Bayer launches sustainable ag hub to connect U.S. farmers, food and fuel makers

Bayer Cropscience

15/08/2022 10:00

By Karl Plume
    St. Louis, Missouri, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Agricultural seeds
and chemicals maker Bayer AG  BAYGn.DE  on Monday launched a
digital farming platform that it says will help U.S. growers
enact environmentally friendly practices and connect them with
companies seeking more sustainable food, feed and biofuel
ingredients.
    The effort will help the seed and chemical giant diversify
its revenue stream, capitalizing on a decade-long farm data
collection effort.
    Bayer's ForGround platform will tap weather, soil, seed and
farming practice data to make recommendations about how growers
can boost soil health, cut emissions and reduce water use and
chemical applications. Environmental outcomes would then be
certified by a third-party verifier so that farmers can
potentially sell their grain for a premium, Bayer said.
    The program would also allow companies such as food makers
and biofuel producers to create incentive programs for farmers
to grow crops in a way that would help companies meet their
environmental goals.
    Bayer will charge companies a flat or per-acre fee for the
services, and make money from farmers through seed and chemical
sales and data-platform subscriptions. The launch initially
targets U.S. agriculture but the company envisions broadening it
to other countries, though no timetable is set yet, Bayer said.
    The offering builds on Bayer's Carbon Program which pays
farms for pulling climate-warming carbon from the atmosphere and
locking it in the soil.
    It is among the latest initiatives by agriculture companies
aiming to meet rising demand for sustainably produced food, and
to profit off data collection through subscriptions for new
technology.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2XI1MG
    "This is a challenge and a key benefit for agriculture. But
it's also a challenge and a benefit for companies that have made
sustainability commitments around the world," said Leo Bastos,
head of global commercial ecosystems at Bayer CropScience.
    The program taps Bayer's strategy to use deep pools of
agricultural and climate data to make farming more efficient and
to verify and monetize environmental benefits.
    ForGround requires that farmers enroll in Bayer's Climate
FieldView platform, where growers log data about agricultural
practices such as no-till farming or planting cover crops.
    

 (Reporting by Karl Plume in St. Louis
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
 ((karl.plume@thomsonreuters.com; +1 313 484 5285; Reuters
Messaging: karl.plume.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))