Position as the leading canola seed company in North America to be strengthened

Bayer CropScience plans to further develop its successful canola seed business in North America by investing 8 million Canadian dollars (5.5 million euros) in a new seed processing facility in Lethbridge, Calgary, Canada.

The facility will clean the company’s leading InVigor® canola seed, apply seed protectants and package for sale throughout Canada and the United States.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony at Lethbridge, Prof. Dr. Friedrich Berschauer, Chairman of the BayerCropScience Board of Management said: “The investment in this state-of-the art facility will help us to further strengthen our successful canola seeds business in North America.” Berschauer went on: “As the leading canola seed company in North America, Bayer CropScience is committed to ensuring maximum quality control of our InVigor® seed and this proprietary facility will help us meet our strict standards.”

Construction of the new seed processing plant is scheduled to begin in early fall of 2005 with completion expected in early 2006, well in time to be fully operational for the 2006 production cycle.

The InVigor®  hybrid canola  offer significant yield benefits as well as enhanced agricultural management options. Bayer CropScience supplies canola farmers in North America with a complete range of solutions, including seed, technologies and crop protection products. Sales of this integrated farm solution package amounted to about 100 million euros in 2004. 

Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about  EUR 6 billion, is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 19,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries.