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October 1, 2012 new york, ny JANA Partners Activist Approach and a Current Idea
Barry Rosenstein, JANA Partners

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Unlocking Agriums True Value Potential

October 1, 2012

Can be found online at: www.JanaAGUAnalysis.com

Disclaimer
THESE MATERIALS ARE FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THEY DO NOT HAVE REGARD TO THE SPECIFIC INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE, FINANCIAL SITUATION, SUITABILITY, OR THE PARTICULAR NEED OF ANY SPECIFIC PERSON WHO MAY RECEIVE THESE MATERIALS, AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS ADVICE ON THE MERITS OF ANY INVESTMENT DECISION. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN REPRESENT THE OPINIONS OF JANA PARTNERS LLC (THE SHAREHOLDER), WHICH OPINIONS MAY CHANGE AT ANY TIME AND ARE BASED ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO AGRIUM INC. (THE ISSUER). OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE CURRENT OPINIONS AS OF THE DATE APPEARING IN THIS MATERIAL ONLY. THE SHAREHOLDER DISCLAIMS ANY OBLIGATION TO UPDATE THE DATA, INFORMATION OR OPINIONS CONTAINED HEREIN. UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND DATA USED HEREIN HAVE BEEN DERIVED OR OBTAINED FROM FILINGS MADE WITH THE APPLICABLE REGULATOR BY THE ISSUER OR OTHER COMPANIES THAT THE SHAREHOLDER CONSIDERS COMPARABLE, AND FROM OTHER THIRD PARTY REPORTS. EXCEPT FOR THE HISTORICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN, THE MATTERS ADDRESSED IN THESE MATERIALS ARE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS THAT INVOLVE CERTAIN RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES. YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT ACTUAL RESULTS COULD DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE CONTAINED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. THE SHAREHOLDER DOES NOT ASSUME ANY OBLIGATION TO UPDATE THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION. THE SHAREHOLDER HAS NOT SOUGHT OR OBTAINED CONSENT FROM ANY THIRD PARTY TO THE USE HEREIN OF PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED INFORMATION. ANY SUCH INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED AS INDICATING THE SUPPORT OF SUCH THIRD PARTY FOR THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN. ALTHOUGH DATA AND INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN HAVE BEEN OBTAINED FROM SOURCES BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE, THE SHAREHOLDER DOES NOT GUARANTEE THEIR ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR FAIRNESS. THE SHAREHOLDER HAS RELIED UPON AND ASSUMED, WITHOUT INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION, THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF ALL DATA AND INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM PUBLIC SOURCES. NO WARRANTY IS MADE THAT ANY DATA OR INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN, WHETHER DERIVED OR OBTAINED FROM FILINGS MADE WITH A REGULATOR OR FROM ANY THIRD PARTY, IS ACCURATE. THE SHAREHOLDER SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY MISINFORMATION CONTAINED IN ANY REGULATORY FILING OR THIRD PARTY REPORT. THERE IS NO ASSURANCE OR GUARANTEE WITH RESPECT TO THE PRICES AT WHICH ANY SECURITIES OF THE ISSUER WILL TRADE, AND SUCH SECURITIES MAY NOT TRADE AT PRICES THAT MAY BE IMPLIED HEREIN. THE ESTIMATES, PROJECTIONS, PRO FORMA INFORMATION AND POTENTIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSALS SET FORTH HEREIN ARE BASED ON ASSUMPTIONS THAT THE SHAREHOLDER BELIEVES TO BE REASONABLE, BUT THERE CAN BE NO ASSURANCE OR GUARANTEE THAT ACTUAL RESULTS OR PERFORMANCE OF THE ISSUER WILL NOT DIFFER, AND SUCH DIFFERENCES MAY BE MATERIAL. THE SHAREHOLDER CURRENTLY HOLDS A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF SHARES OF COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER. THE SHAREHOLDER MAY FROM TIME TO TIME SELL ALL OR A PORTION OF ITS SHARES IN OPEN MARKET TRANSACTIONS OR OTHERWISE (INCLUDING VIA SHORT SALES), BUY ADDITIONAL SHARES (IN OPEN MARKET OR PRIVATELY NEGOTIATED TRANSACTIONS OR OTHERWISE), OR TRADE IN OPTIONS, PUTS, CALLS OR OTHER DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS RELATING TO SUCH SHARES. THE SHAREHOLDER ALSO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE ANY ACTIONS WITH RESPECT TO ITS INVESTMENT IN THE ISSUER AS IT MAY DEEM APPROPRIATE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, COMMUNICATING WITH MANAGEMENT OF THE ISSUER, THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE ISSUER, AND OTHER INVESTORS. NEITHER THESE MATERIALS NOR ANYTHING CONTAINED HEREIN IS INTENDED TO BE, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED OR USED AS, INVESTMENT, TAX, LEGAL OR FINANCIAL ADVICE, AN OPINION OF THE APPROPRIATENESS OF ANY SECURITY OR INVESTMENT, OR AN OFFER, OR THE SOLICITATION OF ANY OFFER, TO BUY OR SELL ANY SECURITY OR INVESTMENT. 2

Overview
For years Agriums full value creation potential has been:
Buried in a Conglomerate Structure Lack of Fit: Pairing a stable distribution business (Retail) with a volatile, commodity-linked fertilizer business (Wholesale) has led to a persistent valuation discount and relative underperformance for shareholders, while generating no meaningful benefits, imposing high costs, and limiting the ability of each to take part in consolidation (as buyers or sellers) Suboptimal Capitalization: Pairing Retail with Wholesale also prevents each from achieving the optimal capital structure and capital allocation Burdened by Missteps Stemming from a Wholesale Mindset and Boards Lack of Retail Experience Failure to Manage Costs: Despite spending more than $4 billion in Retail acquisitions, Agrium has failed to achieve operating leverage causing Retail to substantially underearn Poor Capital Allocation: Agrium has failed to properly manage working capital in Retail, has failed to properly integrate or generate acceptable returns on its Retail acquisitions, and has the worst historical track record among its peers in returning capital to shareholders Poor Retail Disclosure: These problems have been compounded by insufficient public reporting disclosure, which has inhibited shareholders ability to measure performance over time and to properly value Retail

While Agriums shares have performed well year-to-date on an absolute basis, on a long-term basis
Agrium has consistently underperformed the weighted average of its pure play peers

Rather than embracing the value potential of Retail, however, Agriums Board and management have
disavowed its true value and attempted to rewrite history at the expense of their own share price

Retail is an undervalued and undermanaged asset, and bold action to unlock this value is long overdue.
3

Overview (contd)
While Agrium has pulled out all the stops to avoid this debate, in reality there is little room for
disagreement regarding the need for value-unlocking change: Agriums management has for years acknowledged that Retail is undervalued, despite recent attempts to disavow the true value of the business Agrium has recently begun to acknowledge that its Retail disclosure is inadequate Agrium has acknowledged that its capital return efforts have been inadequate, as evidenced by the significant capital return initiatives which have followed JANAs involvement The areas of most significant disagreement between JANA and Agrium are: The proper trading comparables for Retail, but Agriums sudden disavowal of the five comparables it had cited for years (the Original Comparables) and introduction of a new set of lower value comparables (the Midnight Comparables) is simply not credible, and raises troubling questions Supposed synergies between Retail and Wholesale, but these are easily shown to be factually unfounded, unquantified or immaterial; in fact, Agriums own current defense advisor (Morgan Stanley) previously advised pure play fertilizer company CF Industries not to take equity in Agrium because it believed Agriums conglomerate structure would cause meaningful underperformance for shareholders relative to a pure play competitor Whether Retail has significantly underperformed its potential operationally, but while Agrium may dispute particular aspects of our analysis, none of these objections dispute the larger picture of significant overall underperformance and latent earnings potential This leaves only Agriums short-term share price appreciation to justify its structure and strategy, which: Has been driven primarily by the quality of Agriums assets and overall strength of the agriculture industry, not by Agriums integrated structure or skill in managing Retail Does not change the fact that Agriums shares have consistently underperformed the weighted average of Agriums pure play peers over the long term, or the fact that no other wholesale fertilizer peer has elected to adopt Agriums conglomerate strategy

