Bayer to acquire majority share in lower carbon oilseed producer CoverCress Inc.

 It will help the company to gain new revenue streams through potential commercialization of oilseed crop for renewable fuels and livestock feed with ecosystem benefits.

Bayer and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (Chevron), a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, have signed a shareholders’ agreement in connection with Bayer’s acquisition of a 65 percent majority ownership of the winter oilseed producer CoverCress, Inc. (CCI). The remaining 35 percent of CCI will continue ownership under Bunge and Chevron.

CoverCress™ is a rotational cash crop which combines grain production with the environmental benefits of a cover crop without displacing other harvests. Oil extracted from CoverCress™ grain is designed to achieve a lower carbon intensity score and can be made into renewable diesel with Bunge’s expertise in oilseed processing and Chevron’s proficiency in fuels manufacturing. This farm-to-fuel supply chain represented by CCI, Bayer, Bunge and Chevron aim to give corn and soybean growers 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 for biofuel production as a new harvested rotational crop, while giving growers an innovative option to continue effective stewardship of their land and improve soil quality by acting as a cover crop,” said Rodrigo Santos, Member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and President of the Crop Science Division.

Aligning the combined expertise of Bayer, Bunge, and Chevron with the potential held by CoverCress™ will position CCI to further develop and commercialize its namesake winter oilseed into a rotational cash cover crop with potential sustainability and carbon sequestration benefits and bring a new lower carbon fuel feedstock to the renewable diesel industry. CCI, which will continue to operate as an independent entity, has developed CoverCress™ as a unique crop whose grain is a lower carbon, low-input source for 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 pennycress into our novel, lower carbon intensity oilseed technology, CoverCress™, would have been much slower without this critical support,” said Mike DeCamp, CEO and president of CCI.

By leveraging expertise and backing from leaders in fuels, soybean crushing, logistics, and crop sciences, CCI will be positioned to deliver on its full potential via a supply chain that understands its crop’s production, growth, processing, and delivery needs from the ground up.

 It will help the company to gain