BASF Agricultural Products division president Michael Heinz is in a good mood because prices for farm products are higher and farmers are spending more money on their input costs to increase production. “It makes us very excited because when the farmer is in a good mood, in general, we are in a good mood,” Heinz says. This optimism was the primary message at the BASF global press conference in Germany on Wednesday.
This year has shown the importance of innovations for farmers, and Heinz says innovation is the whole goal of BASF. He is especially pleased with the performance of Headline in improving the health and vitality of plants, especially corn. And he talked about how BASF is working on seven new active ingredients and a new herbicide tolerance project. The increasing production of corn for ethanol in the United States is also creating new opportunities for BASF to help grower meet the increased demand. Specifically he notes the development of a wholly new herbicide with the code name of BAS 800H which has “outstanding activity against broadleaf weeds.”
Listen to my interview with Michael here:
basf-germany-heinz.mp3