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REUTERS/Nick Carey/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - Several federal agencies will work together on competition issues in the seed sector as part of a broader Biden administration push to enhance competition in agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Monday. The USDA, Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Justice, and Federal Trade Commission will start up a working group on intellectual property and competition in the seed and agricultural input sector, USDA said. USDA is also creating a "farmer seed liaison" role to deliver on recommendations in a report released by the agency today on how to promote competition in the seed industry. USDA issued a $73 million round of funding under the same program last fall. Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington and Karl Plume in Chicago Editing by Nick Zieminski and Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Explainer: Biotech corn and soy widely used, consumers still wary of GM wheat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Julie Ingwersen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But genetically modified wheat has never been grown for commercial purposes due to consumer fears that allergens or toxicities could emerge in a staple used worldwide for bread, pasta and pastries. Australia grows and exports GM cotton and canola, and the country in May approved Bioceres’ biotech wheat for use in foods. Mexico, among the largest buyers of U.S. corn, has said it will halt GM corn imports for human consumption, but walked back a deadline to ban the corn for animal feed. Recent disruptions to global wheat supplies have brought a new degree of urgency to the debate over biotech wheat. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers, support “the eventual commercialization” of biotech wheat, according to their websites, provided that plans are implemented to minimize market disruptions.

☆ Bayer braces for falling profits in challenge for new CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Bayer said in a statement that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for special items, would likely be between 12.5 billion euros and 13 billion euros ($13.2 billion - $13.8 billion) this year, excluding the effect of currency swings. Bayer said this month it would replace its CEO early, recruiting former Roche (ROG.S) executive Bill Anderson, amid demands by some investors that Bayer should simplify its diversified structure and split into separate groups. A $6.4 billion provision remained on the balance sheet for glyphosate payouts, the larger of the two legal burdens. So Bayer should really not be on the buy list of many investors at the moment," said Molnar. Bayer saw herbicide sales jump 44% in 2022 after hurricane Ida damaged rival producers and constrained Chinese suppliers failed to plug the gap.

☆ Bayer sees lower 2023 operating profit on cost inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Agriculture and healthcare company Bayer (BAYGn.DE) said operating earnings would likely decline in 2023, hurt by higher costs and the reversal of last year's price boost for its glyphosate-based weedkillers. In a statement on Tuesday, Bayer said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for special items, would likely be between 12.5 billion euros ($13.23 billion) and 13 billion euros this year, excluding the effect of currency swings. In his last presentation of the company's quarterly results, Chief Executive Werner Baumann said the company is active in the right areas of business. For 2023, "the company anticipates lower prices for agricultural herbicides as well as for some of its established pharmaceutical products," Bayer said, also citing high inflation-driven cost increases. ($1 = 0.9447 euros)Additional reporting by Patricia Weiss Editing by Friederike Heine, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil Supreme Court rules Bayer must return $252 mln in GMO soy royalties
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Ana Mano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Feb. 13 ruling by Supreme Court Justice Nunes Marques relates to a GMO technology commercially known as Intacta RR2 Pro, created by Monsanto, which was later acquired by Germany's Bayer. Bayer said in a statement it will determine its next steps while noting it would comply with the ruling. The ruling is the latest chapter of a protracted battle opposing the crop science firm and Brazilian farmers, who have launched multiple legal challenges against the firm. Aprosoja-MT said that according to the ruling, Bayer will now have to deposit 1.3 billion reais ($252 million) in an escrow account to return royalties paid by farmers going back to 2018. A lawyer for Aprosoja-MT said Bayer can appeal Marques' ruling at the plenary of the Supreme Court.

☆ Bayer's new CEO has a full in-tray as investors push for change
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

February 9 - By Ludwig Burger and Patricia WeissFRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bayer's incoming CEO is inheriting a full in-tray from his predecessor: Thousands of lawsuits claiming its weedkiller causes cancer, an underwhelming drug development pipeline and disgruntled investors looking for major change. "The most important task for Bill Anderson is to regain investors' trust," said Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Germany's Union Investment, a top 20 shareholder. Bayer's shares lag those of its global rivals, having fallen about 40% - knocking about 30 billion euros off its market valuation - since it bought Monsanto in 2018 for about $63 billion. Baumann's early exit has stirred debate about what the 56-year-old Anderson can do to restore investor trust and boost Bayer's shares. A stand-alone pharmaceuticals business, with 18.3 billion euros in 2021 sales, could also become a takeover target.

