The farm economy may have its ups and downs, but the investment that Bayer’s Crop Science division makes in research and development for agriculture to feed a growing population has never been stronger.
“We have an R&D strategy that basically involves using cutting edge science to help growers with their productivity, but to do it in a way that is sustainable for agriculture, the environment, and for society in general,” said Dr. Adrian Percy, Global Head of R&D for Bayer, during the company’s media luncheon at Farm Progress Show.
Percy says Bayer’s approach to R&D is long term. “We have to take care of today, obviously, but we’re actually looking way out,” he said. “A lot of our innovations may take 10 or 20 years sometimes to get to market so we’re already looking to 2030 and beyond.”
Bayer invests about a billion dollars a year in R&D for agriculture, with around 5,000 people dedicated to R&D. “Approximately, every 100 dollars a grower would spend on our products we’re reinvesting ten dollars of that into R&D,” said Percy. “To actually bring a new crop protection chemistry to the marketplace can cost well over $200 million these days.”
Learn more about Bayer’s investment in R&D in this interview: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/fps16-bayer-percy.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dr. Adrian Percy, Bayer”]
Listen to Dr. Percy’s media luncheon remarks here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/fps16-bayer-percy1.mp3″ text=”Dr. Adrian Percy, Bayer Global Head of R&D”]
2016 Farm Progress Show Photos
