When Rodrigo Santos appeared on Thursday morning at the media and stakeholder day of the Bayer division he leads, CropScience, you wouldn't have guessed that the Brazilian was overseeing a division currently facing challenges. Relaxed, curious, and with a smile on his face, he greeted those present, engaged in small talk, and expressed gratitude for the interest of each individual.

That said, the CEO of the world's largest agrochemical company should certainly have small-talk skills. However, unlike some of his colleagues, Santos comes across as genuinely credible when he emphasizes the importance of listening to farmers and taking their concerns seriously. The event is being held to present the results of the "Farmer Voice" survey commissioned by Bayer. An external agency conducted interviews with 800 farmers around the world, both large and small-scale operators.

The results are not surprising, yet still alarming: 73% of those surveyed reported that their incomes have decreased by an average of nearly 16% over the past two years due to climate change. Three-quarters of the farmers are concerned about the consequences of climate change for their businesses. The CropScience CEO sums up the results by stating: "The survey results underline the immediate threat of climate change to global food security. At the same time, it is crucial for farmers to ensure food supply, even under challenging conditions." He concludes, unsurprisingly, that the future lies in regenerative agriculture.

Like his predecessor, Liam Condon, the 50-year-old Santos is a born salesman. Nevertheless, one can believe that he acts out of conviction and that feeding the world's population is a matter close to his heart. If that weren't the case, Santos wouldn't have been working in the crop protection business for more than 25 years. There's no question that Bayer is also working on innovations to make money. Noneteheless, the fact that modern seeds and better crop protection technologies are at the top of the wish list for the surveyed farmers is also part of the truth.

The agricultural scientist, who took over as the head of Bayer CropScience at the beginning of 2022, undoubtedly speaks the language of his customers and enthusiastically recounts his visits to small-scale farmers in Kenya: "Talking about food security is one thing in Europe or North America. It's an entirely different thing to talk about it in rural Africa."

The pride of local small-scale farmers when they use modern seeds for the first time to produce food for their families and the village population is overwhelming, he recalls. "For me personally, this is why everything we do here at Bayer CropScience makes sense," Santos notes.

The top manager, who joined Bayer through the Monsanto merger, appears to have struck the right chord within the company as well. Even though the 2018 acquisition was marred from the start by a wave of lawsuits related to the Roundup herbicide, the approachable manager has successfully fostered the integration of different corporate cultures. At least, that's what an intimate observer suggests, pointing out that Santos didn't sit in the company headquarters in St. Louis during the Monsanto days.