The opening of the new Bayer CropScience research and development facility last week in Sacramento will allow the company to better leverage its full capabilities by consolidating and expanding its global R&D organization.
“The investment into this state-of-the-art facility creates an environment where our researchers and experts can find the best possible conditions to discover solutions that growers across the globe can depend on to produce high-quality food in a sustainable manner,” said Dr. Adrian Percy, Global Head of Research and Development at Bayer CropScience.
Percy says the new West Sacramento site is situated on 10 acres of land and features a 100,000-square-foot building and a 35,000-square-foot pilot plant to support research and development of biological crop protection products, as well as a 30,000-square-foot Vegetable Seeds research building. The facility will also include a 2,000-square-foot greenhouse and five acres of nearby land for future greenhouse space as well as the has the capacity to house up to 300 employees.Interview with Adrian Percy, Bayer CropScience
Dr. Jonathan Margolis, Vice President of Biologics Research for Bayer CropScience, says there are a whole range of products that fall under the heading of biologics. “We focus primarily on beneficial microbes, bacteria and fungi, usually from soil,” said Margolis. “What we do here is characterize those to pick out the very best ones to use for agricultural products.”
When it comes to research, Margolis says they always start with the problem “because that means we’re starting with the customer in mind” then they design a project around that. “We have a major new initiative, for example, around crop efficiency, the idea of developing particularly seed treatments for broad acre crops to increase yield.”Interview with Jonathan Margolis, Bayer CropScience