Bayer Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:BAYN) outlined progress on its Crop Science division’s five-year framework at a 2026 innovation event in Iowa, reaffirming targets for above-market sales growth, a mid-20s clean EBITDA margin and more than €3 billion in free operating cash flow by 2029.
Rodrigo Santos, president of Bayer’s Crop Science division, said the company’s strategy is built around innovation-led growth, margin improvement and cash generation. The division targets €3.5 billion in incremental sales, more than €1 billion in margin improvements and more than €1.5 billion in cumulative working-capital cash release between 2024 and 2029.
Framework Savings and Cash Progress
Guru Ramamurthy, CFO of Bayer Crop Science, said the business had delivered approximately €380 million in annualized run-rate margin benefits, equal to about 40% of its 2029 objective in the second year of the program.
- R&D measures have delivered €40 million toward a target of more than €150 million.
- Product-supply initiatives have delivered €250 million toward a target exceeding €600 million.
- Go-to-market and global-function initiatives have produced about €90 million toward a €400 million target.
Ramamurthy said sourcing initiatives were ahead of schedule and that Bayer expects to release approximately €1 billion in working capital by the end of 2026. The company reduced inventory by €500 million in 2025 and has a further €300 million reduction in implementation, he said.
Bayer also extended average supplier payment terms by four days during 2025 and reduced days sales outstanding by two days year over year, according to Ramamurthy. The division reported €1.4 billion in free operating cash flow in 2025 and expects that figure to rise progressively to more than €3 billion by 2029.
Supply Network and Portfolio Actions
Sascha Israel, head of product supply for Bayer Crop Science, described a planned restructuring of the crop-protection manufacturing network. Bayer aims to reduce in-house active-ingredient production from about 35% currently to about 25%, reflecting generic competition and lower-cost product availability from China.
The company plans to consolidate its Dormagen, Germany, operations from six plants to three by 2029, integrate Knapsack operations into Dormagen and exit activities in Frankfurt. Bayer also intends to consolidate two plants into one at its Kansas City active-ingredient manufacturing site and reduce global formulation capacity by 20% to 25%.
Israel said Bayer has divested five non-strategic active ingredients, including flubendiamide and metribuzin, and is discontinuing more than 200 strategic product groups representing approximately €200 million in sales. About 100 of those product groups are expected to be phased out by the end of 2026. Their gross margins were 10 to 15 percentage points below the Crop Science crop-protection average, he said.
Growth Plans Center on Seeds, Traits and New Launches
Santos said corn remains Bayer Crop Science’s largest growth platform. He said corn sales increased 13% in 2025, with double-digit growth across regions, and the company is targeting more than €600 million in incremental corn sales from Asia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa by 2029.
The company expects its Preceon Smart Corn System, which uses short-stature corn, to grow to 26 million acres by 2035 and approach 50 million acres by 2040. Santos said Bayer expects the system to support a four-percentage-point increase in global market share by 2035, although some acres will replace Bayer’s existing tall-corn products.
In soybeans, Bayer said it regained its dicamba registration in North America for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The company is preparing commercial seed production for Vyconic soybeans in 2027 and broader commercial availability in 2028, pending regulatory approvals. In Brazil, Bayer said Intacta 2 Xtend’s share rose to about 28% in 2026 from 9% in 2024, while Intacta 5+ is targeted for seed multipliers in 2027 and commercial sales in 2028, also subject to approvals.
Bayer also highlighted crop-protection launches including Plenexos, which it expects to launch in Brazil in 2027 and the U.S. in 2028, with potential peak sales of about €500 million in the mid-2030s. Icafolin, a new herbicide, is targeted to reach submissions covering 95% of market potential by year-end, with Bayer projecting peak sales of roughly €750 million.
R&D and Longer-Term Opportunities
Mike Graham, Bayer Crop Science’s head of R&D, said the company is using precision breeding, biotechnology, genome editing, molecular design, data science and artificial intelligence to support its product pipeline. He said Bayer makes more than 250,000 AI-supported decisions daily and has integrated genome editing into its breeding platform.
Graham said Bayer expects its first commercial genome-edited product classes in the early 2030s, following anticipated global regulatory determinations. He also highlighted hybrid wheat, new fungicides and biological products as longer-term opportunities.
Ramamurthy reaffirmed Bayer Crop Science’s 2026 guidance for a 20% to 22% clean EBITDA margin. He said 2027 comparisons could be affected by the timing of licensing-resolution income recognized in 2026, but that underlying productivity and efficiency measures are expected to continue supporting margin expansion.
About Bayer Aktiengesellschaft (ETR:BAYN)
Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, together its subsidiaries, operates as a life science company worldwide. It operates through Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, and Crop Science segments. The Pharmaceuticals segment offers prescription products primarily for cardiology and women's health care; specialty therapeutics in the areas of oncology, hematology, and ophthalmology; and diagnostic imaging equipment and digital solutions, and contrast agents, as well as cell and gene therapy. The Consumer Health segment markets nonprescription over-the-counter medicines for self-medication and self-care; and solutions for nutritional supplements, allergy, cough and cold, dermatology, pain and cardiovascular risk prevention, and digestive health.
