The Dow Chemical Co., parent company of Dow AgroSciences, has announced first-quarter results for the agriculture business, reporting that sales were $1.6 billion, down from $1.9 billion in the year-ago period.

The company said sales were affected by high channel inventories, currency headwinds and lower crop commodity prices.

Crop protection volume was lower, primarily driven by reduced industry-wide demand for herbicides. Seeds volume declined modestly on soft demand for corn and soybeans. The business continued to commercialize new products from its innovation pipeline with the launch of ENLIST cotton in the U.S. in the quarter.

Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the segment was $403 million, nearly flat with $409 million in the year-ago period. Focused productivity actions in the business mostly offset the impact of challenging market conditions and currency headwinds, the company said.

Equity earnings for the segment were $7 million in the quarter.

The entire Dow earnings release can be found at www.dow.com/en-us/investor-relations/financial-reporting/earnings/q1-2016.