The question is simple: should shareholders settle for good enough, or do they want to realize the full potential of Agriums assets?
4

History

Agriums Conglomerate Strategy

Beginning with the acquisition of UAP in May 2008, Agrium moved to meaningfully increase the size of
its Retail distribution business and to diversify from its legacy core Wholesale fertilizer business Agrium has allocated more than $4 billion of capital to high-priced Retail M&A since 2008, with the UAP acquisition more than doubling the size of Agriums Retail business

A key rationale for pursuing this conglomerate structure was to insulate Agrium from the volatility of the
agricultural cycle in its commodity Wholesale business In particular, Agrium hoped to mitigate the earnings volatility stemming from its uncompetitive cost position in the Nitrogen fertilizer business At the time, we were barely breaking even on Nitrogen and Phosphate, and making slim margins on Potash. When youre in that kind of position, you start to get stressed Agrium CEO Michael Wilson, Calgary Magazine, November 2008 Commercial linkages of the Retail and Wholesale businesses are limited and the businesses are run separately

Since Agrium launched this significant diversification initiative, the economics of its core Wholesale

fertilizer business have improved meaningfully, as the North American shale gas revolution dramatically re-shaped the global Nitrogen landscape producer, a structural improvement and stabilization of Wholesales earnings profile

This transformed Agriums Wholesale business overnight from a marginal producer to a global low-cost
This stabilization is evidenced, for example, by Agriums recent commentary that it would consider investing in greenfield Nitrogen projects without a long-term gas contract, whereas it previously refused to invest without a gas contract following the disastrous outcome of its Kenai investment

The North American natural gas revolution scuttled a principal reason for Agriums diversification strategy.
6

Agriums Conglomerate Strategy (contd)

Despite losing a key reason for its strategy, Agrium has explained its continued inorganic growth in Retail
and justified large acquisition prices by pointing to the valuations of the Original Comparables, which are the distribution businesses that it considered the best comparables for Retail: Tractor Supply, Watsco, Wesco, Grainger and Genuine Parts

Examples of Agriums strong advocacy for the Original Comparables include its 2011 Investor Day
commentary and slides (see below) and a white paper it circulated to research analysts in late 2011 making a detailed argument for the Original Comparables

Agrium 2011 Investor Day Commentary

The million dollar question is whats this retail
business worth? When UAP was trading, they were trading at about 9x. If you look at Tractor Supply, which is a very close model to us theyre in prime centers, they are in the rural areas, they do some small equipment they are trading at a multiple of 11x I believe we should be trading at 11x Ill just keep hammering at you until we get [the multiple] up to what we feel is a reasonable number - CEO Michael Wilson, Agrium 2011 Investor Day

Agrium 2011 Investor Day Slide

Agrium has long argued that the market significantly undervalues its Retail business, specifically citing five peers as Retails best valuation comparables.
7

The Result: Underperformance vs. Peer Returns Over The Long-Term

Agrium meaningfully underperformed the weighted average of its peers in total shareholder return since
acquiring UAP and over its own selected measurement periods (from its 2012 Investor day)

Since UAP(1)(2)

Last 5 Years(1)

Last 3 Years(1)

LTM(1)

AGU vs. Peers: -34%

AGU vs. Peers: -66%

AGU vs. Peers: -29%

AGU vs. Peers: -4%

While Agriums shares have performed well in absolute terms, comparison to a weighted average of its peers over the long-term shows true underperformance.
(1) Represents total shareholder returns assuming all dividends reinvested. All periods end at 6/1/2012, the end date of share price performance periods shown at Agriums 2012 Investor Day in Michael Wilsons slide Agriums Strong Share Price Performance (4) and consistent with the time of JANAs initial engagement with Agrium. Peer weighted average represents average of peers according to Agriums annual segment EBITDA composition (pre-corporate). CF used as comparable for Nitrogen segment; average of Mosaic and Potash Corp used for Phosphate and Potash segments; average of CF, Mosaic and Potash Corp used for AAT and Resale / Other Wholesale; average of Tractor Supply, Watsco, Wesco, Grainger and Genuine Parts used for Retail. Retail peer group based on Agrium 2011 Investor Day categorization of Retail peer group. AGU represents returns for AGU-TSX. Potash Corp returns use POT-US, consistent with Agriums use of Potash Corps US listing in Agriums 2012 Investor Day presentation and Potash Corps substantially higher US trading volume. Data per CapitalIQ. (2) Period beginning at date of UAP acquisition closing, May 7, 2008.

The Result: No Benefits In Cyclical Downturns

Total Return(1): Ag Cycle Peak Trough (6/17/08-11/20/08)(2)
Agrium shareholders did not
benefit from the diversification that Agrium cites to justify its conglomerate structure during the most significant recent industry downturn

Instead, Agrium tracked pure

play fertilizer peer CF during the last cyclical downturn, while underperforming CF over the past 5 years, returning 165% less for shareholders than did CF over that period

Agrium shareholders were not insulated by diversification in 2008 as the agriculture cycle turned, suffering equally on the way down while underperforming on the way up.
(1) Represents total shareholder returns assuming all dividends reinvested. Peer weighted average represents average of peers according to Agriums annual segment EBITDA composition (pre-corporate). CF used as comparable for Nitrogen segment; average of Mosaic and Potash Corp used for Phosphate and Potash segments; average of CF, Mosaic and Potash Corp used for AAT and Resale / Other Wholesale; average of Tractor Supply, Watsco, Wesco, Grainger and Genuine Parts used for Retail. Retail peer group based on Agrium 2011 Investor Day categorization of Retail peer group. AGU represents returns for AGU-TSX. Potash Corp represents returns for POT-US, consistent with Agriums use of Potash Corps US listing in Agriums 2012 Investor Day presentation and Potash Corps substantially higher US trading volume. Data per CapitalIQ. (2) Represents peak-to-trough of the MOO ag sector ETF.

The Result: Distorted Benchmark To Mask Underperformance

At its 2012 Investor Day, Agrium sought to defend
its conglomerate strategy by comparing its performance to an average of CF, Yara, Mosaic and Potash Corp (see right)

Agriums Selective 2012 Investor Day Performance Comparison(1)

This benchmark return excludes any Retail peers

entirely, despite Retail accounting for ~30% of Agriums total EBITDA, the billions Agrium has dedicated to Retail M&A, and Agriums regularly emphasizing the value of its Retail business

Agriums selective benchmarking raises other

serious concerns Inclusion of Yara: Yara is a Nitrogen producer whose assets are principally located in Europe and who has been disadvantaged by the shale gas revolution, resulting in an entirely different cost profile than Agrium Exclusion of Dividends: This distorts Agriums performance, given that Agrium has historically provided shareholders a much lower dividend relative to its fertilizer peers

Selective use of comparables has masked the fact that Agriums diversification strategy has not maximized shareholder value.
(1)

Agrium CEO Michael Wilsons slide Agriums Strong Share Price Performance (4) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day.

