By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
NEAFA recently spoke with Darren Wallis, the head of communications and Kimberly O’Brien of the Government Relations Department for Bayer Crop Science to learn more about the company and its commitment to the agricultural industry.
“Bayer Crop Science is 100 percent focused on farmers and the success of farmers,” said Wallis. “We have an incredible portfolio of high tech seeds, biotech traits, a leading crop protection portfolio, and digital farming platform. All of those tools combined are meant to help farmers do what they do best; raise the very best and most profitable crop they can, and get it to market to provide food, feed, and fiber to the country and around the world.”
While many may hear the name Bayer and automatically think of aspirin, the 150 plus year old company has roots in agriculture all the way back to its beginning. “The first product that Bayer ever developed was actually an insecticide for farmers,” said Wallis. “Bayer’s crop science predates even aspirin in our catalog of products. It’s been a focus for the company since the beginning.”
In 2018, Bayer acquired Monsanto in a bid to increase its crop science catalog and provide a wider selection of products to its customers. “After the acquisition of Monsanto, we have the largest catalog out there,” said Wallis. “Monsanto was strong in seeds and bio-tech traits, while Bayer was strong with crop chemistries and that portfolio. By coming together under Bayer, it’s been incredible opportunity to serve our customers even better than we could as two separate companies. We have something for every farmer regardless of what corner of the US they’re in, as we have so many different products to meet the specialized needs that any crop may have.”
Besides seeds and chemistry, Bayer has invested in its digital platform. “ We’re always seeing new upgrades and apps,” said Wallis. “With that technology, farmers are increasingly becoming able to farm acre by acre, and see how different competing seeds and systems work in their fields. Yield monitors let them see how this particular part of their field performed versus other sections. They can make decision on what seeds to plant where and optimize every acre of their ground and that’s really exciting. You can look at all that data and know exactly whether those investments you’ve made for growing panned out or not. You didn’t used to have that level of data. You might know at a field level with a visual of ‘I think this looked better in this section or not,’ or ‘I got more truckloads out of this section or not,’ but now you have this incredibly rich piece of data that takes a lot of that guess work out. You know without a doubt what part of your field yielded what, and that can allow you to make very powerful decisions based off that data.”
According to Wallis, Bayer Crop Science believes that associations are important for the growth and success for the industry at large. “Participating in NEAFA and other associations keeps us in touch with agricultural communities,” said Wallis. “Our focus is the success of farmers, and it takes an interconnected agricultural community to help continue that success. Engaging in associations like NEAFA keeps us closer to our grower customer and the issues and topics that are important to them. We all want to work together to make farmers succeed. When they succeed, Bayer and other companies that support them succeed as well. That’s part of being one big community.”
For government relations focused O’Brien, the advocacy done by NEAFA is very important as well. “Being a part of NEAFA is great because of the work and advocacy they do with legislators and in education,” said O’Brien. “Before Covid-19, we used to do in person visits to legislators, and the ability to partner with NEAFA members and talk with them about our products and our work to aid agribusiness operations in New England and New York is great. It has been a real benefit to help us tell our part of the story and how it fits with northeastern agribusiness. When things moved to a virtual format, NEAFA Executive Director Rick Zimmerman has done a great job shifting to that format. The integral meetings with Agriculture Commissioners across six New England states and New York and continue the conversation on legislation; he’s kept that going.”
In a similar vein to NEAFA’s dedication to giving back through the Golf for Good Works Tournament, Bayer Crop Science believe in investing in the ag community and its youth. “We invest a great deal in youth and youth programs,” said Wallis. “It’s important personally and to the company. We’re a significant sponsor of the national 4H council and FFA. Both are important to us for many reasons, since they continue to attract a diverse talent into agriculture. I’m a 4H alum, I grew up on a farm, and I did great things through 4h on and off farm. It taught me public speaking, I got to grow tomatoes with Gran and taking them to the fair; those are experiences that have shaped my life. As the country has become more urban, we’re always looking for new ways to attract youth to STEM, and want people to know that agriculture is vibrant and exciting. There’s a home for them in agriculture and you don’t have to be a farmer to be involved. We know that if you can get to young people early and get them excited, that you have better chance to get them into STEM and agriculture.”
For more about Bayer Crop Science, you can find them at www.bayercropscience.us, or email Wallis directly at darren.wallis@bayer.com.