Deere & The Diminishing Fortunes of FMC

One rather feels for the modern farmer, doesn’t one? A chap toiling away, largely unnoticed, providing the sustenance that allows the rest of us to pursue more frivolous activities. It’s a bit of a pickle, really, when you consider that in the old days, a vast horde – nearly eighty percent, if you please – of the American populace were engaged in agricultural pursuits. Now? A mere two percent! Yet, they manage to feed a population that has grown to a positively staggering eight billion. A dashedly clever bit of work, all told.

The agricultural world, you see, is not standing still. It’s positively galloping forward, driven by the latest technological wizardry. And at the forefront of this delightful charge is a company with a history stretching back a good many years – Deere & Company, or John Deere as most chaps know it. One hundred and eighty-nine years they’ve been at it, and still leading the way. If a farmer requires anything from a modest lawn-mowing contraption to a full-blown combine harvester, the chances are it will bear the proud emblem of the prancing stag.

But Deere isn’t simply content with building the machines. Oh no. They’ve moved with the times, embracing the digital age with a suite of tools that would make a modern wizard blush. Equipment management software, satellite imaging… it’s all rather ingenious. And now, they’re even dabbling in artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. A bit of a leap, perhaps, but a remarkably sensible one.

Let’s consider, for a moment, the matter of weeds. A most bothersome nuisance, wouldn’t you agree? In the past, farmers had to douse entire fields with chemicals, a costly and rather messy affair. But Deere’s new smart sprayers are a revelation. Thirty-six cameras, you see, coupled with a touch of machine learning, allow these contraptions to identify individual weeds and administer a targeted spray. The results, tested on a million acres in 2023, are positively astonishing: a fifty percent reduction in water and chemical usage, an eighty-seven percent reduction in airborne drift, and a ninety-three percent reduction in runoff. The farmer saves a pretty penny, and the environment breathes a sigh of relief. A win-win situation, wouldn’t you say?

And then there’s the autonomous tractor. A self-driving marvel, equipped with 360-degree cameras and sophisticated software, capable of navigating fields and avoiding obstacles while the farmer, freed from the tyranny of the driving seat, attends to other important matters. As Deanna Kovar, Deere’s rather impressive president, puts it, “All farmers need to do is transport their tractor to the field, get it set, get out of the cab, and use their mobile phone to ‘swipe to farm.'” Quite! It’s a jolly good show, really.

Deere, you see, has always been a juggernaut in the agricultural arena, and financially, it’s performing rather well, despite a slight wobble in 2025. Net sales and revenue were down a bit, and net income took a corresponding dip, likely due to the hefty investment in research and development – a cool $2.29 billion over the past four years. But a net income margin of eleven percent is nothing to sneeze at, and the company continues to generously increase its dividend – up a staggering 113% since 2020! And Q4 2025 saw a respectable uptick in sales, suggesting a return to form. They’re still investing heavily, and rightly so.

One must remember that by 2050, there will be ten billion souls on this planet, and Deere projects that agricultural production will need to increase by sixty to seventy percent to feed them all. Their machines have been a farmer’s best friend for nearly two centuries, and I wouldn’t wager a shilling against them continuing to be so.

The Farmer’s Chemist Looks a Bit Peakish

However, this increased efficiency does present a spot of bother for companies like FMC, who manufacture the chemicals Deere’s tractors will encourage farmers to use less of. A rather unfortunate predicament for them, wouldn’t you agree?

FMC, you see, is a straightforward business – developing and producing pesticides, fungicides, and other agricultural chemicals. But while Deere is showing signs of momentum, FMC’s results were, shall we say, distinctly uninspiring. Q3 2025 saw a revenue decline of forty-nine percent – from just over a billion dollars to a paltry five hundred and forty-two million. Net income plummeted from sixty-six million to a loss of five hundred and sixty-nine million. And earnings per share fell from fifty-two cents to a loss of four dollars and fifty-two cents. A bit of a sticky wicket, what?

Their cash-flow guidance is particularly grim. At the end of 2024, free cash flow was a respectable six hundred and fourteen million. But for 2025, they’re projecting a loss of a hundred million. And this at a time when Deere is merely testing smart sprayers that can halve pesticide use. A most inconvenient development.

Things aren’t looking terribly bright for FMC, and I can’t foresee a swift improvement. I’d suggest giving them a wide berth and focusing on Deere instead. A far more cheerful prospect, wouldn’t you say?

2026-01-17 23:13

The Farmer’s Chemist Looks a Bit Peakish

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