Corteva, Inc.

What is Corteva after the 2026 split?
Corteva is now the crop protection company headquartered in Indianapolis, covering herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and biologicals. The seed business became Vylor Inc. on October 1, 2026.

Who owns the Pioneer seed brand?
Pioneer moved to Vylor Inc. in the October 2026 separation. Vylor is headquartered in Johnston, Iowa, where Pioneer was founded in 1926.

Is Corteva publicly traded?
Yes. Corteva continues to trade on the NYSE under ticker CTVA, and Vylor shares also trade publicly following the October 1, 2026 distribution.

Who is the CEO of Corteva?
Chuck Magro, the former Nutrien chief executive, has led Corteva since 2024 and continued as CEO of the crop protection company after the split.

When was Corteva founded?
Corteva was formed June 1, 2019 when DowDuPont spun off its agricultural division, though its predecessor businesses are decades older.

Why did Corteva split in two?
Management argued seeds and crop protection are different businesses that would each perform better as focused independents. A multi-state suit separately alleges the structure shifts assets away from PFAS liabilities, which the company denies.

Corteva did not exist before 2019, but its components are among the oldest names in American agriculture. DuPont's crop protection business dates to the 1930s, Dow Chemical formed its agricultural sciences unit in the 1950s, and Pioneer Hi-Bred was founded in 1926 by Henry A. Wallace in Johnston, Iowa, later acquired by DuPont for $7.7 billion in 1999.

The modern company emerged from the largest industrial deal in chemical industry history. Dow and DuPont merged in December 2017 as DowDuPont with a plan to split into three companies: materials science (new Dow), specialty products (new DuPont), and agriculture. The agriculture company took the name Corteva Agriscience in February 2018 and began trading on the NYSE on June 3, 2019.

Early years were marked by portfolio repair: exiting low-margin businesses, restructuring manufacturing, and managing herbicide litigation inherited from both parents, including dicamba drift claims and the chlorpyrifos ban. The company expanded into biologicals through the 2022 Symborg acquisition and built Enlist, its herbicide-tolerant weed control system, into a major licensing platform.

Chuck Magro, the former Nutrien CEO, became Chief Executive Officer in 2024. Within a year he announced the separation plan, arguing seeds and crop protection would each be stronger as focused companies. The spin completed on schedule October 1, 2026, despite the multi-state legal challenge filed weeks earlier alleging the structure was engineered to shield assets from PFAS liabilities.

Momentum heading into the split was strong: management raised full-year guidance three consecutive quarters in 2026, targeting operating EPS of $3.60 to $3.80 and operating EBITDA of $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion, with a roughly $4.4 billion EBITDA framework set for 2027.

Crop protection is an environmentally charged industry, and Corteva's program centers on lower-impact chemistry, biologicals, and reduced-risk formulations. The counterweight is significant: legacy chlorpyrifos and dicamba liabilities plus the multi-state PFAS suit mean the environmental record is actively contested in court.

PFAS liability suit (September 2026): Nineteen states, Puerto Rico, and DC alleged the Vylor separation was structured to move $39 billion in assets away from legacy PFAS liabilities tied to DuPont. Corteva rejected the allegation and said it would defend the transaction.

Chlorpyrifos: The company inherited the organophosphate insecticide and wound it down after the EPA effectively banned food uses in 2021; related litigation continues to resolve.

Dicamba: Drift-damage claims tied to older formulations were largely addressed under prior settlements; residual cases proceed in the ordinary course.