Management of impacts and risks related to soil degradation and the decline of biodiversity on land used for agriculture
A potential negative impact identified in our double materiality assessment is the potential contribution to the degradation of soils and the decline in flora and fauna species on land used for agriculture due to improper agricultural practices associated with our crop protection and seed products, particularly when statutory safety thresholds are exceeded in the use of our products in the downstream value chain.
Policies to reduce soil degradation and the decline in biodiversity on land used for agriculture [E4-2]
We strive to minimize potential negative impacts through a comprehensive set of policies, actions and targets. This includes our strategy of responsible product management.
Responsible product management through our Product Stewardship Commitment, Principles and Key Requirements Policy
To effectively reduce our impacts, we have specified our principles of responsible product management in our Product Stewardship Commitment, Principles and Key Requirements Policy. Our product stewardship commitment applies throughout the life cycle of our seeds (including genetically modified plant traits), biologics and crop protection products, and services in our portfolio. We regard our product stewardship as being able to maintain the availability of high-quality products, services and best practices to ensure compliance with the legal and regulatory requirements, facilitate trade, maximize product potentials and sustainability, and at the same time minimize risks to the health of people and animals, as well as to the environment.
These principles are oriented to product life cycles and therefore pertain to both our own operations and the downstream value chain. They cover the areas of research and development, production, packaging, storage and transport, marketing, brand development, intellectual property, sales and distribution, integrated crop protection and resistance management, responsible use, packaging management, discontinuation of product marketing and the disposal of unused supplies. The policy also addresses responsibility for the impacts of our products on the status of species and on the extent and condition of ecosystems, as well as the management of biodiversity and ecosystem-related impacts in conjunction with our products and agricultural practices, particularly in the following areas:
Research and development: The goal is to develop products and services with improved efficacy, productivity and stringent safety profiles for people and the environment.
Responsible use: We establish suitable programs to train and instruct our employees and customers in the responsible management of our products and services, taking into account the entire life cycle. This includes measures to protect the environment, sensitive crops and water sources, as well as to minimize exposure and the risk to people and animals. Through targeted training courses, we show farmers, seed treatment professionals, distributors and other users how to use our products both effectively and safely to maintain healthy plants and thereby increase the yield and quality of their harvested goods. Our objective is to continuously increase the outreach of our training activities through more widespread use of digital media. We publish the number of external training contacts (e.g. with farmers, field workers, distributors, retailers and other agricultural industry stakeholders) worldwide every year.
Also regarding reputational risks, our principles of responsible product management help to further reduce potential environmental impacts through improved product properties and responsible application practices.
Responsibility for product stewardship for seeds, crop protection products and biologics lies with the Research and Development function in the Crop Science Division, which reports directly to the Crop Science Leadership Team, the highest decision-making body within the division. The Crop Science Leadership Team is led by the head of the Crop Science Division, whose position makes him a member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG. Our Product Stewardship Commitment, Principles and Key Requirements Policy is designed to help our employees ensure the responsible and ethical development, handling and use of our products and services. The policy serves as the basis for safeguarding our business operations through the implementation of product stewardship actions, supplemented by quality management and compliance rules along the product life cycles. At the same time, this also strengthens partnerships and the public dialogue with our most important stakeholders to create lasting trust in our products and services, maintain our economic foundation over the long term and ultimately improve public trust. The policy is publicly available on our website.
We strive to sustainably manage our products and services based on several internationally acknowledged standards and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. In addition to the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we undertake to comply with further voluntary commitments along the value chain. These include the Responsible Care initiative of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), the Plant Biotechnology Code of Conduct of CropLife International and the Excellence Through Stewardship program of the Global Stewardship Group. Together with various industry initiatives and regulatory framework conditions, these guidelines serve as the basis of our product stewardship. We also adhere to the precautionary approach as described in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration of the United Nations and Communication 2000/1 of the European Commission.