10

Agriums Buried Value Potential

The Strength Of Agriums Retail Distribution Business

North Americas largest direct to farm distributor of crop nutrition, crop protection and seed products Retail is a fundamentally attractive business, with a large competitive moat, strong free cash flow and
attractive long-term growth prospects Large & Growing Market: The US agricultural inputs market is estimated at $60 billion and has grown at an ~8% CAGR over the past 10 years(1). Increased population, growth in global meat consumption and alternative uses for agricultural products (such as ethanol) have improved grower economics and incentivized growth in ag inputs, particularly given the shift in acreage to crops (such as corn) that are more input intensive Attractive Market Position: Retail is positioned between product manufacturers who have largely shunned distribution with little interest in direct selling and a highly fragmented customer base of growers, dealers and non-crop customers Structurally Advantaged: Scale affords advantaged procurement and product offering capabilities, better in-market density, ability to use leverage with suppliers for superior working capital terms, and advantages in IT, process and pricing that should enable Retail to win share regularly against fragmented competition that includes smaller independent distributors and cooperatives Model Capable Of Substantial Operating Leverage: Retail requires limited additional overhead costs to support growth in revenues, allowing for high incremental margins Accretive Roll-Ups: Retail can acquire smaller, structurally-disadvantaged competitors at attractive valuations and with substantial cost and working capital synergies Sizeable Private Label Business: Retail boasts an attractive portfolio of private label products that offers attractive margins and growth, and which deters producers from direct selling Counter-cyclical Free Cash Flow and Leveragability: Retail releases working capital when market conditions soften, providing stable free cash flow and allowing the business to be levered

Retail is a high quality business boasting attractive structural characteristics and end market exposure, thus warranting a premium valuation.
(1)

Per USDAs Economic Research Service. Market size represents total estimated market size for fertilizer, seed and pesticide products for 2012.

12

Burying Retails Value In A Conglomerate Structure

Agrium has suffered from a consistent conglomerate / sum-of-the-parts discount, as investors have
repeatedly and consistently refused to accord Retail an appropriate valuation as part of Agrium

Implied Retail Valuation(1): P / E Valuation

Implied Retail Valuation(1): TEV / EBITDA Valuation

Applying actual Wholesale peer trading multiples to value Agriums Wholesale business illustrates that the Retail business is valued at a large and growing discount to its distribution peers

Investors have not rewarded Agrium for the growth in Retails scale, as the implied valuation accorded to Retail has remained at a sizeable discount to distribution peers.
Note: 3, 2 and 1 year average multiples for period ending 9/28/2012. (1) Represents implied valuation for Retail assuming peer valuation multiples for Wholesale and AAT businesses applied to proportionate Agrium EBITDA composition (pre-corporate). CF used as comparable for Nitrogen segment; average of Mosaic and Potash Corp used for Phosphate and Potash segments; average of CF, Mosaic and Potash Corp used for AAT and Resale / Other Wholesale. Distribution peer group consists of Tractor Supply, Watsco, Wesco, Grainger and Genuine Parts. Distribution peer group based on Agrium 2011 Investor Day categorization of Retail peer group. Note, no comparable valuations are adjusted to reflect Agriums advantaged statutory corporate tax rate. Data per CapitalIQ.

13

Burying Retails Value In A Conglomerate Structure (contd)

Despite the fact that Retail accounts for ~30% of Agriums total EBITDA and a much greater percentage of
Agriums overall value it is frequently misunderstood and improperly valued by analysts and shareholders Agriums analysts largely cover fertilizer and materials businesses and do not focus on retail distribution businesses; Agrium compounds this problem by providing limited disclosure on Retail As a standalone distributor before its sale to Agrium, UAP had a following of analysts and investors who valued it more appropriately at ~9x EBITDA, consistent with the multiples of the Original Comparables at that time (which trade at higher valuation levels today)

Analysts Covering Wholesale(1)

Analysts Covering Distribution(2)

[null]

[null]

(1) (2)

Analysts with a price target for Agrium on Bloomberg and who cover at least one of Agriums fertilizer peers as part of their primary coverage universe. Fertilizer peer group consists of CF, Potash Corp and Mosaic. Represents analysts who publish a price target for Agrium on Bloomberg and who cover at least one of Agriums distribution peers as part of their primary coverage universe. Distribution peer group consists of Tractor Supply, Watsco, Wesco, Genuine Parts and Grainger. Distribution peer group based on Agrium 2011 Investor Day categorization of Retail peer group.

14

No Legitimate Synergies To Justify Conglomerate Structure

Agriums claimed benefits of integration are either flawed or misleading

Claimed Benefit(1)
Allows Agrium to capitalize on broad grower and market intelligence Lets Agrium participate in value creation opportunities that require participation across the agricultural inputs sector

Analysis
Other fertilizer producers believe this is inaccurate and provides no advantage, and also results in a perceived conflict of interest as Retail competes with Wholesales other customers (other distributors and co-ops) Favorable margins in Wholesale are a function of advantaged product pricing (in the Pacific Northwest) and AECO gas costs, not unique market insights Agriums structure has at times actually hindered it in M&A, as CF Industries with advice from the same team at Morgan Stanley currently defending Agrium rejected Agriums cash / stock acquisition proposal partly because they (correctly) believed its structure would lead to lower shareholder returns(2) Viterra was a unique, one-time opportunity; not repeatable. Moreover, in the end though Agrium seems to have gotten a win, it is CF who appears to have come away with the wind fall: a best in class wholesale asset (34% stake in Medicine Hat) at a highly attractive valuation(3) Furthermore, by spending heavily to pursue its strategy Agrium failed to return capital to shareholders, missing the opportunity to generate the strong returns earned through repurchases by peers like Grainger and CF(4) Agriums expansion into new markets has destroyed significant shareholder capital due to failures of acquisition strategy and operational execution in Alaska (Kenai), Egypt (EAgrium/MOPCO), China (Hanfeng) and Australia (AWB Landmark). While others such as in Argentina look more attractive at first, management comments about the importance of continued reinvestment in Argentina to maintain good government relations(5) raise questions about cash repatriation and hence the true merits of such deals

Enables Agrium to enter new markets with low-cost and low-risk entry strategies

List of benefits per slide 8 Our Strategy and Performance in Agriums August 20, 2012 Investor Update presentation. Per CF commentary in form 14D-9 and corresponding investor update call, March 23, 2009. purchased the 34% stake in Medicine Hat for a valuation of ~5x LTM EBIT. Financial details on Viterras stake available in CF public financial reports. (4) Per Credit Suisse analysis on buyback effectiveness: Stock Buybacks: Adding Value or Destroying Value?; David Zion, Amit Varshney and Nicole Burnap; Credit Suisse; June 18, 2012. (5) Per commentary of Wholesale division President Ron Wilkinson at Agriums 2012 Investor Day: there are some questions being asked, well, what about - are you next to get nationalized? And I think the answer to that is weve got on the chart is that were reinvesting in Profertil. And that was a big beef of the government so, we are reinvesting.
(2) (3) CF

(1)

15

No Legitimate Synergies To Justify Conglomerate Structure (contd)

Claimed Benefit(1)
Helps Agrium develop new products, such as ESN, to support grower and market needs

