Bayer Accelerates Seed and Crop Protection Innovations as Major Product Launches Approach
Bayer is moving into a significant new phase of innovation in agriculture as the company begins commercializing a new generation of Crop Science products designed to address some of the most pressing challenges facing farmers worldwide. The company is advancing its previously announced ambition to bring 10 blockbuster agricultural innovations to market over a 10-year period, with several major products already entering commercial markets and additional launches planned across North America, Latin America and other important agricultural regions.
For Bayer, a blockbuster product is defined as an innovation with expected peak sales potential of at least €500 million. The company’s current pipeline combines seed genetics, biotechnology, crop protection products and digital agriculture capabilities, creating integrated solutions intended to help farmers manage risk, improve productivity and strengthen returns on their investments.
Among the products already moving toward commercialization are Plenexos™ insecticide and the Preceon™ Smart Corn System. Bayer is also preparing for the introduction of Vyconic™ soybean technology in the United States and Canada, while Intacta 5+™ is expected to enter the Brazilian market for the 2027/2028 growing season.
Rodrigo Santos, Member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and Head of the Crop Science Division, said the company is delivering on its commitments by bringing new products to growers. He emphasized that Bayer’s strategy connects seed and crop protection innovation to develop whole-farm solutions that can help farmers manage agricultural risks, capture yield potential and improve return on investment.
Preceon™ Smart Corn System Expands Its Global Presence
One of Bayer’s leading innovations is the Preceon™ Smart Corn System, a digitally enabled short-stature corn system designed to provide growers with a combination of agronomic and operational advantages.
The system is already delivering value on farms in Mexico, Italy, Spain and the United States, while commercial launch activities in Argentina are beginning this year. Its short-stature architecture is designed to provide greater protection against weather extremes while allowing growers greater flexibility to plant at higher densities.
Another important advantage is improved accessibility for standard farm equipment throughout the growing season. The system also features a larger root structure, which Bayer says can contribute to lower agronomic risk, greater yield potential and improved returns for farmers.
Bayer has set an ambitious goal for Preceon™ and is targeting market penetration across 26 million acres by 2035. Digital capabilities are also embedded into the system through FieldView™, extending its role beyond a traditional sales-support platform.
FieldView™ enables collaboration between farmers and agronomic advisers and is intended to help growers better understand and capture the agronomic and economic value of the Preceon™ system.
Plenexos™ Brings New Insect Control Technology
Bayer is also expanding its crop protection portfolio with Plenexos™, a new insecticide designed to control a broad range of sucking pests.
The product has already been introduced in Colombia, with planned launches in Mexico, Brazil and the United States. Bayer says Plenexos™ can enable farmers to use up to 75% less active ingredient compared with other products for pest control. The reduced active-ingredient requirement may also help protect pollinators, beneficial insects and other non-target organisms.
The technology is being positioned for important agricultural crops, including soybeans, cotton, fruits and vegetables. Bayer expects Plenexos™ to achieve peak sales potential of approximately €500 million by the middle of the 2030s.
New Soybean Technologies Target Weed Management Challenges
Soybean production is another major focus of Bayer’s innovation strategy. Vyconic™ is being developed as the industry’s first soybean trait stack offering tolerance to five herbicides.
The technology is intended to provide growers with greater flexibility when managing weeds while helping address increasingly difficult weed resistance challenges. Bayer is combining the trait technology with its advanced breeding pipeline to introduce it in high-performing soybean varieties.
According to the company, these varieties have demonstrated yield improvements of more than two bushels per acre. By combining genetic yield potential with expanded weed-control flexibility, Bayer expects growers to capture greater value from the technology.
Vyconic™ is expected to be introduced in the United States and Canada next year. Bayer also anticipates the subsequent launch of HT5 and aims to regain a leading position in soybean traits in North America by 2032.
In Brazil, Intacta 5+™ is designed to provide growers with five herbicide tolerances along with new insect-protection traits specifically developed for the country’s agricultural conditions. Together with future generations of herbicide-tolerance and insect-protection technologies, Bayer expects its soybean portfolio to achieve peak sales potential of more than €3 billion.
Pipeline Includes New Crop Protection Technologies
Bayer’s blockbuster ambitions extend beyond its current commercial launches. Additional products expected before the end of the decade include fourth-generation corn rootworm protection and Icafolin, a new herbicide with projected sales potential of €750 million in the mid-2030s.
Collectively, Bayer expects its 10 blockbuster products to address major challenges facing farmers while making a meaningful contribution to the company’s growth over the next decade.
