Bayer’s Crop Science Division announced a plan to capitalize on opportunities presented by the shift to regenerative agriculture to grow its core business of seeds, traits, crop protection and digital while also expanding adjacent markets.

At its 2023 Innovation Summit, the company identified growth potential in segments like crop fertility, biologicals, biofuels, carbon farming, precision application services as well as digital platforms and marketplaces. By the middle of the next decade, Bayer envisions shaping regenerative agriculture on more than 400 million acres through its agriculture input solutions.

“We are envisioning an even broader role in agriculture,” says Rodrigo Santos, president of Bayer Crop Science and Bayer AG board member. “We define regenerative agriculture as increasing food production, farm incomes and resilience in a changing climate while renewing nature. Our portfolio will deliver future innovations with regenerative agriculture at the core, and we will explore new market opportunities to further allow farmers to combine productivity, profitability, and sustainability benefits.”

Regenerative agriculture solutions

Farmers can expect innovations that not only deliver yield improvements but can also regenerate soil and minimize the impact of farming on the climate and broader environment. On the farm of the future, field data and sequestered carbon dioxide will be just as important to the farmer as crop yields.

Bayer will focus its investment on solutions that deliver important pillars of regenerative agriculture. This includes improved productivity, social and economic wellbeing of farmers and communities, conservation of water, mitigation of climate change, improved soil health as well as preservation and restoration of biodiversity.

Research pipeline brings new technology

In 2022, Bayer refreshed its seed portfolio with 500 new hybrid and variety deployments and its crop protection portfolio with 10 new formulation launches and more than 250 new registrations. The company’s research and development pipeline includes several exciting and new technologies:

Bayer to expand ag-adjacent markets

In addition to expanding within the crop science space, Bayer plans to expand into new market opportunities, including:  

Biofuels: Cover crops help farmers protect their fields in a sustainable way, promoting soil health. CoverCress, in which Bayer is the majority share owner, will open additional revenue streams from the sale of the same-named cover crop to biofuel makers. Oil extracted from CoverCress is designed to achieve a lower carbon intensity score and can be made into renewable fuels without competing against food crops, due to being planted between seasons.Digital value chain: Advancements in precision agriculture and digital farming technology are helping farmers maximize the productivity and sustainability of their land and agricultural practices. Climate FieldView has become an essential decision tool with subscriptions on more than 220 million crop acres globally. Earlier this year, the company unveiled new cloud-based enterprise solutions: Bayer AgPowered Services, powered by the new Microsoft Azure Data Manager for Agriculture. The service allows companies across the farm and food value chains to bring greater transparency to consumers and deliver increased opportunity for farmers.