Analysis
Claimed benefits not quantified by Agrium Unclear why this could not be achieved through arms length commercial agreement between two independent entities Agriums investment in AAT / ESN itself raises questions about capital deployment and returns. Although Agrium has invested over $400 million in acquisitions and capacity additions since 2006, the AAT segment today only earns ~$10 million of EBIT (pre corporate)(2) Capitalization of the two businesses today is suboptimal, as Agrium operates with no net leverage and Retail should be capitalized with modest leverage (see page 19) Agrium missed the most meaningful and attractive acquisition opportunity of the past 3 years CF Industries in part because of the unattractiveness to CF and its advisor of taking equity in Agrium given its integrated model(3) Assuming fair value for Retail, Agriums Wholesale assets are already today valued at a deep discount to their intrinsic value and roughly in line with CF despite Agriums advantaged Nitrogen assets (AECO hub gas, proximity to advantaged Pacific Northwest end markets) and mix of businesses (Potash and Phosphate)

Supports greater leverage when needed to fund significant growth opportunities

Wholesale could trade poorly and closer to CFs multiple if not paired with Retail(4)

Agrium justifies maintaining a conglomerate by citing synergies and risks, but such justifications cannot withstand serious scrutiny.
List of benefits per slide 8 Our Strategy and Performance in Agriums August 20, 2012 Investor Update presentation. Represents 2011 EBIT excluding impairment charges related to Hanfeng. Per CF commentary in form 14D-9 and corresponding investor update call, March 23, 2009. (4) Per slide 12 Morgan Stanley View of Wholesale Peer Trading Valuations in Agriums August 20, 2012 Investor Update presentation.
(1) (2) (3)

16

No Legitimate Synergies To Justify Conglomerate Structure (contd)

This leaves only the claim that ownership of Retail allows greater utilization of Agriums Potash assets(1) However, even this claimed operating benefit from integration is misleading
Size, not integration, explains higher operating rates for smaller players like Agrium. In commodity industries with few large suppliers, the largest players have the most incentive to balance supply to preserve price, while smaller players like Agrium can free-ride by maintaining higher operating rates Despite not having a retail business, a more comparably sized Potash producer, Intrepid Potash, actually has higher operating rates than Agrium While Agriums peer average excludes Intrepid Potash, including Intrepid Potash in the calculation increases average peer Potash operating rates, cutting in half the operating rate benefit Agrium cites

Even assuming higher operating rates actually did result from Agriums conglomerate structure and not its
size and market position, the value created is negligible and can be realized outside of the conglomerate structure A modestly higher operating rate is worth less than $2 per share(2), far less than the cost to shareholders of Agriums conglomerate discount and Retails underperformance A preferred vendor supply agreement between standalone companies could also deliver this benefit

If higher rates result from forcing Retail to take product, this is a dis-synergy, as it introduces undue
commodity cyclicality into a business that is valuable because of its stability

Upon closer examination, the most meaningful and only quantified potential synergy that Agrium has claimed turns out to be immaterial.
Operating rate benefit per slide 17 Potash: Strengths & Competitive Advantages in Agriums September 2012 roadshow presentation Cultivating Performance; Delivering Value. (2) Value per share of ~5% higher operating rate on Agriums 2mm tonnes of production, assuming 2011 actual Agrium Potash segment marginal economics and valued at average multiple of Potash Corp. and Mosaic. Peer operating rate average includes Intrepid Potash.
(1)

17

The High Cost Of Maintaining Agriums Conglomerate Structure

As Agrium has acquired and invested in growth, corporate costs have grown meaningfully, calling into
question the companys cost management

Agriums high corporate overhead is particularly notable given managements claim that each business
operates independently, meaning that most operating costs should be housed within each business not justify the high levels of corporate costs supporting Agriums burdensome corporate structure

While Agrium may cite accounting changes and impact of not-disclosed one-time items, these excuses do

Agrium Corporate G&A Excluding Stock Compensation(1)

Agrium could eliminate significant unallocated corporate overhead as part of a plan to unlock Retails value.
(1) Represents unallocated G&A costs exclusive of stock based compensation expense (SBC), which averaged $44mm per annum from 2007 to 2011. In 2011, Agrium transitioned its accounting standard from Canadian GAAP to IFRS.

18

Agriums Conglomerate Structure Results In Suboptimal Capitalization And Capital Priorities For Each Of Its Businesses
Agriums businesses have different capitalization needs and different best uses for capital, presenting
challenges for capital allocation Wholesale Appropriate Capitalization Small / no net leverage with investment grade rating Retail Moderate net leverage with low investment grade rating (and can easily operate with more debt and a high yield rating, subject to company strategy) Moderate and growing dividend, opportunistic buybacks and tuck-in acquisitions

Best Uses for Capital

Small dividend, large opportunistic returns of capital (buybacks / special dividends) and opportunistic investments in high return projects

As a result of housing two such different businesses under one roof, Agrium is capitalized and has
deployed capital in a suboptimal manner Capitalization: Agriums businesses have been net underlevered Capital Allocation: historical failure to return capital either regularly or opportunistically

Agriums comments regarding its corporate dividend policy which it has linked to Retail earnings growth
and expressed as a payout on Retail earnings demonstrates the difficulties in trying to straddle the capital demands of two such different businesses

Agrium combines two businesses with different capitalization and capital allocation profiles, and as a result has failed to optimize results for either.
19

Comparison With CF Demonstrates The Advantages Of A Focused, Pure Play Wholesale Strategy
Wholesales pure play fertilizer peer CF Industries has generated significantly better total returns for
shareholders over the long-term than has Agrium, evidencing that a pure play strategy can outperform a conglomerate strategy and avoid the operational disadvantages of a conglomerate strategy Of note, Agriums Nitrogen assets which account for the majority of Wholesale EBITDA are in aggregate actually more attractive than CFs (due to an advantaged AECO gas price and advantaged access to attractive Pacific Northwest markets)

Agriums own current defense advisors (Morgan Stanley), who previously ran CFs defense against

Agriums hostile takeover attempt, argued against Agriums offer on the basis that CF shareholders would be significantly disadvantaged by taking equity in Agrium, as they correctly believed that Agrium would underperform a pure play competitor like CF

Agrium vs. CF Industries: Total Shareholder Return

Since UAP(1)(2)

Last 5 Years(1)

Last 3 Years(1)

Last 12 Months(1)

CFs clear outperformance without the claimed benefits of integration makes Agriums dedication to its conglomerate structure all the more perplexing.
(1) Represents total shareholder returns assuming all dividends reinvested. All periods end at 6/1/2012, the end date of share price performance periods shown at Agriums 2012 Investor Day in Michael Wilsons slide Agriums Strong Share Price Performance (4) and consistent with the time of JANAs initial engagement with Agrium. AGU represents returns for AGU-TSX. Data per CapitalIQ. (2) Period beginning at date of UAP acquisition closing, May 7, 2008.

