Bayer acquires majority stake in CoverCress

Bayer, Bunge and Chevron, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, have signed a shareholders' agreement in connection with Bayer's acquisition of a 65% majority stake in winter oilseed producer CoverCress, Inc. (CCI). The remaining 35% of CCI will continue to be owned by Bunge and Chevron.

CoverCress is a rotational crop that combines grain production with the environmental benefits of a cover crop without displacing other crops. Oil extracted from CoverCress grain is designed to achieve lower carbon intensity and can be turned into renewable diesel with Bunge's expertise in oilseed processing and Chevron's proficiency in fuel manufacturing. This farm-to-fuel supply chain represented by CCI, Bayer, Bunge and Chevron aims to give corn and soybean producers another revenue outlet by providing the world with a desirable fuel product and high-protein meal for animal feed.

"CoverCress is exciting because it has the potential to become an important source of biofuel production as a new harvested rotational crop, while also giving producers an innovative option to continue effective management of their land and improve crop quality soil acting as a cover crop", said Rodrigo Santos, Member of the Board of Directors of Bayer AG and President of the Crop Science Division.

"As a world leader in crop science, we are committed to decarbonizing agriculture and helping farmers around the world become more sustainable through game-changing products and solutions that can impact climate change. This investment and collaboration between industry leaders is another testament to our efforts."

Aligning the combined expertise of Bayer, Bunge and Chevron with the potential of CoverCress, CCI will position CCI to further develop and commercialize its famous winter oilseed in a rotating box cover crop with potential sustainability and carbon sequestration benefits. carbon and will bring a new lower carbon fuel feedstock to the renewable diesel industry. CCI, which will continue to operate as an independent entity, developed CoverCress as a unique crop whose grain is a low-carbon, low-consumption source of fuel and feed.

"Since our founding in 2013, we have actively sought - and benefited from - scientific, operational and financial support from our academic and strategic partners. The progress we have made in converting penny bagasse into our new lower carbon intensity oilseed technology, CoverCress would have been much slower without this critical support," said Mike DeCamp, CEO and president of CCI.

"Our long-standing strategic partnership with Bayer and our more recent strategic partnerships with Bunge and Chevron have provided us with access to expertise and capital that positions CCI very well for future success."

By leveraging the experience and support of leaders in fuels, soybean crushing, logistics and crop sciences, CCI will be positioned to deliver its full potential through a supply chain that understands production, growth, processing and delivery needs. of your crops from scratch.

"Connecting the entire value chain - from seed development to the final consumer - is an important step in bringing this crop to market at scale," said Greg Heckman, executive director of Bunge. “We look forward to helping meet the growing demand for renewable fuels with this next-generation, lower-carbon feedstock.”

North American growers will soon have access to this cash crop that offers the benefits of a cover crop while also being able to be harvested for use as a renewable fuel feedstock.

"Chevron is looking to create innovative renewable fuel sources by collaborating with America's farmers," said Mark Nelson, Chevron executive vice president of Downstream & Chemicals. "We are excited to work with Bayer and Bunge to accelerate the adoption of CoverCress, which we believe can be used to help provide the U.S. transportation system with lower carbon-intensive life-cycle fuels."

Farmers plant traditional cover crops to protect and improve their soil, not to harvest. Developed by converting field pennycress through breeding and gene editing tools, CoverCress is a new low-input rotational yield crop that has the ecosystem benefits of a cover crop. When added to corn and soybean rotations in the land during the winter, CoverCress has the potential to decrease nitrogen loss, help store carbon in the soil and improve soil health.

CCI has been a portfolio company Leaps by Bayer, the impact investing arm of Bayer for the past seven years. The success that CCI has achieved in the face of high risk and uncertainty shows the value of supporting breakthrough innovations that can solve big problems for humanity.