We promote a concept of regenerative agriculture that is defined as an outcome-driven cropping system aimed at strengthening the resilience of agricultural production. This concept is based on two interconnected objectives: helping farmers maintain or increase yields with reduced application of agricultural inputs for improved social and economic wellbeing outcomes; and regeneration, which prioritizes a positive impact on nature. This second aspect includes efforts such as striving to improve soil health, preserving and restoring biodiversity in areas devoted to agriculture, conserving water resources, and reducing field-level greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon sequestration.
Actions for reducing soil degradation and the decline in biodiversity on land used for agriculture [E4-3]
Our core actions to reduce the potential contribution to soil degradation and the decline in the biodiversity of flora and fauna on agricultural land encompass the processes for the research, development and approval of our agricultural products, the safe use of our products and the management of incidents. Offsets for biodiversity that are specifically aligned with the diversity of ecosystems, species and genes are not currently part of our actions.
Research and development, product registration
Our actions start with current research and development of seeds & traits and crop protection products. In our Crop Science Division, we conduct research and development in the areas of seeds and plant breeding, biotechnology and gene editing, crop protection, biological products, as well as digital solutions and data analysis. We want to help make farming more resilient, productive and environmentally compatible through innovative seed and crop protection solutions, biological products, digital tools and targeted measures to support habitats and pollinators. We focus on cultivation systems that improve soil health, capture carbon in the soil and prevent erosion. We also want to promote practices such as the planting of cover crops, crop rotation and no-till, as well as developing seeds and crop protection products that maintain or even improve soil functionality. Biological products such as biostimulants can enhance the nutrient uptake of plants, thereby improving the efficiency of synthetic fertilizers.
We pursue a comprehensive approach to reduce soil degradation and the decline in biodiversity. This is expected to significantly improve soil health, increase carbon capture in the soil and effectively protect against erosion. Such research is conducted in an interdisciplinary fashion in close collaboration with international partners to develop long-term, scalable solutions. The close interlinking of research and practice ensures that the developed solutions can be directly applied in farming.
In doing so, our crop protection products are subject to extremely strict requirements with specific and extensive approval and registration processes, and therefore cannot be sold on the market for use by farmers until after they have been approved by a regulatory authority or granted official registration. As a condition of their approval, the prescribed efficacy and safety of the individual products must always be demonstrated as proven. A key element in the registration of crop protection products is the compilation of extensive studies during the development process to safeguard human and environmental health. The purpose of these efficacy and exposure studies is to assess the potential impacts on nontarget organisms. Critical substance-specific parameters such as the persistence, mobility and bioaccumulation of a molecule and metabolites are therefore crucial for the decision on whether to develop a new product. We continuously research and develop new products and compile corresponding studies. A granted approval only applies for a particular product with the formulation registered in the marketing authorization. Changes in the product composition (such as new formulations for crop protection products) require an additional authorization or registration. If there is no dedicated crop protection legislation in a given country, we have made a voluntary commitment to market only those crop protection products whose active ingredients are registered in at least one OECD country or a country with a mature and risk-based regulatory framework.
Safe use of our products
To ensure their safe use, crop protection products must be labeled so that agricultural users are aware of their properties and the specific provisions. In the labeling of our products, we comply with the FAO Guidance on Good Labelling Practices for Pesticides and the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of chemicals, and additionally satisfy local classification and labeling requirements. In countries where no separate labeling requirements are in place, our crop protection products are classified and labeled according to the FAO guidance and the GHS. In countries in which the local regulations deviate from the FAO guidance and the GHS, we nonetheless use these as a reference to advocate for improvements in the labeling of crop protection products whenever possible. The labeling actions take place continuously under application of the current rules.
Through targeted training measures, we show farmers (including smallholder farmers), seed treatment experts, distributors, field workers and other agricultural players how to safely and effectively use our products to keep crops healthy and thus safeguard and increase both the yield and quality of their harvested crops. Our objective is to continuously increase the outreach of our training activities through more widespread use of digital media. The training measures cover numerous aspects including the safe handling of our products during their use, transport, storage and disposal, and the correct use of protective equipment and clothing, as well as first aid measures in the event of an emergency. The training topics can be adapted to specific target groups, the cultivation of a certain crop, or a specific product, depending on local needs. Our training materials are available in various formats – from on-site presentations to brochures, videos, posters, manuals and live chats. In addition to special training measures for farmers and those who use crop protection products, we combine training activities with events such as product launches or field days to reach a large number of farmers and distributors. In 2025, we introduced a hybrid training model that combines the accessibility of virtual formats with in-person events wherever possible and thus ensures both the flexibility and effectiveness of our training approach. We have focused many of our training activities on countries in which statutory requirements pertaining to farmer certification in the safe use of crop protection products are limited or not yet in place. Most of our training measures have been carried out so far in Asia, followed by Africa and Latin America. The training measures take place continuously under application of the current rules.