20

Retails Persistent Underperformance & Inadequate Disclosure

Operating Issues In Retail

Retail has been burdened by missteps stemming from operation of the business with a Wholesale
mindset and Agriums lack of true retail distribution experience on its Board Maximizing the value of a retail business requires experience in developing strong IT systems which can be integrated with operational finance capabilities and controls to create optimal network density, drive logistics efficiency and optimize working capital levels, as well as managing dynamic pricing for tens of thousands of SKUs sold to hundreds of thousands of customers Agriums Board lacks this experience, and attempts instead to substitute experience in midstream (pipeline) distribution and in energy and materials production, which are entirely different businesses

This has adversely impacted performance in three key respects

Failure to manage costs Significant excess cost growth and failure to achieve operating leverage as the Retail business has grown Poor capital allocation Mixed acquisition track record Substantial and unproductive increase in excess Retail working capital Poor capital return track record Poor public reporting disclosure on Retail

As a result, Retail appears to be substantially overcapitalized and meaningfully underearning its potential

Agriums failure to manage costs, properly allocate capital and provide sufficient disclosure in its Retail business has led to significant underperformance.
22

Significant Cost Growth And Lack Of Operating Leverage

As Retail has grown through acquisitions and organic growth, it has failed to realize the operating leverage
inherent in its retail distribution model

While Agriums poor Retail disclosure makes it difficult to determine why this has happened, we believe
Agrium has made several execution errors that have contributed Agrium operates an excess number of farm centers, having been slow to manage its footprint by rationalizing locations following acquisitions in a business where phone orders are highly significant Agrium has acknowledged this shortcoming: We dont need the number of facilities we have out there we need to have fewer facilities. And instead of replacing a blender at five to ten places, lets just put it in one place and just replace it one time Retail President commentary, Agrium 2012 Investor Day Agrium has not achieved leverage in its sales management model Agrium has an excess number of regional and district managers, creating unnecessary management layers in a business that does not require such overhead Agrium uses a costly high touch service model market-wide which is only suitable for certain areas While the high touch model has proven suitable for Agriums legacy West Coast business where higher value crops (such as fruits and vegetables) and a more stringent regulatory environment allow farmers to place a premium on services it is less valuable in the Midwestern farm belt

Given Retails challenges with more fundamental issues like managing costs and working capital, there is
likely a large pricing opportunity as well, given that pricing is a function that is frequently mismanaged by unfocused, suboptimally operated retail distribution businesses, and requires highly IT-driven operational finance capabilities and strong operational controls for optimal results

While ongoing acquisition integration and accounting changes may explain some cost growth, these factors cannot account for Agriums overall failure to manage costs.
23

Significant Cost Growth And Lack Of Operating Leverage (Contd)

We compare Retails operating expense and profitability to Gross Profit, the common metric used by retail
distribution businesses(1), rather than Revenue (which Agrium uses) for several reasons: For retail distribution businesses, the cost of the underlying product sold which is not controlled by the distributor, and which can be volatile for Retail given that it sells commodities impacts Revenue and COGS, making comparison of performance over time relative to Revenue highly inconsistent. Measurement of the retail distributors costs and profits relative to Gross Profit improves comparability, with Gross Profit serving as a proxy for Net Revenue The OpEx / Gross Profit ratio is reflective of the operating leverage created, as it highlights the costs required to operate (OpEx) relative to the economic value add of the distributor (Gross Profit) Analyzing Retails OpEx growth relative to Gross Profit shows it has failed to generate operating leverage, with operating expenses actually growing faster than Gross Profit since the UAP acquisition(2)

Operating Expense / Gross Profit

86% 74% 71% 63% 74%

(3)

(3)

Despite spending billions to add scale, Retail has failed to achieve operating leverage promised from synergies, and has actually experienced negative operating leverage.
In addition, some distributors report this or similar statistics as public KPIs. (2) While we would prefer to analyze the business using comparable volume-based metrics (e.g. EBIT / tonne) or location-based metrics (comparable EBIT / store), given Agriums poor disclosure in Retail, the analysis we employ is the best tool at shareholders disposal to assess performance over time. (3) Pro Forma AGU/UAP reflects Agrium Retail 2007 and UAP FY 2008 pro forma operating expense / gross profit ratio. Pro Forma AGU/UAP includes an estimate to adjust UAP reported numbers for classification differences to match Agrium accounting practices. Using UAP actual reported numbers (before any adjustments), the 71% operating expense / gross profit ratio would be 69%. pre Synergies is before inclusion of the $117mm of synergies realized from the UAP acquisition. post Synergies reflects the $117mm of synergies, which are allocated 50% to COGS and 50% to SG&A.
(1)

24

Capital Allocation: Mixed Track Record Of Pricing And Executing Retail Acquisitions
Beginning with UAP, Agrium has invested $4 billion in Retail acquisitions meant to provide accretive, highreturn scale to the business, yet the two acquisitions that constitute the bulk of this spending appear to have struggled to achieve the companys minimum required after tax return hurdle of 9%(1)

Agriums $860mm(2) acquisition (net of divestitures) of AWB Landmark for 14.6x EBITDA (2010) appears to
offer no near-term path to returning its cost of capital 2% current after tax return growing to only 6% by 2015 assuming full realization of synergies and four years of organic growth(2) Synergies behind plan, raising questions about Agriums ability to integrate a business in a new geography (Australia) with a different mix/model than the core North America Retail business This transaction also raises serious questions regarding Agriums acquisition strategy Acquisition was signed before securing a buyer/price for the grain handling business, which constituted a substantial component of Landmarks value and which Agrium did not want Landmark is in an unfamiliar place, has a different product mix and offers limited synergies

Agriums $2.65 billion(3) acquisition of UAP for 12.8x EBITDA (2008) appears to be returning only 8% after
tax, even after realizing $117 million of publicly-disclosed synergies and 3 years of organic growth(3) This return calculation does not take into account the relative increase in capital intensity Agrium has overseen, which has resulted in hundreds of millions of additional working capital and CapEx

Agrium has so far failed to realize the true value potential of its significant expenditures in Retail due to execution and integration issues.
after tax return hurdle per Charles Magros slide Agriums Disciplined Growth (11) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day. Agriums net purchase price, per Charles Magros slide Agriums Disciplined Growth (12) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day. Assumes for Landmark $59mm of base EBITDA, $40mm of synergies and $11mm of incremental EBITDA between 2011 and 2015 reflecting proportional share of total Retail organic growth over that period. Base and incremental EBITDA per Richard Gearheards slide Retail EBITDA: Value-Added Growth (6) and slide The Road to $1.1-Billion and Beyond (7) at 2012 Investor Day. Assumes CapEx reflecting Retails 2007-2010 average CapEx / revenue level applied to Landmark revenues. Assumes 30% corporate tax rate reflecting assets located in Australia. The Landmark acquisition appears to require a 15% 2011-2015 organic growth CAGR for base EBITDA or an aggregate organic increase in EBITDA of 75% (in addition to full realization of synergies) in order to return Agriums stated minimum 9% return hurdle (though management has suggested its base return hurdle is higher than 9% for foreign acquisitions). Additionally, this analysis does not burden returns for potential increases in working capital investments since acquisition by Agrium. (3) Represents Agriums purchase price per Charles Magros slide Agriums Disciplined Growth (12) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day. Assumes for UAP $207mm of base EBITDA, $117mm of run-rate annual synergies realized as of 2011, and assumes 8% organic Base EBITDA growth per year. Base EBITDA and synergies per Richard Gearheards slide Retail EBITDA: Value-Added Growth (6) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day; organic growth not disclosed, but 8% assumption is in line with prior Agrium commentary and growth in the US ag inputs market (see page 12). Assumes CapEx reflecting Agrium Retails 2007-2010 average CapEx / revenue level applied to UAP revenues (Note: Agrium stopped providing disclosure of CapEx per segment in 2011). Assumes 35% corporate tax rate reflecting UAP assets principally located in the United States.
(2) Represents (1) Base

