Paul Rea, Senior Vice President – Agricultural Solutions North America, BASF

In an interview with Invest:, Paul Rea, senior vice president of Agricultural Solutions  North America at BASF, discussed BASF’s innovation pipeline, digital agriculture, partnerships, and priorities. “We should remain informed and interested in how our food is grown and consider the best science behind it,” Rea said.

What developments have been most significant for BASF?

We’re an agricultural innovation and technology company. A highlight is getting new products through the U.S. registration process, approved, and available for farmers across the country. We’ve had several reach that point in the last year. These innovations give farmers new tools and options to grow crops more sustainably and often follow 10 to 12 years of research, much of it conducted in Raleigh. Whether the work involves discovering active ingredients, creating formulations that optimize their use, or developing traits for new seed varieties, reaching the market is a real milestone. The technologies give farmers new options in an increasingly difficult environment shaped by climate conditions and commodity price volatility. 

Another milestone is our announced plan for a potential IPO listing on the Frankfurt Exchange in Germany. 

Which emerging technologies could have the greatest impact on farming?

We take a view that extends 10 years or more and try to predict the future of new technologies. One thing is certain: Farmers will want to operate more sustainably, have more tools, increase yields, and produce more productive crops. That creates a natural need for advanced technologies and new products. Our portfolio includes crop protection tools that protect against disease, weeds, and insects; digital tools that use a farmer’s phone to diagnose crop problems and identify where treatments could be different or better; and new traits combined with our latest seed varieties to enhance production. 

One particularly interesting product is a new nematode resistance trait, Nemasphere, which provides resistance to a soybean plant against nematodes, which are microscopic worms that are in the soil. They eat away at the plant without farmers realizing it. In the United States alone, about half of all Midwest soybean acres are impacted by this particular pest, and it can reduce yields by up to 30%, causing $1.5B in damage annually.

How are data and AI changing farm decisions?

Farming is dynamic. Climatic patterns vary each year; farmers plant different crops and use different tools and technologies. Farmers always want to improve on the previous year and increase yield. Our digital tools, xarvio, allow farmers to select treatment measures more accurately and apply them precisely. Often, once you can see a problem, it is already too late, and you’re treating symptoms rather than the cause.

A disease, for example, may not be visible to the naked eye until it has already caused damage and reduced yield. Our tools allow farmers to be proactive, using advanced AI capabilities. For example, these tools can tell farmers they should be inspecting their crop now, and in the next few days, they should be looking to use a powerful fungicide to treat the disease before it shows up. It’s like going to the doctor before you have a problem. You go to the doctor ahead of time.

How does the Raleigh site support innovation?

We like being in Raleigh. It’s home for us. We arrived in 1986, making us a long-term resident, and we’ve continued expanding our facilities and footprint. We have well over 1,000 employees here, many of them scientists conducting novel research for farmers in North Carolina, across the United States, and around the world. We employ some of the smartest people from the area and around the world to enable that research.

The company spends about 10% of its revenue on research and development each year, which totals approximately $1 billion. That investment supports our long-term view and allows us to employ excellent people. Raleigh has always been a great place to do that because North Carolina is an agricultural state and the area is growing. Raleigh offers a high-quality work and living environment, and its universities provide a strong talent pool. We feel at home here.

Why are partnerships important to agricultural innovation?

We certainly can’t do what we do on our own. We have partnerships across the spectrum, from suppliers and vendors to research partners and collaborators. We’re a supporter of the North Carolina State Plant Science Institute in Raleigh. We’ve partnered with it since its activities began and have ongoing research projects together. We also partner with many other universities in North Carolina and across the United States. Land-grant universities conduct field trials with our products, and we draw on their experience and expertise to ensure these products meet their states’ farmers’ needs.

From a policy perspective, farming remains somewhat misunderstood. Fewer people understand how and where their food is grown, which can create concern. An informed policy environment is important because misinformation about farming is widespread. The misunderstanding can begin with a question about whether food is produced with care.

What should people understand about farming?

There’s a perception that corporations run farming, but 93% of U.S. farms are family-owned and operated. These families work hard in a challenging environment shaped by climate, commodity markets, and policy changes. We should help farmers rather than make their work harder because they already face enough challenges. Food security is important to everyone. We can’t survive without high-quality food, and food security is also national security. We should care deeply about making farming more sustainable, maintaining a reliable regulatory system that brings new technologies to market safely, and enabling farmers to do more with less.

What challenges and opportunities will shape BASF’s future?

Public confidence in and support for farming are important. We benefit from farming every day. The breakfast I enjoyed this morning began with someone’s hard work in the field. We should remain informed and interested in how our food is grown and consider the best science behind it, rather than misinformation on social media. We should remember the care farmers put into growing food every day. They grow it for their families first and for our families as well.

Understanding how and where our food is produced, and having confidence in that process rather than fearing it, is important because healthy meals reach our tables through the hard work of many people. The opportunity is to maintain a reliable and consistent regulatory framework. As an innovation-based company investing about $1 billion a year, we need certainty over the planning horizon about the framework for bringing new technologies to market. That also supports public confidence. 

In terms of legacy, I am proud of our team and what they do. They are innovative and creative, and our teamwork at BASF sets us apart. We do not work through individual efforts; it is a collaboration across teams. I am proud of our employee engagement and culture of inclusivity, which allow people to come to work, be themselves, and do their best work. That is at the heart of innovation: being able to get more from what you do at work and push the boundaries of innovation.