Through our service program BayG.A.P., we help farmers – and especially smallholder farmers – to introduce more sustainable agricultural practices and obtain certifications for improved market access. The initiative was launched by Bayer in numerous countries in 2015 and reaches several thousand farmers annually. Through training measures, agricultural consultation and support in obtaining certifications, BayG.A.P. promotes the safe and responsible use of crop protection products, which can help to reduce environmental risks and impacts on soil erosion and biodiversity. We make use of the results from the Farmer Voice survey, among other information, to integrate local knowledge when further developing our training measures for biodiversity and ecosystems. The surveys conducted in 2023 and 2024 collected data on the motivation, perceptions and perspectives of more than 2,000 farmers in eight countries on various continents (Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Kenya, Ukraine and the United States). The survey analyzes farmers’ current challenges and sheds light on the practices they apply to conserve nature and biodiversity, as well as their expectations for the future. For example, the survey confirmed that farmers see added value in implementing regenerative farming – an insight that helps us further develop our training measures.
Incident management
We provide our customers with comprehensive and transparent information about our products and services and their proper use. Users of our products can contact us using various communication channels to voice questions or complaints, as well as to report incidents that could also be related to soil erosion and biodiversity. These channels include direct contact with our sales staff and hotline numbers printed on our product packaging. We follow up every incident relating to our crop protection and seed products reported anywhere in the world and manage the incidents with the aid of a dedicated incident management system and the CAIRnew software, a solution for reporting, administering, documenting and analyzing incidents, grievances and product recalls. Our incident management system and continuous product use screenings form the key reference points when it comes to monitoring the safety of our products and to identifying necessary improvements. In general, steps to mitigate risks can vary from increased training efforts, change of formulation, revised application recommendations and use limitations, to product withdrawal. This corresponds, for example, with the requirements of the International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Management of reputational risks on account of the negative public perception of our products and our business
Although crop protection products are stringently regulated products that must have high efficacy and show no harmful impact on human health and no unacceptable impacts on the environment, we have identified reputational risks resulting from the societal perception of the impacts of crop protection products on the environment. We recognize this as a risk and have implemented policies and actions to align with societal expectations regarding biodiversity and mitigate these risks.
Policies related to reputational risks [E4-2]
Our policies related to reputational risks attributable to societal perceptions of the impacts of our products in the field include intensive dialogue with our stakeholders.
Meeting societal expectations through our Bayer Societal Engagement principles
Additionally to our Code of Conduct, we have introduced the Bayer Societal Engagement (BASE) principles to ensure that we meet the expectations society has of our company and to create value for all of our stakeholders. These principles are set out in a policy that establishes guidelines worldwide for interaction with stakeholders. To strengthen trust in our interactions with our customers, the consumers of our products, as well as the media, legislators, regulators, civil society organizations and our stockholders, we provide transparent and scientifically sound information on the benefits and risks of our products, while also monitoring the quality and safety of our products in the market. This also includes biodiversity aspects.
The policy pertains, among other aspects, to the approach to societal perceptions related to pollution (including biodiversity) and is publicly accessible on our website. Responsibility for the implementation of this policy lies with the Public Affairs, Sustainability & Safety Enabling Function in cooperation with the senior management in the respective countries and divisions at all Bayer sites.
