebekah Adcock of CropLife America, a Corteva-affiliated group, were also appointed to the Agriculture Department as under secretary for trade, head of the Foreign Agricultural Service, and advisor to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, respectively.

According to OpenSecrets.org, Dow Chemical donated US$1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee.⁷⁸ A subsequent New York Times article in 2019 reported how “top pesticide industry executives had regular access to senior agency officials, pressing them to reconsider the way the federal government evaluates the threat pesticides cause to endangered species.”⁷⁹

Affiliations

Corteva is a member of CropLife International, which it describes in its 2019 sustainability report as “a global trade association of agrochemical companies representing the plant science industry.” CropLife’s seven member companies include Adama, FMC, BASF, Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, Syngenta and UPL.