☆ German union opposes Bayer split after CEO departure - taz newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Germany's IGBCE union opposes any splitting-up of Bayer after the departure of its chief executive and warned that the company should not bow to pressure from hedge fund activism, taz newspaper reported on Thursday. "From the point of view of the employees, Bayer with its three pillars is perfectly positioned for the challenges of the future," said IGBCE executive board member Francesco Grioli, who is also a member of the supervisory board at Bayer. The company currently has three divisions - pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science. "You can only manage the transformation of the industry with a corporate policy based on risk diversification and sustainability - not on hedge fund activism," Grioli told taz. Bayer announced on Wednesday that it was replacing its CEO early, recruiting the former head of Roche's pharmaceuticals business, as investor criticism over the company’s lacklustre share price grew.

☆ Bayer Hires Former Roche Executive to Succeed CEO Werner Baumann
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( William Boston | Patrick Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bill Anderson is set to join Bayer’s management board in April and become CEO in June. BERLIN— Bayer AG said it is replacing the company’s embattled chief executive, Werner Baumann , with Bill Anderson, a 56-year-old American pharmaceuticals executive. Mr. Baumann, 60 years old, has served as CEO since 2016 after previously serving as the company’s finance chief. His current term was due to expire in April 2024. He led the company’s acquisition of Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, which left Bayer mired in litigation and saddled with about $43 billion in debt.

☆ Bayer picks outsider Anderson as CEO after investor pressure
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

News of the CEO change sent the German drugs-to-pesticides giant's shares to their highest level in nearly eight months. Shares in Bayer closed up 6% on the news of the new CEO, reaching the top of Frankfurt's blue-chip index and hitting their highest level since June last year. "Bill Anderson's mission is clear: enable Bayer to realize its full potential and create sustainable value for our shareholders, farmers, patients, consumers, employees, and all stakeholders of the company," Winkeljohann added. Sources told Reuters earlier this week that activist investor Jeff Ubben had contacted fellow investors to drum up support for big changes at Bayer, including the swift replacement of Baumann. Reporting by Patricia Weiss, Kirsti Knolle and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Tom Sims and Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The campaign increases the pressure on non-executive Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann, who has faced calls from large shareholders for the swift replacement of Chief Executive Werner Baumann, who engineered Bayer's troubled Monsanto takeover. The approaches come after Ubben's activist investment fund Inclusive Capital Partners said last month it had bought a 0.83% stake in Bayer. David Herro, deputy chairman of Harris Associates, told Reuters in brief emailed comments that Ubben had contacted him to discuss Bayer. A spokesperson said Bayer was always open to a constructive dialogue with shareholders and declined to comment further. Investors who have publicly called for a swift CEO change hold at least a combined 6.7% in Bayer, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Bayer says chemicals farmers use to fight insects are safe, but it's more complicated than that, says its ESG head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The European Union, also in 2018, banned some pesticides that Bayer makes because scientists and regulators linked them to deaths of bees. "It felt like we were on the grill at a barbecue," Kunz, Bayer's head of environmental, social, and governance strategy, told Insider. Beyond neonicotinoids, Kunz said Bayer's strategy to meet its environmental targets involved what he called a more systems-based approach. Bayer also makes digital tools that help farmers apply fertilizer and pesticides more precisely, which can dramatically reduce how much they're needed, Kunz said. Bayer's sustainability efforts are attracting at least some ESG investors and ratings firms.

FRANKFURT, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A top-10 shareholder of Bayer (BAYGn.DE) on Tuesday called on the group's supervisory board head to replace chief executive Werner Baumann quickly, adding to investor pressure to restore trust and revive the German drugmaker's sagging share price. But shareholders have also cited a lack of market trust in its top management as a growing burden. "When it comes to CEO succession we say: the sooner the better," Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Union Investment, one of Bayer's 10 biggest shareholders, told Reuters. Union Investment's Manns cautioned that the non-executive supervisory board may need time to find a qualified candidate. A Bayer spokesperson said the company was always open to a constructive dialogue with shareholders and declined to comment further.

☆ You Don’t Have to Be Complicit in Our Culture of Destruction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

Photo illustration by Bráulio Amado Talk You Don’t Have to Be Complicit in Our Culture of Destruction“People feel a kind of longing for a belonging to the natural world,” says the author and scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer. I am deeply aware of the fact that my view of the natural world is colored by my home place. But I don’t think that’s the same as romanticizing nature. Of course the natural world is full of forces that are so-called destructive. The story that we have to illuminate is that we don’t have to be complicit with destruction.