Serving as a guiding framework, the principles apply globally to our own operations and describe our actions in eight categories:
Our engagement with society
Our guiding principles and core values
How we drive innovation
How we act in the workplace
How we conduct our business
How we interact with our customers, patients and the consumers of our products
How we interact with media, legislators, regulators and civil society organizations
How we interact with shareholders
By applying these principles, we endeavor to live up to our social responsibility as a transparent company that acts sustainably and to be recognized for our contribution to progress in healthcare and agriculture. At the same time, we want to listen, understand, take concerns seriously and engage in respectful dialogue, especially when difficult or uncomfortable topics are involved.
Actions related to reputational risks [E4-3]
One of our core measures to promote intensive dialogue with our stakeholders is our transparency initiative, which provides information on the safety of our products. Offsets for biodiversity that are specifically aligned with the diversity of ecosystems, species and genes are not currently part of our actions.
Our transparency initiatives at Crop Science to inform about product safety
Our transparency platform provides access to the results of our studies on the safety of our crop protection products, safety reports for our active ingredients, and key regulatory submission documents for our genetically modified crops. This initiative complements our regular and open science-based conversations with numerous stakeholders, our annual sustainability reporting, as well as our active work in committees, specialist workshops and international initiatives and collaborations. We additionally share our product safety standards to shed light on how we determine safety measures for the safe use of our products and have created two virtual visitor platforms. Transparency initiatives help to strengthen trust in product safety by improving access to information, promoting strict safety assessments and intensifying dialogue with stakeholders. This is an ongoing and open-ended measure.
Since 2018, we have continuously disclosed information from various areas of our work in crop protection, genetically modified crops and plant breeding on our transparency platform. In 2025, we launched a second virtual platform – OpenLabs 360° Genetically Modified Crop – alongside the virtual visitor platform OpenLabs 360° Crop Protection, which has already been online since 2023. This allows our stakeholders to observe how we conduct safety studies on genetically modified crops.
Managing our positive impact by helping farmers to achieve higher harvest yields while reducing environmental impacts
Demand for agricultural products has increased massively over the past decades and is expected to rise further in the coming decades. Among the primary reasons for the increase in demand are global population growth coupled with increased life expectancy, changing consumption habits by many people worldwide (particularly increasing consumption of meat as a result of greater affluence), and corresponding heightened demand for animal feed and renewable raw materials for various applications (such as textiles or alternatives to oil-based products). At the same time, climate change harbors the risk that land could occasionally no longer be available for agricultural production in the future. All of this creates the risk that land currently not used for farming could be used for such a purpose in the future (land-use change).
Through our double materiality assessment, we have therefore identified a potential positive impact related to reducing the pressure of additional land-use change by empowering farmers to increase their yields while minimizing environmental impacts.
Policies related to helping farmers achieve higher harvest yields while reducing environmental impacts [E4-2]
The agricultural challenges vary depending on the region and crop under cultivation when it comes to the options for increasing yields and reducing environmental impacts. Through our research and development, we want to further promote our potential positive impacts in this connection and more intensively help to prevent further land-use change through higher farming productivity with the help of our products. The development of innovative seeds, traits, crop protection products and digital solutions is a key element of our business model. As the potentially positive impacts lie in our R&D-related actions and the properties of our products, we do not report on any further specific policies in this connection.
Actions related to helping farmers achieve higher harvest yields while reducing environmental impacts [E4-3]
We undertake various actions to help farmers achieve higher crop yields while reducing environmental impacts. Offsets for biodiversity that are specifically aligned with the diversity of ecosystems, species and genes are not currently part of our actions.
Plant breeding
Plant breeding has always been crucial to increasing agricultural yields. That is why we operate in in a highly competitive environment and use modern breeding methods to continuously research and develop new seed varieties (including hybrid seed) that enable farmers to achieve rising yields on existing farmland and are adapted to the respective surroundings. The possibilities for increasing the yields of seed varieties are determined through a combination of scientific studies, field trials and peer review publications. These activities are integral to our global research and development pipeline and our breeding programs. As plant breeding builds on the crops’ natural growth characteristics, breeding processes are lengthy and take many years. They therefore run indefinitely as part of our business model.
Preceon™ Smart Corn System
One example of the particular potential of innovative plant breeding is our Preceon™ Smart Corn System, which we plan to offer in various markets in the future. The breeding success of the Preceon™ Smart Corn System is evident in a short-stature corn variety, combined with targeted cultivation recommendations and digital support tools.
