Cooper at Bayer Marana
Dec. 5, 2022
Cooper_at_Bayer.jpg
When Bayer Crop Science opened their state-of-the-art greenhouse in rural Marana, it meant that local educational nonprofits became eligible for the
Bayer Fund.
This grant awards millions of dollars to thousands of organizations in the communities where Bayer employees live. Cooper Center has received its second award from the Bayer Fund this year, supporting our field trip programs.
Aside from the impact this funding has on our facilities, programs, and students, the grant included a tour of the Bayer Marana greenhouse operation. Early in December, Cooper staff toured the new facility to learn how the corn grown there is the result of advancements in robotics, agriculture, and new techniques for planting and developing improved crop yields. The corn grown there yields three harvests per year instead of just one that traditionally would require 180 acres, rather than the considerably smaller 7-acre footprint of the Bayer greenhouse!
The tour featured red LED grow rooms, precision seed planting and tracking, and racks of corn plants travelling on conveyor belts throughout the glass-roofed structure. The plants will travel an estimated 10 miles this way while at the greenhouse. The plants are cultivated for specific conditions and are shipped to farmers around the world to grow.
We thank Bayer Crop Sciences for their generosity and hospitality. You can learn more about Cooper Center and the Bayer Fund here.
(Clockwise from the upper left): Corn is grown in pots that travel on conveyors throughout the greenhouse, Cooper staff peering into a red LED-lit grow room,
Crops can be seen at every stage of the grow cycle from seed to yellowing stalks, the advanced robotic and computerized planting and tracking facility.