OMAHA (DTN) -- Corteva Agriscience on Wednesday officially announced its board had unanimously approved a plan to split the company into two independent companies -- one comprised of the crop-protection business and the other a seed business.

The move confirms speculation that began weeks ago about the separation. The crop protection side will become "New Corteva" while the seed business will be named "SpinCo." Each will be independent and publicly traded, the company stated.

"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," Corteva stated.

So far, shareholders have not embraced the decision. Corteva's stock was $74.29 on Sept. 12, the first day it was reported the company could split into two. Corteva's stock is down 14.5% since then and was trading at $67.63 on Tuesday, but fell to $63.14 a share in trading Wednesday morning.

Corteva Chair Greg Page will become chair of New Corteva; current Corteva CEO Chuck Magro will become CEO of SpinCo. Full board and management teams of both companies will be announced at a later date, followed by other key information, Corteva stated. The company expects the split to happen in the second half of 2026.

"Over the past six years, we have taken deliberate steps to build a strong, successful technology company: we simplified our portfolio, reduced cost, invested in high-return endeavors and ensured our pipeline would maximize impact to farmers and returns to the company," Magro said. "As a result, Corteva has become the clear industry leader, with market-leading positions in both crop protection and seed. As we look to the future, we want to best position both businesses to win in their respective markets and accelerate value for shareholders."

Magro said both the seed and crop-protection markets "have evolved" and Corteva sees an opportunity for the two units to diverge -- "this is the right time to act to stay ahead of the market," he said. "This separation will allow both businesses to maximize long-term value creation by focusing on their own priorities. As such, we see this separation as the logical next step in their growth trajectory."

As genetic modifications and gene-editing tools have grown, seed and chemical companies have traditionally married patented seeds to specific crop-protection tools. It's unclear how the two separate companies will influence that strategy.

Corteva is the owner of the seed brand Pioneer and has been a strong financial performer because of products such as Enlist soybeans.

Corteva was created as part of the 2017 merger between DuPont and Dow Chemical. Out of that, Corteva Agriscience was spun off as a standalone, publicly traded company in 2019.

Corteva reported $16.9 billion in sales in 2024, of which $9.5 billion was from seed sales and nearly $7.4 billion was from its crop protection unit. The company has business units globally, though its dominant market remains North America, which accounted for $8.6 billion in total sales last year.

In the first half of 2025, Corteva reported $10.9 billion in sales, up 3% from a year ago, citing seed pricing gains and strong growth in seed sales in North America. But Corteva also noted the company's crop protection business was facing "competitive price pressures."

In a fact sheet, Corteva noted the company sells seed for more than 100 crops and has more than 400 seed and crop protection products. The company has roughly 100 production facilities around the world and more than 120 R&D facilities. Corteva employs about 22,000 people.

New Corteva, the crop-protection company, "will help farmers solve some of their toughest challenges and continue to lead the industry in crop protection." The seed sales in 2025 attributable to New Corteva are estimated to total $7.8 billion, representing 44% of net sales for Corteva.

SpinCo, home to the Pioneer brand, "will deploy advanced genetics to discover and develop groundbreaking solutions that help farmers around the world improve yield, enhance sustainability and strengthen crop health," the company stated. SpinCo's sales are estimated at $9.9 billion or 56% of Corteva's sales.

Corteva's news release indicated that ​SpinCo will also leverage other opportunities, including the strength of its regional anchor brands, including Dairyland Seed; its partnership with retailers through brands like Brevant; and its growing presence in the out-licensing market.

Information about the split was first reported three weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal. One reason for splitting the seed and pesticide businesses would be to shield the company's seed business from liabilities associated with crop-protection tools. Bayer, for instance, has faced years of litigation going back to Monsanto and its glyphosate product, Roundup.

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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