ST. LOUIS 鈥 Bayer CEO Bill Anderson on Friday said the company鈥檚 狐狸视频 agriculture operation is 鈥渉ere to stay,鈥 even as the German conglomerate cuts costs, faces questions about its future, and fights to overcome billions of dollars in liabilities tied to its Roundup weed killer.
Bayer鈥檚 recent challenges have fueled concern about whether the company will break apart. But Anderson said Friday in a meeting at the Post-Dispatch that he is focused on strengthening Bayer over the next few years, while increasing its investment in 狐狸视频 鈥 the hub of its North American crop science division.
鈥淥ur core scientists in our plant technologies are in 狐狸视频,鈥 Anderson said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 here to stay. And so, for example, we鈥檙e investing $100 million in new capital in those R&D facilities, in greenhouses and labs. ... We鈥檙e sort of doubling down on that here.鈥
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The strategy is part of a tightrope that Anderson and Bayer are navigating as the company looks to trim its workforce and slash costs, while also racing to bring new crop-related products to market as some old standbys become less effective and less lucrative.
Bayer bought Creve Coeur-based Monsanto in 2018. The purchase saddled Bayer with tens of billions of dollars in debt on the $63 billion deal. It added thousands of employees to Bayer鈥檚 payroll. And the company inherited what would become billions of dollars in legal costs over some of Monsanto鈥檚 legacy weedkillers, like Roundup, which plaintiffs have alleged caused cancer, and dicamba, which farmers say can 鈥渄rift鈥 onto fields not engineered to withstand it.
But Bayer has resisted recent calls for the company to split off its crop science division and relieve itself of some of those struggles. In March, Anderson said, 鈥淥ur answer is not now. And this shouldn鈥檛 be misunderstood as never.鈥
On Friday, six months later, Anderson echoed that any breakups or spinoffs are not a current consideration, at least for a couple years, before the company could revisit the matter.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to spend two to three years totally focused on building the company to make it as strong as possible,鈥 said Anderson. 鈥淎nd then we鈥檒l come back to those kinds of questions at a later date.鈥
Dissolving the company, he said, would be an extra expense, piled on top of current costs and debt from the Monsanto takeover.
鈥淵ou actually spend money to split,鈥 he said.
In the meantime, Bayer is looking to reduce costs internally, especially by thinning ranks of middle management.
Anderson said that, historically, Bayer had as many as 11 layers of management and bureaucracy, stretching from plant workers to the company鈥檚 CEO 鈥 a web he viewed as not just costly, but a barrier to innovation.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 take out a layer 鈥 we take out, in many cases, three or four layers,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he goal is that 95% of the decisions come from the people doing the work.鈥
The company did not immediately share figures about any changes to its workforce in the 狐狸视频 region, but suggested that it had not changed drastically during the ongoing process to streamline operations. Bayer said it employs about 4,000 people in Missouri, with the bulk of those workers in the 狐狸视频 area.
And Anderson said that, while internal reshuffling could extend through next year, 鈥渕ajor architectural changes鈥 within the company have already finished.
Anderson voiced excitement about the future.
Many products in the company鈥檚 pipeline are urgent needs, amid ever-evolving threats to crops from weeds, pests, disease and other challenges. He toured some of the region鈥檚 fields this week in town, and saw pigweed, which has developed a resistance to Roundup, poking out the top of soybean fields.
鈥淵ou see why these products are needed,鈥 Anderson said.
He touted 鈥渁 whole series鈥 of major crop science technologies in Bayer鈥檚 research and development pipeline, many of which he said are poised to reach market in 2027 and 2028. One example he is particularly enthused about is short-stature corn, which 鈥 as its name implies 鈥 features shorter, more resilient stalks of corn that can be planted more densely.
Whereas 250 bushels per acre is typically considered a good harvest for current corn varieties, Anderson said that short-stature corn can yield a 360 bushels an acre.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 unheard of,鈥 said Anderson.
Anderson maintained that Roundup and dicamba products are safe, and takes exception with the court cases that let jurors voice an opinion on what he says is settled science about matters such as Roundup鈥檚 safety, which has indeed been upheld for decades by regulators.
鈥淎nd then we expect a jury of non-scientists to render an opinion on the same question, in a court? That doesn鈥檛 make sense,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e have an established system in this country with scientific and medical reviews, and that system has to mean something.鈥