Bayer Opens Worldwide Biologics R&D Center In California

Bayer CropScience held a grand opening this week of a global research and development center in West Sacramento, CA. It’s a 165,000-square-foot facility, with 100,000 of that devoted to biologics and the rest to vegetable seed and greenhouses. It’s strictly for R&D, as Bayer biologicals are produced in what used to be an Abbott facility in Mexico.

(Photo Credit: David Eddy)

(Photo Credit: David Eddy)

Bayer executives are said to believe that California is the place for such a facility for a number of reasons. First,half the fruits and half the vegetables are produced in the state. With MRLs (Maximum Residue Levels of pesticides) such a huge issue for export (and, increasingly domestically) biologics are a great answer when a spray is needed just prior to harvest.

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Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience North America, put it this way: “This is a global facility for Bayer CropScience. We had the choice of putting it anywhere in the world and we chose California; we chose Sacramento.”

There’s also the fact that Bayer Biologics was previously located just up the road in Davis, in the facility they acquired from AgraQuest, so it was a convenient move. But it only cost $80 million, and for a company that’s pouring close to $1 billion into the U.S. just for infrastructure between 2013-16, they clearly did have a choice.

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Bayer CropScience sees a positive long-term market development in North America and is committing significant resources to spur further growth. “We see future growth driven by increasing and sustained demand from customers for improved seeds and innovative crop protection products,” said Bayer CropScience CEO Liam Condon. “We are investing heavily in R&D infrastructure such as laboratories, greenhouses, and breeding stations as well as new production capacities and seed processing facilities.”

(Photo Credit: David Eddy)

(Photo Credit: David Eddy)

Bayer CropScience seeks to better leverage its full research and development capabilities by consolidating and expanding its global R&D organization. “Our integrated West Sacramento site represents a major step forward in our efforts to enhance our vegetable seeds and biological crop protection innovation efforts,” said Adrian Percy, global head of research and development at Bayer CropScience. “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.”

The new West Sacramento site, which also serves as the global headquarters of Bayer CropScience’s Biologics business has the capacity to house up to 300 employees. The facility 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 5 acres of nearby land for future greenhouse space.

In addition to building its R&D network in the U.S., Bayer CropScience is also investing significantly in the production capacities of its crop protection products. “Along with capacity expansions at our Muskegon, Michigan, and Kansas City, MO, sites, the construction of our new plant in Mobile, AL, for the production of our herbicide Liberty will contribute significantly to our future growth plans,” stressed Condon, who pointed out that the increased production of Liberty will help U.S. growers fight weed resistance, a key challenge for U.S. farmers.

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