Bayer Launches newgold® — A New Multi-Crop Seed Brand Designed to Connect Agriculture to the Low-Carbon Fuel Economy

Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production Business News/Analysis Canada Co-Products Farming/Growing Feedstock Feedstocks Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues Infrastructure Kansas Marketing/Market Forces and Sales Midwest Montana North America North Dakota Oklahoma Opinions Policy R & D Focus Resources Scientific Resources Sustainability Technical Resources Texas What You Can Do

February 21, 2026

Print This Article Share it With Friends

(Bayer) Bayer today (February 19, 2026) announced the launch of newgold® seed, its first multi-crop seed brand developed specifically for low-carbon intensity crops, designed to help farmers participate directly in the fast-growing biofuels market while enhancing opportunities for farm profitability.

As demand for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel accelerates, the energy transition is creating a new challenge: how to scale low-carbon fuels without competing with food production or adding complexity to the farm system. Bayer believes agriculture can play a central role in helping to solve that challenge.

Innovation alone won’t make the energy transition real. Scale, execution, and market confidence matter. With newgold® seed, we are connecting seed innovation, agronomic performance, and market access into one clear opportunity for farmers.

From Vision to Action in Low-Carbon Agriculture

Built under Bayer’s Biofuel Crops by Bayer platform, newgold® seed represents a shift from treating biofuels purely as a downstream opportunity toward building a scalable agricultural system that connects farmers, fuel producers, and markets.

The brand focuses on low carbon intensity oilseed crops such as camelina3,4 and winter canola5—crops designed to fit between seasons, into existing rotations, or on underutilized acres—creating potential additional revenue streams for farmers.

By combining seed technology, agronomic expertise, and strong industry collaborations, Bayer’s goal is to help farmers with adoption of these new crops, to unlock new value and to participate in new markets.

More Than a Crop: A Profit Multiplier

At the core of newgold® seed is a simple idea: low-carbon intensity crops must work economically at the field level.

Crops sold under the newgold® seed brand will be designed with the goal of acting as a profit multiplier, giving growers the flexibility to decide how and where it fits best in their operation:

As a double crop, adding value between seasons
Within rotations, contributing to good agronomic management while diversifying income
On marginal or underutilized land, turning those acres into more productive assets

This flexibility will allow farmers to participate in the low-carbon fuel economy while maintaining control over their agronomic and financial decisions.

Designed for Farmers Who Look Ahead

newgold® seed was built for growers who don’t settle for incremental gains. It speaks to farmers who seek:

Opportunities for strong ROI per acre
Performance backed by science
Clear market pathways, not speculation

By bridging the gap between the field and fuel producers, Bayer aims to reduce uncertainty and help farmers confidently adopt cropping systems that deliver opportunities for value on their farms.

Working to Advance Biofuel Contributions

Agriculture can play an important role in decarbonizing the transportation industry and strengthen energy security, with the introduction of low-carbon feedstocks for renewable fuel that can deliver lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum fuels1,2.

Bayer is advancing biofuel contributions by investing in a portfolio of new crops, building integrated supply chains, and supporting North American farmers economically with the introduction of newgold® seeds.

About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In line with its mission, “Health for all, Hunger for none,” the company’s products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2024, the Group employed around 93,000 people and had sales of 46.6 billion euros. R&D expenses amounted to 6.2 billion euros.

Sources:

1 Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Production in the United States | Environmental Science & Technology

2 Biotechnological Camelina platform for green sustainable oleochemicals production

3 Publication : USDA ARS

4 Liu et al 2024_life-cycle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-growing-intermediate-winter-oilseed-feedstocks-for-sustainable (003).pdf

5 Biofuels | U.S. Canola Association

Bayer is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Bayer's products are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in compliance with Bayer’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products in Commodity Crops. Commercialized products have been approved for import into key export markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from commercialized products can only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all applicable regulatory approvals have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for commercialized products. Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship. READ MORE

Related articles

Unlocking New Farm Revenue: Bayer’s Newgold Targets The Biofuel Boom (AgWeb)
Bayer Launches Newgold Seed With Low-Carbon Oilseeds for Biofuels Market (Succesful Farming)

Excerpt from AgWeb: By inserting high-oil, low-carbon intensity crops such as camelina and canola into idle/fallow acres or wheat rotations, growers can tap into a new income stream that feeds the fast-growing biomass-based diesel market.

The new opportunities are backed by defined grain contracts, downstream demand, and long-term R&D investment, according to Chad Bilby, Bayer biofuel crops innovation and commercial lead.

Bilby says Bayer’s biofuel crops portfolio is currently centered on three crops:

1. Camelina (spring and winter): Under the newgold brand, initial focus for 2026 is in the northern Great Plains (southern Saskatchewan, southeast Alberta, eastern Montana, western North Dakota), with potential expansion as the program and value chain build out.

2. Winter canola: Also under newgold, the crop is targeted for commercial planting starting in September 2027 in the southern Great Plains (Kansas, Oklahoma, northern Texas) within wheat rotation systems.

3. CoverCress: This offering is a joint venture between Bayer, Chevron and Bunge and has been in place for several years. CoverCress is an oilseed targeted to corn-soybean farmers in the Midwest and used to produce low-carbon intensity oil for renewable fuels and high-protein meal for animal feed.

...

“All these crops that we’re focused on are geared for the biomass-based diesel segment of biofuels,” Bilby says. “When you look at biodiesel, renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel… a lot of the higher horsepower engines where electric vehicles are not going to play a role are really seeking a path to get access to biofuels,” he adds.

Seed to Market: Closed-Loop System and Value-Chain Alignment

Newgold is being built on the recognition by Bayer that agronomy alone doesn’t make a new crop successful for farmers — marketing certainty is needed.

Because many specialty oilseeds, such as camelina, don’t have a standard commodity market behind them already, Bayer is structuring a closed-loop, contract-based system from the outset.

“Some of these crops aren’t a commodity trade, so something like camelina or CoverCress, you don’t have a market for those crops,” Bilby explains. “There will be a grain contract in place that will establish the pricing and delivery options… farmers will have that grain contract available. And then in the case of a camelina or winter canola, we will then sell the seed to the farmer against that contract to fulfill the contract.”

In parallel, Bayer is working across the entire value chain to align agronomy, grain flow and processing capacity.

“We’re collaborating closely with value chain partners,” Bilby says. “So as crush and renewable fuel capacity comes online, [farmers will] have a locally relevant crop and clear contracting options, kind of a seamless path from seed to market,” he says. “This is going to help ensure that agronomic fit, and that grain logistics and crush demand start to scale together.”

On the distribution side, newgold will tap into Bayer’s existing retail networks but says it won’t be locked into any single channel. Bilby notes that Bayer will leverage relationships and brands like DEKALB, WestBred, and others, but the newgold label gives the company the freedom to choose the best local partners. READ MORE

Tags

winter crops wheat Transportation Fuels Policy Texas Sustainability supply chain Saskatchewan rotation crops Renewable Diesel/Green Diesel/HVO/Paraffinic Diesel protein pennycress/stinkweed Oklahoma oil seed crops North Dakota North America Montana Midwest market forces marginal land Kansas Jetfuel (Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)) GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Intensity environmental policy energy security energy independence energy crops double cropping defossilization cover crops co-products Carbon Intensity (CI)/Carbon Footprint Canola/Rapeseed Camelina BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production Biofuels Biofuel Crops Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) animal feed Alberta biodiesel What You Can Do

Comments are closed.