Bayer’s Crop Science division announced a new partnership with the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) at last week’s ASTA CSS and Seed Expo in Chicago.
David Hollinrake, VP Marketing for North America, says the partnership involves Bayer sponsoring the ASTA Communications Committee and sharing Bayer’s successful AgVocate initiative research and materials. “It’s really about engaging farmers and engaging all agriculturalists into the conversation with the general public around the benefits of modern production agriculture,” said Hollinrake. “We’ve been able to bring over 10,000 people into the social circle so that we can become stronger agvocates with a prouder voice.”
During his address to the ASTA CSS, Hollinrake noted the similarities between the ASTA slogan “Better Seed, Better Life” and Bayer’s “Science for a Better Life” tag line. “We’ve done a good job describing the better science component, but not so good at describing the better life component.”
In our interview, Hollinrake also discusses Bayer’s proposed acquisition of Monsanto and why they believe it makes sense for farmers. “We’ve got wonderfully complementary skill sets,” he said. “Monsanto is a leader in seed, genetics and biotechnology and we have been a leader in crop chemistry and seed treatments, so combining the capabilities of both really promises greater innovation for the American farmer.”
Listen to it here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/astacss-16-hollinrake.mp3″ text=”Interview with David Hollinrake, Bayer”]