Super-soybeans, unprecedented herbicides and revolutionary corn: Bayer unveils a wave of agricultural advances

Bayer used its Innovation Showcase in Huxley, Iowa, to present an agricultural pipeline built around biotechnology, new molecules, artificial intelligence and gene editing. The German multinational says it wants to put 10 blockbuster products on the market over the next 10 years, with each capable of generating more than €500 million in sales.

Two of those products are already available globally. Preceon is a low-stature corn system designed to reduce the risk of plants lodging. Its plants stand 30% to 40% shorter, allowing farmers to increase plant density and continue entering fields with machinery throughout the crop cycle to apply fertilizers and crop-protection products.

Bayer aims to reach 10.5 million hectares with the system by 2035. Preceon is already offered in Mexico, Italy, Spain and the United States. In Argentina, the next campaign will bring a small commercial launch of about 1,000 bags containing 20 products. The company expects the system to expand quickly there.

"It will change the crop in the country; it will be one of the markets that grows the most," said Juan Farinati, Bayer's president and CEO for the Southern Cone. The company initially targets late-planted corn but ultimately wants the system used across the crop.

The second product, Plenexos, is an insecticide developed to cover a broad range of pests. It launched in Colombia and will next move into markets including Mexico, Brazil and the United States. Bayer says farmers could use up to 75% less active ingredient, which would also help protect pollinators and beneficial insects.

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It will change the crop in the country; it will be one of the markets that grows the most.