Bayer will be operating a new company called Bayer Digital Farming GmbH proPlant, which will function as their plant health diagnosis and infection level warning service provider.  The new division came about as Bayer acquired the German based Gesellschaft für Agrar- und Umweltinformatik mbH, a spin-off by employees of the Institute for Geoifomatics at Munster University.   The acquisition continues the expansion of Bayer’s agricultural digitalization.

“The acquisition of proPlant will extend our technology platform, on the basis of which we are developing new digital solutions for sustainable, resource-efficient agricultural production,” said Liam Condon, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and head of the Crop Science Division. “Digitalization can give farmers timely, field-specific information, from selecting the right crop varieties and finding the right fertilizer dose as accurately as possible through to determining the ideal time for crop protection measures and recognizing plant stress factors at an early stage,” he explained.

Bayer Digital Farming GmbH develops and markets IT solutions for the European agricultural sector. In particular, the company markets optimization solutions for plant protection applications for almost all major arable crops. The Managing Director of Bayer Digital Farming GmbH is Andree-Georg Girg, most recently global Crop Manager Oilseeds at Bayer. Financial details were not disclosed.

To continue some existing activities of proPlant that are not relevant for Bayer, a new company has been established by its partners operating under the name proPlant Agrar- und Umweltinformatik GmbH. Thomas Volk has been appointed Managing Director of this company.

Bayer has developed decision-making solutions that provide weather data and topographic maps.  Bayer plans to continue their digital farming investments and long-term research and collaboration with leading tech providers.