25

Capital Allocation: Substantial And Unproductive Increase In Retail Working Capital

Over the past 2 years, Retail has operated with working capital levels of between ~21-25% of revenue(1),
a meaningful increase in working capital intensity compared to the levels required by Agrium Retail and standalone UAP before Agriums acquisition of UAP, demonstrating a lack of capital control and discipline For the comparable year end seasonal period, pre-acquisition, pro forma combined working capital intensity of the combined Agrium Retail and UAP was ~14%, materially more than UAPs pre-deal 10% target and in line with the current 16% average of Agriums distribution peers(2) In the two years before undertaking the UAP acquisition and more than doubling the size of its business, Agrium Retail alone operated with meaningfully lower working capital (14% and 18% in 2006 and 2007, respectively)

Just getting back to the pro forma pre-deal working capital level of 14% of revenue would release over
$725 million of capital from Retail(3)

Other factors suggest that the working capital improvement opportunity may be even larger
There appears to still be significant unrealized potential from the UAP acquisition, given that this acquisition promised procurement synergies, offered greater density and scale (by improving inventory utilization across footprint) and improved logistics (by enhancing movement of inventory to meet demand) that should have reduced working capital intensity, plus at the time of the acquisition UAP already had working capital productivity initiatives in place to reduce working capital levels(4) Trade practice for Potash and Phosphate has increasingly moved to sale on consignment or just-intime delivery, reducing retail distributor inventory (and price risk) Agrium still has the opportunity to optimize its farm center footprint following Retail acquisitions
21% and 25% represent Agrium Retails 2011 and 2010 stated working capital levels per Agriums 2012 proxy. Pro forma combined working capital represents weighted average of Agrium and UAP end of year working capital / sales ratio for the 2 fiscal years preceding the UAP acquisition (Agrium FY 2006/2007 ratios of 14%/18% and UAP FY 2007/2008 ratios of 11%/14%). UAP targeted working capital level of 10% per UAPs Q2 FY 2008 earnings release issued on October 4, 2007. Average of distribution peers represents average of 2011 end of year working capital levels for Tractor Supply, Watsco, Wesco, Grainger and Genuine Parts. Distribution peers based on 2011 Investor Day categorization of Retail peer group. (3) Calculated as 2011 Agrium Retail revenue * (Agrium 2011 working capital ratio less pro forma Agrium & UAP pre-deal working capital ratio), per footnote #2. (4) See JPMorgan fairness opinion to UAPs Board of Directors, Schedule 14D-9 as filed with the SEC on December 10, 2007.
(1) (2)

26

Capital Allocation: Substantial And Unproductive Increase In Retail Working Capital (contd)
Agrium attributes its high working capital to opportunistic inventory purchases that enhance margins
and generate a return in excess of its 9% minimum after tax return hurdle Yes, weve got a high working capital, but its worth it because we get a hell of a return on it CEO Michael Wilson, Agrium 2012 Investor Day

However, Agrium has not demonstrated any benefits from the step-change increase in working capital
since acquiring UAP, and Agriums aggregate EBIT growth can not substantiate claims of returns earned on capital deployed (see page 31)

Operating the Retail business with excess working capital destroys substantial value by depriving Retail
of the earnings stability that warrants a premium multiple and justifies the large prices that Agrium has paid to acquire much of its current scale

Furthermore, lax working capital oversight encourages managers to risk shareholder capital on
speculative heads I win, tails you lose bets, where they can receive significant incentive compensation when inventory bets go right, and shareholders are the ones left holding the bill when bets go wrong

Agrium has substantially increased working capital, to the detriment of its Retail business and overall shareholder value.
27

Capital Allocation: Poor Capital Return Track Record

Before faced with shareholder pressure, Agrium had the worst capital return record among its fertilizer and
distribution peers, with a de minimis dividend and virtually no buyback activity over the tenure of current senior management

This questionable capital return discipline was fully evidenced at the

companys 2012 Investor Day, where Agrium announced an intent to make substantial investments to develop greenfield Nitrogen capacity in the United States despite simultaneously asserting that its existing wholesale assets alone were worth more than the companys enterprise value(2) Agrium apparently failed to take into consideration that, with assets trading at such a sizeable discount to its view of replacement cost and perception of fair value, a share buyback was a highly logical use of capital for the company This lack of fundamental analysis regarding the optimal use of capital mirrors Agriums historical growth at any price capital allocation strategy, which has involved high priced acquisitions and virtually no return of capital prior to shareholder pressure While it is true that since we began engaging with Agrium the company has substantially increased its dividend and announced a buyback ~7x larger than its cumulative repurchases over the past 8 years, its prior history of poor capital allocation has deprived shareholders of significant value

AGU View On Replacement Cost(1)

While Agriums capital return efforts have greatly improved following shareholder pressure, it is unclear based on prior history whether this will be sustained.
(1) (2) Agrium

Per Stephen Dyers slide Investing for the Future (9) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day. Represents replacement cost view for Wholesale assets only. total enterprise value at date of 2012 Investor Day, June 12-13, 2012. Per Bloomberg.

28

Retails Poor Public Reporting Disclosure

Agrium provides only aggregate segment level Revenue and EBIT and product level Revenue and
Gross Profit detail for Retail, with limited operating disclosure on the segment beyond these basic metrics, while Agriums balance sheet disclosure for Retail is even more lacking in detail This is in stark contrast to public reporting for Agriums Wholesale business, where management offers detailed disclosure that provides investors with excellent visibility into performance drivers From a poor starting point, Agriums Retail disclosure has actually worsened over time with fewer valuable segment-level metrics disclosed as the business has substantially grown in size. This has resulted in less transparency and accountability to shareholders as Agriums management and Board spent billions of dollars in Retail acquisitions

Instead of providing real KPIs (key performance indicators), Agrium has anchored investors to only
one metric: dollars of EBITDA Agrium has measured the progress of Retail in dollars of EBITDA, and it communicates to shareholders a multi-year strategy for Retail linked only to a future EBITDA dollar target Agrium provides no volume-linked metrics (for example, EBIT / Tonne), no comparable performance metrics (for example, same store sales) and does not provide detail on the organic growth in the business despite regularly acquiring Retail assets This level of disclosure is far inferior to that provided by the Original Comparables and other distributors, who endeavor to provide shareholders with more detailed operating and balance sheet disclosure / metrics

Is Agrium Retail undermanaged? We dont really know, and neither do you the lack of scrutiny by investors is largely a function of Agriums disclosure no segment offers less useful information than [Agrium] Retail does Mark Connelly, CLSA(1).
(1)

Jana is good news for investors; Mark Connelly and Kurt Schoen; CLSA; August 16, 2012.