AI and Advanced Breeding Strengthen R&D
Alongside product launches, Bayer is continuing to expand its Crop Science research and development pipeline. The company introduces approximately 400 to 500 new hybrids and varieties each year, supported by an AI-enabled precision breeding platform.
Bayer says the platform doubles the rate of yield improvement, or genetic gain, achieved with each new generation compared with historical breeding approaches. It also accelerates time to market by approximately three times.
Genome editing is another important component of Bayer’s breeding strategy. Researchers are integrating genome-editing technologies earlier in breeding programs and applying them at scale.
One example involves soybean plant architecture. As soybean plants become taller through breeding for higher yield, they can become more vulnerable to leaning or lodging. Bayer is therefore developing genome-edited soybean varieties with improved plant architecture designed to address this challenge.
The company expects innovations such as genome-edited standable soybeans, together with its broader advanced breeding platform, to generate new product concepts and value for farmers early in the next decade.
Bayer is also connecting biotechnology and crop protection research. Its early-stage work includes a sixth-generation herbicide-tolerance technology expected to include tolerance to Icafolin. The company says this represents the first time it has simultaneously developed a new herbicide molecule and a corresponding plant trait for tolerance, creating a more integrated weed-control system.
CropKey Supports Next Generation of Crop Protection Discovery
Artificial intelligence is also playing a growing role in Bayer’s crop protection research. The company’s AI-powered CropKey R&D platform supports the discovery of new modes of action and the design of targeted molecules while evaluating efficacy, safety and sustainability early in the development process.
CropKey has contributed to a pipeline containing more than 15 novel modes of action currently in the research phase. One example is a broad-spectrum fungicide for soybeans that has blockbuster potential and has progressed to Phase II development.
Mike Graham, Head of Crop Science R&D, said AI is becoming a core component of Bayer’s innovation model across seeds, traits and crop protection. The company believes that combining biological expertise across different disciplines can help accelerate discovery and improve development efficiency.
Expansion Into Biofuel Crops and Hybrid Wheat
Bayer is also using its R&D capabilities to enter adjacent agricultural growth markets. Its portfolio includes intermediate biofuel crops such as camelina, winter oilseed rape and CoverCress™, which are intended to contribute to growing demand for biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
The company notes that demand for these markets is estimated to nearly triple to 40 billion gallons by 2040.
Bayer is additionally advancing plans to commercialize hybrid wheat in Europe and North America by the early 2030s. The initiative seeks to bring the benefits of hybridization to wheat, a crop grown on more than 500 million acres globally.
With hybrid wheat, camelina, winter oilseed rape and CoverCress™, Bayer is entering four new crops simultaneously, broadening the company’s agricultural technology portfolio.
Five-Year Framework Supports Growth and Profitability
Bayer’s innovation strategy is being supported by its Five-Year Framework, announced by the Crop Science Division in 2025. The framework is designed to strengthen growth, resilience and profitability while creating a foundation for long-term innovation.
The company has already made significant progress on cost reduction, reaching nearly €400 million in savings. These actions are contributing to Bayer’s goal of improving EBITDA before special items by €1 billion and achieving an EBITDA margin before special items in the mid-20% range by the end of the decade.
Cost-management initiatives have included the divestment of five active ingredients and the discontinuation of more than 100 crop protection formulations.
Bayer is also reducing inventory, with reductions totaling approximately €500 million so far. The company is targeting free cash flow of more than €3 billion by 2029.
The Five-Year Framework targets above-market growth and more than €3.5 billion in incremental constant-currency sales through the end of the decade. Bayer expects this growth to come from new high-yielding hybrids, faster technology adoption, market-share gains and expansion into Asian and EMEA markets.
In crop protection, the company is focusing on locally tailored go-to-market strategies, shifting commercial resources toward priority products and markets, and using lifecycle management to extend growth opportunities. Convintro™, for example, is being introduced in the United States, Brazil and Canada.
Bayer’s Dynamic Shared Ownership operating model is another component of its transformation. The model is designed to support faster decision-making and clearer accountability while helping the organization scale AI-enabled opportunities across its businesses.
Overall, Bayer’s latest progress highlights an agricultural innovation strategy built around the integration of seeds, traits, crop protection, digital tools and artificial intelligence. With several blockbuster products already moving into commercial markets and a broad pipeline of future technologies, the company is positioning its Crop Science business to respond to evolving farmer needs while pursuing growth and profitability through the end of the decade.
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