Bayer’s new view on crop science

ST. LOUIS — Since the hold separate order between Monsanto and Bayer was lifted on Aug. 16, new Bayer company staff have been sharing insights into the merger and what the future holds for the mega corporation.

Crop Science Division Chief Operations Officer Brett Begemann and Regional Sales Director Stacy Markovich are among them. While the global headquarters is in Germany, the North American commercial headquarters is in St. Louis, where Begemann and Markovich work.

Having grown up on a Missouri farm, Begemann has 35 years of Monsanto experience going into his new position overseeing the Crop Science Division for Bayer. During a presentation to National Press Foundation fellows visiting Bayer’s Kansas City facility, he explained that he’s traveled the world learning about farmers and their operations, granting him a unique perspective on Bayer’s contributions to the future of agriculture.

Although she did not grow up on a farm, Markovich recently told the St. Louis Agribusiness Club that she was “born into agriculture” because her father made his career with Monsanto in St. Louis. As a “legacy Monsanto” employee, she now has 10 years with the “new Bayer company.”

The merger between the two companies was approved by U.S. authorities on May 29, but the two did not mingle any new business until the hold separate order was lifted on Aug. 16.

The result is a company headquartered in Germany with three divisions – pharmaceuticals (Drugs involving contraception, cancer treatment, hemophilia, stroke/blood clots), consumer health (Claritin, Aleve, Coppertone, Dr. Scholl’s), and crop science (Channel, Roundup, Serenade, Climate Corporation and animal health).

The new Bayer now employs 22,000 people across more than 300 sites in the United States, doubling Bayer’s presence in the U.S. The United States represents one-third of all sales, Markovich said.

Although the merger is complete, Markovich said all of the internal work to complete the combination of the two companies will take “three years to bring this together.”

“Customers are important and we can’t afford to disrupt them,” she said. As a result, Bayer is using “this unique opportunity” to ask questions about what works best from each company to determine a future path.

Here are some highlights and perspectives the two shared about post-merger Bayer:

Bayer’s New Challenges

Begemann summed up their challenges as feeding a growing population, coping with climate change and developing relevant technology.

“The population continues to grow. It’s not just about population growth. It’s about what I consider to be one of the most fascinating and exciting things that’s happening in my lifetime. People are getting the opportunity to eat better,” he said.

He’s also watched climate change happen as growers in South Dakota and North Dakota have diversified their crop offerings from wheat to include soybeans as the growing season there has lengthened with warmer temperatures over a longer period.

“Significant advancements in technology have been made all across the board, from agronomic technology to equipment technology to seed technology to how we manage the crops. The farmers do that with far less tillage. The importance of reduced tillage is you conserve water,” he said.

Environmental Sustainability

“We have to figure out how to feed that ever-increasing population, but we don’t get any more land and we don’t get any more water,” Begemann said.

“We already use 70 percent of the fresh water in the world for agriculture. There’s a big demand for water all over the world. So we have to figure out how to do this with the land we have and the water we’ve got, which leads us to, I believe, the need to drive a lot of innovation. And you’ll see some of that we go forward.”

Customer-Centric Approach

“We spend as a company at Bayer an enormous amount time with our customers because we believe we have to work hand in glove with them. We can invent and create tech, products, services, etc., but if they don’t work for the farmer on the farm and help them increase the productivity of the land, it never materializes. So we have to stay very much in concert with our farmer customers,” Begemann said.

“So our tools and technology needs to sync up with those advancements that are happening on the agricultural side,” he continued. “What it really comes down to at the end of the day is that it’s a complete circle of how do we do all of these things working with our farmer customers, to increase the productivity and sustainability of the food supply. And that’s a challenging observation.”

All-Farmer Perspective

Most farmers in the world are women farming an average 1 hectare (equal to just under 2.5 acres) in Southeast Asia, India and Africa, areas with the most rapid population growth.

“We have to help those small holders as well as the large farmers,” Begemann said. “It’s easy to get caught in the trap when you’re sitting in the middle of the heartland, where there’s some of the most sophisticated agriculture in the world.”

He does not see large farmers and small farmer interests in conflict. “One of the things that I’ve learned about farmers … is that they share what I call truisms,” Begemann said. Regardless of size and location, he said farmers are humble, passionate and open to innovation.

Monsanto Legacy

A key contribution from Monsanto is its staff, Markovich said. “One of the top reasons acquisitions fail is the culture aspect. Both companies have similar cultures,” she said, adding that Monsanto was “an employer of choice.”

“What it’s all about is innovation, innovation, innovation. That can’t happen unless we have great people,” Markovich said.

Future Of Crop Science

“I personally believe that digital and data science is going to change agriculture more than anything has changed agriculture in my previous 35 years,” Begemann said. “It’s going to be huge and it’s so welcome because it’s going to give us insights to things that we haven’t been able to figure out before.”

Monsanto bought Silicon Valley-based Climate Corporation in 2013. Under Chief Technology Officer Mark Young, Climate FieldView has been brought to market as an all-in-one field data collector and analyzer and is now a Bayer product. While there’s a $1,000 base subscription, there’s an additional per-acre fee for deeper data. It has 100,000 customers in the United States.

“Digital will help gather this all up and help the farmer make better decisions,” Begemann said, adding that FieldView allows farmers to advance from managing the fields to managing the fields meter by meter. “At the same time, when you have the opportunity to help shape agriculture for the future, it has to be done in a responsible manner. We have to engage with society and work on these challenges together.”