Bayer CropScience Seeds Innovation Center opens at Texas Tech

The Bayer CropScience Seeds Innovation Center opened Wednesday as part of an ongoing collaboration between Bayer CropScience and Texas Tech University.

The center on the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock will house Bayer’s global cotton business operations, new laboratories, research facilities and a 50,000-square-foot greenhouse. Approximately 100 people will be employed through the new project.

 “In Texas, cotton is king, and we’re proud to call West Texas home,” Bayer CropScience CEO and President Jim Blome said. “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 facilities focus on cotton, soybean and wheat seeds research. Research will also be done in areas including breeding, enhancing traits, health safety and environmental testing.

“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 location of the center on the Lubbock campus is in addition to other facilities in the area including a seed processing plant, warehouse and laboratories that focus on quality control, research and development.

“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,” Michael Galyean, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, said.