Bayer announced continued progress in delivering customer-focused, sustainable agricultural innovation in an update with investors. The company’s success in translating research and development (R&D) leadership into differentiated and advanced products for farmers is driving operational performance, while shaping the future of agriculture. Progress is being powered by strong commercial execution in a positive market environment, particularly in fungicides and herbicides.
“As the leader in agricultural input sales, profitability and R&D investment, we have delivered on commercial milestones that will advance our leadership, further increasing confidence in our ability to achieve our goals,” said Liam Condon, member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and President of the Crop Science Division. “Our leading commercial portfolio, digital platform and unmatched innovation are driving significant value for our grower customers. We are confident that the convergence of our technology platforms to drive more customer-centric solutions will deliver above market sales growth and leading profitability as we look out to 2024.”
Bayer is further strengthening its market position through recently commercialized innovations. For example, in the key North American market, Bayer has defended its position as the number one soybean weed control system provider with its Roundup Ready Xtend Crop System.
Bayer is successfully upgrading its Roundup Ready 2 Xtend footprint with XtendFlex soybeans, which have already reached approximately 15 million acres this year. This latest offering adds glufosinate tolerance to provide additional weed-control flexibility. Farmers chose to plant these two trait offerings on more than 55% of the U.S. soybean acres this year. Bayer expects to continue to upgrade soybean acres to XtendFlex in the U.S. in the years ahead, thanks to the proven yield benefits and exceptional weed control. In Brazil, the launch of its new Intacta 2 Xtend soy on approximately 600,000 acres is currently underway, as the company upgrades its leading soybean trait platform in South America. Built on the performance of first-generation Intacta, Intacta 2 Xtend adds two proteins for insect control, which is important for insect resistance management, as well as tolerance to dicamba. The demonstrated performance advantage of the technology is significant for farmers, delivering approximately three bushels per acre more compared to similar varieties that are in the market.