Ingrid Schmidt

Dr. Ingrid Schmidt brings scientific rigor to agricultural inputs analysis from her background as an agronomist who worked in crop science research before transitioning to equity research. Her PhD in Plant Science from Wageningen University and years conducting field trials for BASF give her deep understanding of crop nutrition, plant protection, and the agricultural chemistry supporting global food production. Ingrid understands fertilizer economics—natural gas feedstock costs for nitrogen, phosphate and potash mining—and the global supply-demand dynamics driving volatile nutrient prices. She also analyzes crop protection chemicals, evaluating innovation pipelines, regulatory challenges, and generic competition as patents expire. Ingrid excels at assessing scientific merit of new products, predicting regulatory approval timelines, and whether agricultural companies can maintain pricing power. She was early to recognize that fertilizer consolidation would create oligopolistic pricing dynamics and correctly predicted the surge in nitrogen prices following natural gas cost inflation. Her coverage spans integrated agricultural companies like Corteva and Bayer, specialty fertilizer producers, and crop science innovators. Ingrid also tracks sustainable agriculture trends and biologicals challenging synthetic chemicals. Based in Amsterdam, she brings European perspective on agricultural regulation while analyzing a global industry feeding the world's population.