☆ Bayer investor calls for swift replacement of CEO -newspaper
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Bayer (BAYGn.DE) investor Deka has called for CEO Werner Baumann to be replaced ahead of his scheduled departure, adding to mounting pressure on the German drugmaker. "There is a window of opportunity for Chairman Norbert Winkeljohann to act before the annual general meeting at the end of April. He has to seize that opportunity, otherwise the pressure on him will increase as well," Speich added. "Generally speaking we are always open to a constructive dialogue with our stakeholders," a Bayer spokesperson said, declining to comment specifically on the interview. Another activist investment fund, hedge fund veteran Jeffrey Ubben's Inclusive Capital Partners, said this month it had also acquired a stake in Bayer.

☆ Inclusive Capital takes a stake in Bayer — 3 ways it may build value with a sustainable focus
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Activist Commentary: Inclusive Capital Partners is a San Francisco-based investment firm focused on increasing shareholder value and promoting sound environmental, social and governance practices. As a pioneering active ESG ("AESG") investor, Inclusive seeks long-term shareholder value through active partnership with companies whose core businesses contribute solutions to this pursuit. Bayer's crop science division accounts for approximately 25% of global crop farming. There are several ways to create this shareholder value. Bayer currently trades at approximately 7x earnings while its pure-play crop science peer, Corteva, trades at closer to 20x earnings.

☆ Bayer gains on report activist Bluebell pushing for break-up
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Ludwig Burger | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Bayer (BAYGn.DE) shares gained 1.7% in early Wednesday trade following a report activist investor Bluebell Capital Partners has built an equity stake and is pushing for a break-up of the German pharmaceutical and agriculture company. A Bayer spokesperson, who declined to comment on the report, said: "Generally speaking we are always open for a constructive dialogue with our stakeholders." The report follows news on Monday that activist investment fund Inclusive Capital Partners, run by hedge fund veteran Jeffrey Ubben, has acquired a 0.83% stake in Bayer, which has seen its market value slide in recent years. Bayer on Tuesday flagged billions in additional sales potential from its drug development pipeline, buoying its shares. Bayer shares have lagged($1 = 0.9308 euros)Reporting by Ludwig Burger Editing by Rachel More and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bayer’s rude health lays better path for breakup
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Activists like Jeff Ubben’s Inclusive Capital Partners may now, however, be in a better position to push for a breakup. Smaller peer Bluebell Capital Partners has also bought in recently. Using UBS forecasts, they would be worth 50 billion euros and 88 billion euros respectively. Its smaller consumer drugs division might fetch another 18 billion euros, using peer Reckitt Benckiser’s (RKT.L) 12 times multiple. Add them up, take off debt, pension liabilities and a further 6 billion euros of future Roundup litigation costs, and Bayer’s equity could be worth nearly 110 billion euros.

Both are legacy issues from Monsanto, which Bayer acquired for more than $60 billion in 2018. Another activist, Elliott, took a 1.1 billion euro stake in Bayer in 2019 but has kept a low profile. The next-generation blood thinner is one of four new drug hopefuls that Bayer said on Tuesday had combined peak sales potential of more than 12 billion euros. That included an improved outlook for kidney drug Kerendia, with potential annual sales now seen at more than 3 billion euros. ($1 = 0.9313 euros)Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Investor Ubben takes 0.8% stake in Bayer, boosting share price
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of Bayer Mexico is pictured at the company's plant in Lerma, Mexico November 10, 2022. Inclusive Capital said in a statement it had acquired 8.18 million Bayer shares as of Jan. 5, which works out at about 407 million euros ($435 million) based on that day's closing price. The Financial Times, which earlier reported Ubben's investment, said the stake was worth $500 million. Bayer shares gained almost 4% on the news to their highest level in about a month. Bayer' stock market value is about $50 billion for all its businesses including pharmaceuticals, consumer health products, seeds and pesticides, well below the $63 billion deal value for its 2018 takeover of Roundup-maker Monsanto.

Bayer still faces several other state lawsuits over PCBs. The company said in a statement that it did not admit liability as part of the Oregon settlement, and would continued to defend the remaining cases. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum called the settlement a "huge win" that would give the state resources to clean up PCBs. The lawsuits against Bayer stem from PCBs manufactured by U.S. seeds and pesticide company Monsanto, which Bayer acquired for $63 billion in 2018. Some of those cases have gone to trial and resulted in jury verdicts against Bayer totaling $543 million, which the company is appealing.

