Conversation With Syngenta Leaders

What do you consider to be the greatest accomplishment of Syngenta?

Vern Hawkins, North America region director and president of Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC: I’ve been with Syngenta and its legacy companies for more than 30 years, and I think our most important achievement is the long-standing customer partnerships that we’ve earned, sustained and continued to build on. Beyond our great portfolio, we have the people and relationships—with resellers, growers, suppliers, regulators and legislators—that are helping us bring the most value to the industry we serve.

Ponsi Trivisvavet, North America region director and president of Syngenta Seeds, LLC: Our ability to provide a strong portfolio of products to our customers in North America is what I’m most proud of. I’m particularly excited about the new innovations that we’ve added to our portfolio, just over the last 16 to 18 months. Acuron^® herbicide, Trivapro^™ fungicide, Clariva^® Complete Beans seed treatment and Agrisure^® corn hybrids are bringing exceptional performance and success to our customers. We’re also creating new opportunities in the renewable fuels industry with Enogen^® corn, which we’ve bioengineered to enhance ethanol production. Since we introduced the corn enzyme four years ago, the rate of industry acceptance has been remarkable, with 18 commercial plants contracting to use Enogen grain to produce ethanol in 2016.

What's the biggest challenge the company faces?

Hawkins: The biggest challenge for us, as a business, is today’s regulatory environment. The requirements and judgment around endangered species, pollinators and waterways are so much more intense than they were even five years ago. The global inconsistencies with regard to deregulating traits are also difficult. While we can’t control these regulatory hurdles, they have a huge impact on our business as well as our customers’ businesses and farms. Of course, the economic downturn in the ag cycle is impacting growth tremendously. It’s difficult for any business to grow when the market isn’t. But thanks to our expanding portfolio, our people and our strong customer partnerships, we’ve got a lot more punch in our offer moving into 2016.

Trivisvavet: What most concerns me is the whole market situation, in which lower commodity prices are impacting grower profitability. But a grower’s priority of managing his or her crop to maximize yield should not change. Cutting inputs to compromise that priority would not be a winning game. We understand that it’s our responsibility to continue to come up with the products that provide growers with the highest return on investment.

What makes Syngenta unique in the marketplace?

“We continuously work to earn the trust of our partners and collaborate with them to identify the right solutions for each farm, even when times are difficult.”

Hawkins: It’s not one thing but a combination of factors that sets us apart. We’re a technology leader across the three major parts of our business—seed traits, crop protection and seed treatment—making us a total-crop-solution provider. Our AgriEdge Excelsior^® program reinforces the value of our broad product portfolio and helps growers access the information and tools they need to make better farm management decisions, ultimately resulting in improvement in their return on investment. Our people are certainly another Syngenta strength, because they have the knowledge and skills to represent our entire product portfolio and the commitment to service our customers at the level they deserve. We continuously work to earn the trust of our partners and collaborate with them to identify the right solutions for each farm, even when times are difficult.

“As we map out the future of Syngenta, we will not alter our basic course. Rather, we will intensify our focus, so that our results are even better and more far-reaching than they were during our first 15 years.”

Trivisvavet: First and foremost is the commitment of our people to make a positive difference in the industry they serve and the communities where they live. They fully embrace the Syngenta culture, which is built on the purpose of “Bringing plant potential to life.” From scientists to sales representatives, each employee understands his or her role in delivering the overall value of Syngenta to customers. Of course, to fulfill that purpose, we need to offer our customers the right tools. That’s where our unique portfolio and pipeline come into play. We have the depth and breadth of products to help growers manage weeds, insects, diseases and resistance, with the end goal of increasing yield.

What does the future look like for Syngenta?

Hawkins: This is a pretty exciting time for Syngenta, despite a challenging market environment. We launched three new active ingredients in 2015 [bicyclopyrone in Acuron, Solatenol^® in Trivapro and oxathiapiprolin in Orondis^®], with first-use experiences in commercial fields coming in 2016. By 2020, we expect to launch five additional active ingredients. When Syngenta was formed 15 years ago, we had the benefit of two good portfolios coming together. Our latest wave of new products is the first wave of Syngenta-invented technology that has received full regulatory approval. Any time you have a market-leading portfolio grounded in strong partnerships, the result is increased opportunity—for the industry, the channel and ultimately, the grower.

Trivisvavet: As we map out the future of Syngenta, we will not alter our basic course. Rather, we will intensify our focus, so that our results are even better and more far-reaching than they were during our first 15 years. We will continue to innovate, with the goal of bringing even more cutting-edge products to market. We also will continue our commitment to help feed the world through our Good Growth Plan. After all, Syngenta is not just a product provider, but a truly integrated agribusiness company that addresses the needs of the total farm and tackles the challenges of a growing planet.