The Testa family has owned and operated Agricola Testa for three generations. Today, Marcelo (left) and Carlos Testa (right) manage the daily activities.
MONHEIM, GERMANY: Bayer AG has expanded its Bayer ForwardFarming network – a knowledge platform for farmers, focused on customized agronomic solutions, proactive stewardship and partnerships – to Latin America.
Agricola Testa, in Argentina, and Fazenda Nossa Senhora Aparecida, in Brazil, are the first Bayer ForwardFarms outside Europe.
The farm in Argentina, Agricola Testa, lies near Pergamino (Buenos Aires) and has been managed by the Testa family for three generations. Primarily growing soybeans, corn and wheat on the 1,130-hectare farm, the Testa brothers regard agriculture as their reason for living. They also offer contractual services to other farmers in the region, sharing their land and agricultural practices with fellow farmers.
The farm in Brazil, Fazenda Nossa Senhora Aparecida, covers near 2,700 hectares north of Brasilia. The Fiorese family founded the farm in 1995 and has a long history of farming soybeans, winter corn, field beans, wheat and sorghum in the Brazilian Cerrados. The family believes that the key to success in farming is to implement new technologies and connect social and environmental aspects to show that sustainability is possible in agriculture.
The ForwardFarming presence in Latin America is also set to expand to Chile, where an official launch is planned for early 2018.
“We are really proud to extend now our ForwardFarm network to Latin America. Argentina and Brazil are very important agricultural markets, both absolutely essential in producing food and feed for a growing world demand, but also in driving agricultural innovation,” said Bernd Naaf, head of business affairs and communications at Bayer’s crop science division.
“The addition of these farms in Latin America will encourage progressive, and increasingly globalized, dialog with farmers and other players across the value chain, as well as with society, about all aspects of sustainable agriculture in practice,” added Dr Klaus Kirsch, global manager for Bayer ForwardFarming.
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