Bayer CropScience

What they make

4 inputs Bayer CropScience supplies

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Where they make it

1 facility

Intelligence

What's known

Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.

• Origin2023

  Bayer AG was founded in 1863 in Wuppertal, Germany by Friedrich Bayer and textile dyer Johann Weskott. In 1897, Bayer chemist Felix Hoffmann acetylated salicylic acid to create aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) — the world's first synthetic pharmaceutical compound. One year earlier, in 1898, Hoffmann or colleague Heinrich Dreser acetylated morphine to create diacetylmorphine — which Bayer marketed under the tradename "Heroin" (from German 'heroisch', heroic) as a non-addictive cough suppressant and morphine substitute. Bayer sold Heroin as an OTC product from 1898 to 1910, until its addictive properties became apparent. Bayer was later incorporated into IG Farben (1925) — the Nazi-era chemical conglomerate that used slave labor from Auschwitz and produced Zyklon B. After WWII, IG Farben was dissolved and Bayer re-emerged as an independent company. The same company that makes aspirin, invented heroin, used Holocaust slave labor, and then paid $63B for Monsanto (inheriting Roundup cancer litigation) is now the world's largest seed and crop protection company.

  Bayer AG ↗

• Concentration2022

  Approximately 90% of all canola commercially grown in Canada uses GM seed varieties — primarily Roundup Ready (glyphosate-tolerant) and LibertyLink (glufosinate-tolerant) trait systems — both of which are controlled by Bayer CropScience following Bayer's 2018 acquisition of Monsanto for $63B. Bayer collects mandatory technology use fees from Prairie farmers per acre planted. This IP position is invisible in commodity statistics but represents a structural dependency: Canadian canola production at current scale (19-21% of global rapeseed/canola) is impossible without Bayer-licensed GM seed technology. If Bayer were subject to sanctions, licensing disputes, or regulatory withdrawal of GM canola approvals, Prairie canola production would need to transition to non-GM varieties — a multi-year process requiring new seed development and dramatically lower yields. The EU's General Food Law and GMO import regulations require specific approvals for each GM event in food/feed applications — creating a latent trade barrier: Canadian canola (90% GM) cannot be sold into EU food markets without case-by-case regulatory approval. EU-Canada trade friction over GMO approvals periodically constrains Canadian canola's EU market access and strengthens the diversion of EU crushing demand toward Australian non-GM canola.

  Health Canada ↗

• Did you know2023

  Bayer is publicly known for aspirin and Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, but they are simultaneously the world's largest producer of neonicotinoid insecticides (imidacloprid, clothianidin) AND operate the Bayer Bee Care Center — a research facility specifically studying honeybee health and the impacts of pesticides on pollinators. The same company whose neonicotinoid seed treatments are implicated in bee colony collapse disorder, partially banned in the EU for outdoor use, and restricted in many countries for pollinator protection — also funds research on bee biology and health. Bayer's dual position (neonicotinoid manufacturer + bee health researcher) is not hypocritical from their perspective: they argue their products, when properly applied, are compatible with bee health. From a supply chain perspective, neonicotinoid seed treatments are used on >90% of US corn acres (protecting young plants from soil insects), and bees pollinate approximately 35% of global food crops. A single company's agricultural chemistry simultaneously enables staple grain production AND affects food crop pollination capacity.

  Bayer AG ↗