29

Retails Poor Public Reporting Disclosure (contd)

This poor disclosure prevents investors from understanding Retails underlying earnings power or
measuring performance, and gives management incentives that are not aligned with shareholders As a result, it becomes even more difficult for Agriums shareholders and Wall Street research analysts to accord Retail the multiple it deserves Managements compensation structure also incentivizes the pursuit of acquisitions and paying high prices to hit future EBITDA dollar targets, rather than tying compensation to a more appropriate set of valuable Retail performance metrics

When investors and analysts have requested better disclosure on Retail, Agriums responses have

demonstrated a lack of clarity and an inability to synthesize performance so problematic that it raises serious concerns regarding performance tracking and oversight Unlike Wholesale, we dont most of our sales are not straight Potash or straight DAP or MAP, its the urea that blends with it. So when you start looking at per tonne of a blend, it is not comparable in all cases. I mean, so solutions, what we sell in the solution for is a lot less than what we sell ammonia for. But anyway, we have that information. Its just that its a lot of detail. With chemicals, I mean, I dont know how many SKUs do we have on it. I mean its 70,000 chemicals, I mean. Now, that might be different package sizes and so forth. But its to say how much are we getting per gallon, we sell some of them by the ounce, its really apples and oranges on the chemical side for sure theres just a lot of detail and I think you might get overwhelmed with it might be careful what you wish for Comment by Retail President at Agriums 2012 Investor Day in response to a question requesting better disclosure on the Retail business

Agriums inability to articulate even basic metrics or KPIs for Retail raises serious questions about how it manages the business and what if any real assessment is done to track performance over time or measure the success of capital deployment.
30

Result Of Missteps: Retail Has Failed To Realize Potential

Agrium has spent $4 billion in Retail acquisitions with a 9% minimum after tax return hurdle and has
claimed that IRR levels for approved projects are generally significantly higher than the base hurdle rate(1) Agrium has also increased Retails relative level of working capital intensity since the UAP acquisition by $725 million, citing the same return hurdles If these goals had been met, and given organic growth in the business, Retail would be earning over $1 billion of EBIT (pre-corporate costs and Viterra), $300 million above its expected 2012 segment EBIT and over $350 million above expected 2012E EBIT after allocating corporate costs

Retail EBIT Bridge(2)

By the companys own standards, Retail is substantially underperforming.

(1) Base (2)

after tax return hurdle and commentary on returns for underwritten investments per Charles Magros slide Agriums Disciplined Growth (11) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day. Bridge of Agriums EBIT from normalized earnings level pre-UAP. Average of 2007 and 2008 is an appropriate baseline for comparison, as 2007 and 2008 have planted acreage and growing season commodity prices comparable with 2011 and 2012 actual levels. Organic EBIT growth not disclosed, but 8% assumption is in line with prior Agrium commentary and growth in the US ag inputs market (see page 12). Return on M&A represents EBIT required to achieve base after tax return hurdle on Agriums $4bn of Retail acquisitions beginning with UAP as per Charles Magros slide Agriums Disciplined Growth (12) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day. Return on excess working capital represents EBIT required to satisfy Agriums base after tax return hurdle on the $725mm increase in working capital since UAP (as explained on page 26). Note: excludes Viterra acquisition in both capital deployed and M&A returns calculations.

31

Agriums Board Lacks True Experience In Retail Distribution, Leading To Failure Of Strategy And Operational Oversight
Agrium qualifies the Directors below to oversee its Retail business by pointing to their experience in
marketing / distribution However, these directors are principally credentialed in midstream (pipeline) distribution and in energy / materials production While these individuals may be established and well-credentialed executives, they do not offer any experience in true breaking bulk retail distribution like Agriums Retail business The Boards shortcomings in distribution have likely resulted in a lack of oversight at Retail, which is reflected in poor disclosure, operational underperformance and value-destructive capital allocation

Director(1)
Ralph Cunningham

Qualification In Marketing / Distribution

Executive and Board member of multiple midstream energy and chemical / materials companies including Enterprise Products, TETRA Technologies, DEP Holdings, Encana, TEPPCO, CITGO, Huntsman Chemical, Texaco and Exxon CEO of TransCanada, a diversified energy and pipeline company Has been a Director of midstream energy and nuclear power companies Former CEO of Catalyst Paper, a forest products and paper company Significant experience in pulp and paper manufacturing CEO of Halliburton, a global oilfield services company Has been a Director of chemical manufacturing and power generation companies Former Assistant to the CEO of ConocoPhillips, an integrated energy company Experience in chemicals industry and with midstream and exploration / production energy companies

Russell Girling Russell Horner David Lesar John Lowe

Agriums Retail underperformance demonstrates the challenges of overseeing its strategy and execution without actual retail distribution experience on the Board.
(1)

Represents the independent Directors Agrium cites as qualified in marketing / distribution in the board qualification matrix of its 2012 proxy (page 17).

32

JANAs Engagement To Date And Agriums Response

Background Of JANAs Engagement With Agrium

JANA began a private dialog with Agriums management and Board in May 2012, advocating the pursuit of
steps to realize Agriums full value potential including: Improving capital allocation through larger and more consistent return of capital to shareholders Highlighting and enhancing the value of Retail through: Initiating a Retail operational improvement plan to reduce excess working capital and costs Pursuing a separation of Retail and Wholesale into strong independent public companies Improving financial disclosure for the Retail business Eliminating excess corporate overhead supporting Agriums conglomerate structure Over time, evaluating the potential strategic value of its Potash assets

JANA believes such steps would meaningfully improve Agriums value

Focusing each business and driving Retails earnings potential through operational improvement Freeing Agriums businesses to appropriately capitalize themselves and allocate capital in an optimal manner, and better positioning each to pursue consolidation opportunities Improving capital allocation to reverse Agriums history of substandard capital return and establishing credibility with investors as a disciplined allocator of capital Addressing Agriums persistent conglomerate discount to unlock the value potential of Retail

After sharing these views with Agrium in May, JANA met privately with management in early July and
presented a more detailed analysis that showed Agriums underperformance and highlighted its value creation potential, and also provided its analysis to Agriums full Board

34

Agriums Response
Positively, Agrium has improved the size and regularity of capital return
On June 7, Agrium increased the size of its already-declared semi-annual dividend by over 100% On August 2, Agrium announced a $900 million Dutch tender share repurchase, representing a buyback initiative ~7x larger than all prior share repurchases over the past 8 years

Agrium also acknowledged that there are always opportunities to improve operational performance and
offered this as a potential constructive area for further dialog While Agrium takes issue with some of our analysis which, given its poor public disclosure and the superior information any company has, is not surprising nothing that Agrium has said has substantively refuted our key points

However, with respect to uncovering Agriums true value potential, rather than make a compelling case
for its current strategy and structure based on the facts, Agrium simply and astonishingly attempted to wipe the historical record of its prior comments regarding the undervaluation of Retail Despite arguing for years that its Retail business was undervalued, when we agreed with them and challenged the company to unlock that value, Agrium responded by discarding its longstanding (and appropriate) set of Original Comparables in the middle of the night for six new Midnight Comparables for the Retail business, which of course trade at lower multiples, and of which only one Airgas warrants real consideration as a valuation comparable for Retail Ironically, in mounting this defense of its structure and strategy, Agrium turned to the same expensive advisors that previously advised CF not to transact with Agrium in a stock deal because it believed that same structure and strategy would underperform

Rather than engage in a constructive dialog with its largest shareholder on value, Agrium resorted to an expensive, insular and strained defense of the status quo.
35

Agriums Midnight Comparables Are Simply Indefensible

Company
MRC Global

Size / Mult.(1)
$2.5bn / 8.0x

Key Observations On Comparability

Has been a public company for less than 6 months Control shareholder owns 77% Poor liquidity, trading ~$7 million per day since IPO End markets exposed to energy CapEx cycles Control shareholder owns 53% Micro cap, with only ~$500 million market cap Poor liquidity, trading only ~$3 million per day End markets more cyclical, less attractive long term

Metals USA

$0.5bn / 6.1x

Reliance Steel & Aluminum

$3.9bn / 6.4x

End market demand very cyclical and less attractive, with high exposure to non-residential construction Provides manufacturing services that are capital intensive and less attractive than pure distribution Small cap, with only $1.3 billion market cap Poor liquidity, trading ~$14 million per day End markets heavily exposed to construction cycles Highly applicable business model comparable, breaking bulk of products with cyclical, commodity exposure However, an inapplicable valuation comparable, as listed in continental Europe, where valuations are typically lower than for comparable US companies Similar business model, size, liquidity, trading and index inclusion (S&P 500) characteristics
36

Beacon Roofing Brenntag

$1.3bn / 9.3x

EUR 5.1bn / 8.9x

Airgas
(1)

$6.3bn / 8.7x

Represents Market Capitalization and TEV / NTM EBITDA multiples as of September 28, 2012. Data per CapitalIQ.

Agriums Midnight Comparables Are Simply Indefensible (contd)

The Midnight Comparables consist of micro cap and small cap stocks, newly public companies,
companies with controlling private equity shareholders, with very limited trading liquidity, with a high level of exposure to challenged end markets and with non-US / Canada listings Of the 6 Midnight Comparables, only one Airgas matches the business model, technical, listing and geographic characteristics to warrant serious consideration as a valuation comparable. Brenntag is a highly applicable business model comparable, but its foreign listing makes it a less applicable valuation comparable

In order to avoid a debate on structure and strategy, Agrium is therefore actually talking down the value of
Retail, incorrectly and to the detriment of shareholders

There are two potential explanations for this switch, neither of which is acceptable:
When challenged to unlock significant unrealized value through operational and structural change, the Board and management sought to avoid this debate by deliberately sabotaging Agriums value Or, the Board and management spent over $4 billion of shareholder capital on Retail acquisitions, including buying UAP for 12.8x EBITDA and Landmark for 14.6x EBITDA,(1) without any real understanding of what these businesses were worth, in complete disregard of their fiduciary duties When asked why Agrium switched to the Midnight Comparables so suddenly, Agriums VP of Corporate and Investor Relations stated that the Board hadnt really done that much work on valuing Retail before JANAs involvement(2)

The Midnight Comparables either reflect a desire to protect the status quo at any cost, or indicate a complete abdication of oversight while billions were spent.
(1) Net purchase price for UAP and Landmark acquisitions per Charles Magros slide Agriums Disciplined Growth (12) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day. UAP and Landmark Base EBITDA per Richard Gearheards slide Retail EBITDA: Value-Added Growth (6) at Agriums 2012 Investor Day. Represents acquisition valuations before synergies. (2) Shareholder, Agrium Spar Over Value Of Retail Arm; Reuters; Rod Nickel and Euan Rocha; August 16, 2012.

37

Original Comparables Remain The Most Appropriate

We believe Agriums Original Comparables remain the appropriate comp group for Retail given that they The applicability of these Original Comparables is evidenced by their comparability to standalone UAP
before it was acquired by Agrium For the 2 years preceding its sale, standalone UAP traded at an average valuation of 8.9x NTM EBITDA, exactly in line with the average multiple of the 5 Original Comparables In its 10-K filings, UAP measured its share price performance against a peer group that consisted of the 5 Original Comparables and Airgas (and incidentally, outperformed the group even before Agrium acquired them) Additionally, 4 of the 5 Original Comparables were used in a comparable companies analysis performed by JP Morgan as part of their fairness opinion to UAPs board share the closest business model, size, exchange and liquidity dynamics to a standalone Retail business

Agrium has attempted to justify its disavowal of Retails Original Comparables by arguing(1) that

standalone UAP traded at a discount to the S&P 500, and the S&P 500s valuation multiple has declined since Agrium acquired UAP ergo, a standalone UAP would be valued at a lower valuation today, meaning Agrium Retail would trade for a lower multiple than did UAP before its acquisition However, the Original Comparables actually trade at a higher valuation today than they did preceding the UAP acquisition, meaning UAP and by extension, Agrium Retail even under Agriums logic would today trade at a premium to UAPs previous valuation levels of ~9x EBITDA The Original Comparables have appreciated in value because the market has rewarded them for their attractive growth, stability and free cash flow profiles, exactly the characteristics that warranted UAPs valuation and that Agrium cites as the attractive attributes of Retail

Despite the Boards attempt to abandon them, the Original Comparables for Retail were and remain appropriate.
(1)

Per communications of Agrium management with Wall Street research analysts.

38

Agriums Value Creation Potential

What Agrium Should Do Today

Agrium has a myriad of steps it can take today to unlock its massive buried value creation potential for
shareholders: Committing to larger and more consistent return of capital going forward Improving disclosure in Retail Initiating a working capital and operational cost reduction plan in Retail Rationalizing unallocated corporate overhead Pursuing a separation of Retail and Wholesale

Agrium can harvest its substantial untapped value creation potential by immediately pursuing these steps.
40

Value Creation Opportunity

Address Conglomerate Discount
~$15-20 per share opportunity to eliminate the sum of parts discount from improving retail disclosure and announcing a plan to separate Retail via a tax free spin transaction.(1)

Rationalize Costs
$20+ per share opportunity from eliminating excess cost in Retail to realize inherent operating leverage and from reducing excessive unallocated corporate overhead.(2)

~$50 Per Share Value Creation Opportunity Improve Capital Allocation

At least ~$10 per share from releasing excess working capital and from committing to a more aggressive and more consistent return of capital through increased dividends and buybacks.(3)

Provide Retail Oversight

Further meaningful value creation by adding real distribution executives to the Board who can better define operational and strategic goals and properly incentivize management to achieve them.

There is no legitimate reason to deny shareholders this value creation opportunity.

(1) Assumes elimination of conglomerate structure results in valuation consistent with current peer actual P / E and TEV / EBITDA NTM multiples as of September 28, 2012. CF used as comparable for Nitrogen segment, with adjustment to companys EBITDA multiple to reflect Agriums advantaged statutory tax rate; average of Mosaic and Potash Corp used for Phosphate and Potash segments; average of CF, Mosaic and Potash Corp used for AAT and Resale / Other Wholesale; average of Original Comparables (Tractor Supply, Watsco, Wesco, Grainger and Genuine Parts) used for Retail. Retail peer group based on Agrium 2011 Investor Day categorization of Retail peer group. Data per CapitalIQ. (2) Assumes Agrium right-sizes overhead to bridge the difference between current costs and pro forma UAP / Agrium (inc. synergies) levels at the time of the transaction. See additional detail on page 24. Assumes savings capitalized at valuation level of Original Comparables as of September 28, 2012. Assumes that Agrium rationalizes 60% of unallocated overhead costs following the separation of Retail, with savings capitalized at Agriums implied sum-of-the-parts multiple as of September 28, 2012. (3) Assumes $725mm working capital rationalization opportunity. Assumes Agrium initiates a $1.5bn share repurchase program concurrent with taking steps to unwind Agriums conglomerate discount via separation of Retail (see footnote #1), to rationalize Retail and corporate costs (see footnote #2) and to right size working capital in Retail. Assumes shares repurchased at September 28, 2012 closing price of $103.46 and are funded by debt with a 3.0% after-tax cost of capital (higher than after tax cost of recently issued 10 year debt). Buyback is assumed in addition to announced $900mm buyback, which was undertaken after Agrium announced that it would not be purchasing Viterras 34% stake in the Medicine Hat Nitrogen facility for a similar amount. Value creation represents immediate value accretion (growing further over time) of share repurchases assuming value creation from steps noted above.

41