(NAFB.com) – Bayer announced it is leaving the seed treatment equipment business in the U.S. to help bolster the company’s finances. Reuters says a spokesman confirmed in an email that Bayer was exiting the business, which makes equipment designed to help treat seeds with products like fungicides and insecticides before the seeds are planted to protect crop yields. An email from Bayer says the company decided to shift resources toward primary areas of strength in crop protection products. “This is a difficult decision, but necessary to help secure the financial future of this company,” Bayer said. The company will begin closing a $12 million seed treatment equipment manufacturing facility in Minnesota. The Center had sought to improve research links between equipment and seed treatment products. The SeedGrowth Equipment Innovation Center opened in 2015. Bayer says it’s still committed to seed treatments even though it will no longer manufacture seed treatment equipment.
