Bayer CropScience Opens Beaver Crossing Breeding and Trait Development Station

BEAVER CROSSING, Neb., May 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its commitment to support growers throughout the Great Plains and worldwide, Bayer CropScience today celebrated the grand opening of its Beaver Crossing Breeding and Trait Development Station near Lincoln, Nebraska. Research and development activities at the $17 million state-of-the-art facility will serve to help Bayer CropScience deliver breakthrough wheat and soybean varieties with improved technologies and genetics. Bayer CropScience executives and employees, as well as Gov. Pete Ricketts and state Sen. Mark Kolterman participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility.

"Wheat and soybean crops play an integral role in strengthening Nebraska's agriculture industry and its economy," said Frank Terhorst, global head of Seeds for Bayer CropScience LP. "Through Beaver Crossing, we are expressing our commitment to using the latest scientific research and development to support the continued health of these valuable crops. Seeds innovations cultivated here will provide growers with the innovative tools necessary to meet a growing worldwide demand for food, and will provide industry leadership in sustainable crops."

Research and development innovations taking place here will focus on parent discovery and hybrid wheat breeding, including research into new wheat varieties to help farmers address key crop challenges. Other research focal points include breeding for yield enhancements, drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency and enhanced quality wheat. The Beaver Crossing Breeding and Trait Development Station will also host soybean activities serving soybean growers in the region.

The Beaver Crossing Breeding and Trait Development Station, situated on 400 acres of farmland, is a cornerstone in Bayer's commitment to invest more than $1 billion in wheat research and development over 10 years. The facility brings together approximately 25 of today's brightest minds in agriculture and life sciences to develop wheat and soybean varieties to meet the specific needs of Midwestern growers and others worldwide. The facility, which began construction in September 2013 and was completed in November 2014, includes 53,000 square feet of new office space, research facilities, a greenhouse and an equipment building.

"The investment that Bayer CropScience has made in the Beaver Crossing Breeding and Trait Development Station represents the best of what Nebraska agriculture has to offer," said Gov. Ricketts. "We are very fortunate to have such a strong partnership that advances our state's national agricultural leadership, and I look forward to the advancements made here that will change our future for the better both locally and globally."

"In everything we do at Bayer CropScience, we seek to leave a better world by improving outcomes for our growers and using 'Science For A Better Life' in all the communities we serve," said Jim Blome, President and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP. "Beaver Crossing will help us achieve this goal through improving wheat and soybean crops, advancing our agricultural thought leadership and helping to develop future generations of agricultural innovators."

Bayer CropScience has numerous breeding and trait development stations dedicated to key commodity crops all over the world, and is in the process of developing several new stations across North and South America. The Beaver Crossing Breeding and Trait Development Station is the first new wheat breeding station in these areas. The Pikeville Breeding and Trait Development Station in Pikeville, North Carolina, opened in March 2015 and focuses on cotton and soybean research and development. Other wheat breeding stations include facilities in Sabin, Minnesota, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

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Bayer CropScience is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer CropScience representative, or visit Bayer CropScience online at www.bayercropscience.us.

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About Bayer CropScience

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 9,494 million (2014) and is one of the world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 23,100 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: bayercropscience.us.

Find more information at www.bayercropscience.us.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

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SOURCE Bayer CropScience

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