The corn hybrids developed with the help of modern breeding do not grow as tall as conventional corn varieties and are therefore more resilient to extreme weather conditions such as strong winds or heavy rainfall. The short-stature plants exhibit a lower risk of root and stalk lodging (bending or breaking).
More than 12,000 hectares were cultivated on over 350 farms in the United States and Europe in 2023 for the first more broadly based Preceon™ trials. Some 35,000 hectares were planted in the United States in 2025. In 2026, we expect up to 81,000 hectares to be planted in the United States and up to 32,000 hectares to be planted in Europe, with plans for both silage and grain maize production.
Precision farming technologies: optimizing agricultural inputs
We offer a digital agricultural platform called FieldView™ that helps farmers make data-driven decisions and thus optimize their yields. The FieldView™ platform enables farmers to collect, save and visualize field data in real time and integrates information from devices, weather stations and satellite images. Fertilizer and crop protection products can be deployed in a targeted and resource-conserving way by analyzing soil moisture, nutrient content and weather conditions. This helps reduce production costs and the environmental impact.
FieldView™ provides continuous digital support during the entire vegetation period, from sowing through nutrient management to yield optimization. The platform is currently available and actively used in the United States, Brazil and the Europe/Middle East/Africa region. FieldView™ therefore contributes to precision agriculture and enables yield maximization coupled with optimized resource deployment on existing farmland so that, for example, fertilizer, water and crop protection products can be applied in a targeted way and as needed. Predictive analyses enable the sowing rate and hybrid selection to be adapted to the respective field conditions, thus further increasing yield efficiency. Continuous monitoring of plant growth enables early identification of problems and targeted actions.
Another example of an action to help farmers achieve higher harvest yields while reducing environmental impacts in the area of fruit and vegetable growing is our Root2Success program, which combines seeds, biological and chemical crop protection products and digital tools that are precisely tailored to local soil conditions, the climate and crop needs. The program provides access to training courses, resources and best practices, and promotes dialogue between farmers and experts. With our expertise in crop protection and seed technology, we accompany the implementation of sustainable cultivation methods. The program was launched in 2016 and will run indefinitely. It is available worldwide and focuses particularly on the cultivation of bananas, onions, potatoes and tomatoes. The irrigation systems that are used are one example of best practices communicated through the Root2Success program: inputs such as fertilizers, nematicides and fungicides can be precisely administered to the soil through drip irrigation systems. This allows water consumption, surface run-off and input losses to be reduced and the nutrient uptake efficiency of the plants to be increased.
Supporting access to deforestation- and conversion-free markets
We support Latin American farmers with our PRO Carbono program. PRO Carbono offers practical instructions for implementing sustainable cultivation methods such as direct seed, as well as cover crop cultivation and the conservation of natural vegetation. Participation is conditional on the fulfillment of certain requirements – including social and ecological compliance – and use of our digital platform FieldView™. The participating farmers receive access to soil samples and analyses, as well as technical advisors and professional agronomists. The objective of the program is to promote sustainable farming practices and improve carbon capture in the soil. By applying improved agricultural practices, farmers can generate vouchers (certificates) for carbon captured in the soil and thus access additional income sources. In addition, the PRO Carbono Commodities Initiative enables farmers to access deforestation- and conversion-free (DCF) markets by making available technical support, training measures and verification systems with which compliance with DCF requirements can be certified. By participating in the PRO Carbono Commodities Initiative, farmers can gain access to premium markets and supply chains that demand DCF products and must meet requirements such as the EU deforestation regulation and corporate sustainability goals. Our PRO Carbono program enables both an increase in carbon capture and verification that farmers are producing on farmland without recent deforestation and land-use change. With this comprehensive support system, PRO Carbono helps farmers to transition to sustainable production models, conserve natural ecosystems and ensure their own competitiveness. The PRO Carbono program was introduced in Brazil in 2020 and Argentina in 2021. The program was presented in 2024 as a case study in the Nature-Based Solution Blueprint of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).