☆ French farmer awarded 11,000 euros over Bayer pesticide inhalation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Dec 8 (Reuters) - A French court has ordered Germany's Bayer (BAYGn.DE) to pay compensation of some 11,000 euros ($11,560) to a crop farmer for the accidental inhalation of a weedkiller, ending a 15-year legal battle, his lawyer and the company said on Thursday. "11,000 euros for so much sacrifice," the farmer, Paul Francois, told franceinfo radio. Francois had argued that the fumes he inhaled from the weedkiller Lasso, a product that was subsequently withdrawn from the French market, caused neurological problems, including memory loss, fainting and headaches. Bayer France said in a statement that the sum awarded to the farmer was less than 1% of what he had requested. The exact amount of the damages was 11,135 euros, the farmer's lawyer told Reuters.

☆ Bayer beats Q3 profit forecast on strong herbicide sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The German company said in a statement third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 17.3% to 2.45 billion euros ($2.45 billion), above analysts' average estimate of 2.31 billion euros posted on the company's website. It said at that time it was targeting adjusted EBITDA of about 13 billion euros, based on June 30 foreign exchange rates, up from 11.2 billion in 2021. The crop science division saw adjusted EBITDA gain 33.5% to 629 million euros, beating a market consensus of 589 million euros, as a strong herbicides business more than offset weaker corn and soy seed sales. Its best-selling drug Xarelto saw sales decline 6.2% to 1.11 billion euros in the quarter, slightly below market estimates, on lower prices and volumes in China as well as loss of patent protection in Brazil. Revenues from anti-blindness treatment Eylea rose 6.3% to 811 million euros, gaining prescriptions in Europe and China, but also came in slightly below expectations.

☆ A potentially cancer-causing chemical is sprayed on much of America’s farmland. Here is where it is used the most.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Danica Jefferies | Danica Jefferies Is An Intern With The Data Graphics Team For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

For those only exposed through food, the EPA says that glyphosate residues on food are safe up to certain thresholds. The chemical giant Monsanto introduced glyphosate in its product Roundup in 1974. “Glyphosate is the most widely used chemical weedkiller in human history because of genetic engineering,” said Dave Murphy, the founder of Food Democracy Now, an advocacy group that tests glyphosate in food. “It’s sprayed ubiquitously and Monsanto has, for decades, just maintained that it’s the safest agricultural chemical ever made.”The EPA’s safety limits for glyphosate exposure from food are twice the levels allowed in the European Union. The company pointed NBC News to other studies — including some that it has sponsored — that either refuted a link to cancer or challenged the relationship between acres sprayed and exposure levels.

FRANKFURT, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Germany's Bayer (BAYGn.DE) said on Friday it plans to legally challenge a jury verdict awarding $275 million to a group of people claiming they suffered from exposure to PCB, a chemical that Bayer's Monsanto business produced until 1977. "We respectfully disagree with the divided jury verdict reached in this 13-plaintiff case and plan to pursue post-trial motions and appeals based on multiple errors and the lack of proof at trial," Germany's Bayer said in a statement. Bayer shares were down 0.9% at 0738 GMT while Germany's blue chip index DAX was up 0.7%. Bayer has since 2020 resolved a majority of cases in litigation with municipalities over waste water contaminated with PCB for $650 million but several other claims remained pending. In August, it set aside 694 million euros for an expected settlement with the State of Oregon over PCB in waste water.

☆ A potentially cancer-causing chemical is sprayed on much of America’s produce. How high is exposure near you?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Danica Jefferies | Danica Jefferies Is An Intern With The Data Graphics Team For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The chemical giant Monsanto introduced glyphosate in its product Roundup in 1974. “It’s sprayed ubiquitously and Monsanto has, for decades, just maintained that it’s the safest agricultural chemical ever made.”The EPA’s safety limits for glyphosate exposure from food are twice the levels allowed in the European Union. Additionally, two reports by organic advocacy groups found glyphosate in food products including cereals, cookies, crackers and sandwich bread. The EPA concluded in 2020 that glyphosate posed “no risks to human health” and was not likely to cause cancer. But a federal appeals court rejected that determination in June, stating that the EPA did not adequately assess the risks to endangered species and human health.

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