Bayer CropScience, Texas Tech University Open Bayer CropScience Seeds Innovation Center
September 1, 2015
Lubbock, Texas (September 2, 2015) – Texas Tech University’s relationship with Bayer CropScience and its footprint in agricultural research and innovation continues to grow with the opening of the Bayer CropScience Seeds Innovation Center on Wednesday, Sept. 2. As part of the activities at the opening, Bayer made a $5,000 donation to the Ronald McDonald House.
The center, located at 3316 Ninth St. on the north side of Marsha Sharp Freeway, just south of the International Cultural Center, will host Bayer’s global cotton business operations as well as state-of-the-art laboratories and research facilities, including a 50,000-square-foot greenhouse.
“Our relationship with Bayer CropScience continues to expand and is an example of a collaborative effort that keeps forging forward,” Texas Tech President M. Duane Nellis said. “The leadership at Bayer CropScience, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the Office of the Vice President for Research are a model for positive and rewarding academic and industry relationships.”
The $16 million, 100,000-square-foot complex is designed to boost seed research and innovation not only for cotton, but also soybean and wheat research. In addition to the laboratory and research space, the facility will include 50,000 square feet of office space that can support approximately 100 employees.
“The on-campus location of the Bayer CropScience Seeds Innovation Center will further increase scientific collaboration with Texas Tech and expand potential involvement of Bayer scientists in the Texas Tech academic community,” said Michael Galyean, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. “We expect that the increased research and academic opportunities associated with a Bayer presence on campus will boost recruitment and retention of top-quality faculty members, post-doctoral scientists and graduate students while also attracting visiting scholars from around the globe.”
The opening of the Bayer CropScience Seeds Innovation Center is another significant milestone in the long-term collaboration between Texas Tech and Bayer CropScience. One of the nation’s leading agricultural research companies, Bayer CropScience is dedicated to improving yields, protecting crops from disease and pests and maintaining a healthy environment through innovative solutions.
The Bayer CropScience Seeds Innovation Center is dedicated to enhancing and ensuring the growth of the cotton industry through various products and solutions. Lubbock serves as the company’s global cottonseed headquarters. Among the Bayer facilities around Lubbock are a seed processing plant and seed warehouse as well as quality control and research and development laboratories.
“In Texas, cotton is king, and we’re proud to call West Texas home,” said Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience. “What started as a small cotton business in 1998 with three employees has grown into our global cotton headquarters. Today, we celebrate the continued success and expansion of the Bayer CropScience presence in Lubbock with the grand opening of our Seeds Innovation Center.”
The center will support research and innovation efforts regarding breeding, trait development and quality, health safety and environmental testing. Research efforts will focus on improving varieties of cotton, cotton variety traits, development of herbicide- and insect-tolerant traits and improved fiber and yield.
“As a proud Texas Tech Red Raider, this is an especially momentous day,” said Mike Gilbert, global head of breeding and trait development at Bayer CropScience. “I get to see the culmination of two of my greatest passions – this great university and a great company committed to science and improving lives.”
At capacity, the greenhouse can hold 7,500 full-size soybean plants or 30,000 mid-size cotton plants with precautions taken to minimize cross-contamination of plant pollen or processing errors. The greenhouse also will feature its own irrigation system.
“Our undergraduate students should benefit from increased opportunities to work in the new facility, along with the potential for student internships in collaborative research and applied field application programs,” Galyean said.
Bayer CropScience Twitter Page:
http://twitter.com/bayer4cropsus
Bayer CropScience Blog:
http://connect.bayercropscience.us
Bayer CropScience is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer CropScience representative, or visit Bayer CropScience online at www.bayercropscience.us.
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About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 9,494 million (2014) and is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 23,100 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.
Contact:
Bayer CropScience Media Hotline, 1-862-404-5118, or
Jeff Donald
External Communications
Bayer CropScience
Tel: (919) 528-4234
Email: Jeffrey.Donald@bayer.com
George Watson
Texas Tech University
Tel: (806) 742-2136
Email: george.watson@ttu.edu
Find more information at www.bayercropscience.us.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
