Most natural resources are finite, so the challenge to ‘produce’ or ‘preserve’ is a very real issue. Global population is increasing by over 80m per annum and will likely hit 10bn around 2050.

This is a challenge for food production and Bayer will play its part in reshaping it’s business to meet future growing demands, said Liam Condon, president of the crop science division and board member of Bayer AG.

Liam Condon of Bayer speaking at the recent Future of Farming dialogue.

Condon told the Future of Farming gathering in early October that the great challenges are climate, increasing population and limited natural resources. The challenge for the future is to get more from less and he said that Bayer is committed to help in this objective.

Bayer is committed to sustainability, and has little choice but to do so, according to Liam.

Increasing population and decreasing land base mean that there is less land to feed people, so more yield from less area is the challenge.

Bayer’s sustainability objectives target a 30% reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions, a 30% decrease in the environment impact of crop protection and increased income on over 100m farm smallholdings.

Outcome-based pricing

We continue to witness the ability of technology to predict harvest/crop outcomes. Sustainability must encompass the primary producer and Bayer is to introduce a new ‘outcome-based pricing model’.

This appears to mean that Bayer would take some of the risk from the grower to ensure that a treatment delivers, in exchange for a share in the upside of the yield/profitability benefit. The concept is already being trialled at farm level in the US.

Bayer have committed to invest €5bn in research into alternative weed management methods.

Arnd Nestiel from Bayer told us that, as well as conventional herbicide chemistry, this will include other elements of knowledge such as plant allelopathic tendencies and factors that impact on weed seed survival in the soil.

The chemistry includes a number of new modes of action, with at least one showing activity on black grass and other grass weeds.

Glyphosate is now in the Bayer toolbox following the company’s purchase of Monsanto

Different working groups will look at different aspects to include non-chemical control methods such as lasers to zap seedlings, the targeted use of steam, targeted cultural control of individual weeds, etc.

Glyphosate is now in the Bayer toolbox following the company’s purchase of Monsanto.

Bayer also inherited a mountain of litigation, following claims that the glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup causes cancer.

Arnd said that the company will continue to challenge decisions made against the active, despite losing three cases in the US.

He indicated that Bayer is likely to challenge any decision made at EU level for political rather than scientific reasons.

The active is hugely important in helping to combat climate change through reduced cultivation methods.

New technologies

The future will not be just about chemicals. Bayer’s global head of research and development, Bob Reiter, told us that RNAi is now being examined as a potential new technology for resistance management.

The ability to use some combination of GM and gene engineering is being examined. This would use crop plants to carry genes that would target the specific change in a resistant organism, making it susceptible to an active once again.

We were also told about a new joint venture agreement between Bayer and Arvinas to develop a new technology, proteolysis, for use in agriculture

This capability would be developed and delivered through plant breeding. In theory, this technology could make previously resistant, plant-invasive organisms susceptible to specific actives again.

We were also told about a new joint venture agreement between Bayer and Arvinas to develop a new technology, proteolysis, for use in agriculture.

The technology which harnesses the naturally occurring protein degradation system in cells is currently being developed for human health. Proteolysis can selectively break down target proteins into amino acids in specific organisms.

The joint venture will address weeds, insects and/or diseases that threaten crops worldwide.

The technology offers a completely new category of crop protection application but it may still be 10-12 years away.