Life science company Bayer and energy giant bp announced that they have entered a long-term agreement to jointly scale the development and commercialization of the camelina crop under Bayer’s newgold brand, aimed at enabling increased production of biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Biofuels are produced from renewable organic materials such as corn, soy, canola, and alternative oilseed crops including camelina and CoverCress. Compared to fossil fuels, biofuels can offer lower carbon intensity and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also providing farmers with new revenue streams through the cultivation of biomass-based feedstocks.
According to the companies, camelina offers promising lower-carbon intensity characteristics for renewable fuel production, with flexibility to grow in both spring and winter seasons while requiring lower agricultural inputs. The crop is winter hardy and features pod shatter resistance and drought tolerance, enabling it to be cultivated on idle or fallow land or between traditional crop rotations, helping to avoid competition with food production.
Under the agreement, commercialization efforts will initially focus on North America, with bp contributing its fuels and refining expertise and Bayer leveraging its seed technology capabilities and farmer customer network. The transaction aims to support development of an intermediate oilseeds market to help meet growing demand for biodiesel, renewable diesel, and SAF, which the companies said is expected to nearly triple to 40 billion gallons by 2040.
Bayer added that it has already introduced newgold camelina in the Northern Plains region of the U.S. and in Southern Saskatchewan and Southern Alberta in Canada.
According to Bayer, camelina crops sold under the newgold seed brand are designed to provide farmers with flexibility across a range of applications, including as an intermediate crop between growing seasons, within crop rotations to support agronomic management and diversify income, and on marginal or underutilized land to improve productivity. The company said this flexibility is intended to enable farmers to participate in the low-carbon fuel economy while maintaining control over agronomic and financial decisions.
The agreement follows Bayer’s acquisition of camelina assets from Smart Earth Camelina in January 2025.
Frank Terhorst, Head of Strategy and Sustainability for Bayer’s Crop Science division, said:
“This alliance will help us to connect the value chain necessary to bring camelina to market and provides our farmer customers greater market certainty as they consider camelina on their farm. We are utilizing our industry leading breeding program to enhance the crop, and its untapped potential globally to help meet the needs of this growing market.”
