Bayer launches digital platform ForGround for sustainable farming
Offering builds on scheme that pays farms for pulling carbon from the atmosphere and locking it in the soil
St Louis — Agricultural seeds and chemicals maker Bayer launched a digital farming platform on Monday that it says will help US growers enact environmentally friendly practices and connect them with companies seeking more sustainable food, feed and biofuel ingredients.
The effort will help the seed and chemical giant diversify its revenue stream, capitalising on a decade-long farm data collection effort.
Bayer’s ForGround platform will tap weather, soil, seed and farming practice data to make recommendations to growers on how they can boost soil health, cut emissions and reduce water use and chemical applications. Environmental outcomes would then be certified by a third-party verifier so that farmers can potentially sell their grain for a premium, Bayer said.
The programme would also allow companies such as food makers and biofuel producers to create incentive programmes for farmers to grow crops in a way that would help companies meet their environmental goals.
Bayer will charge companies a flat or per-acre fee for the services, and make money from farmers through seed and chemical sales and data-platform subscriptions. The launch initially targets US agriculture, but the company envisions broadening it to other countries, though no timetable is set yet, Bayer said.
The offering builds on Bayer’s Carbon Program that pays farms for pulling climate-warming carbon from the atmosphere and locking it in the soil.
It is among the latest initiatives by agriculture companies aiming to meet rising demand for sustainably produced food, and to profit from data collection through subscriptions for new technology.
“This is a challenge and a key benefit for agriculture. But it’s also a challenge and a benefit for companies that have made sustainability commitments around the world,” said Leo Bastos, head of global commercial ecosystems at Bayer CropScience.
The programme taps Bayer’s strategy to use deep pools of agricultural and climate data to make farming more efficient and to verify and monetise environmental benefits.
ForGround requires that farmers enrol in Bayer’s Climate FieldView platform, where growers log data about agricultural practices such as no-till farming or planting cover crops.
Reuters