Germination presents a series of stories on the 20 most influential people in the seed sector in 2018. Want to nominate someone for 2019? Email mzienkiewicz@issuesink.com with the subject line “Top 20 nomination”!
Garth Hodges says dreams are like seeds — they start small, you plant them into the minds of people, you nurture them and don’t give up on them. One of his dreams was Bayer Crop Science’s InVigor¬® pod shatter reduction technology, which went into development in 2000 and launched 14 years later.
“Through sheer persistence of scientists and breeders and people like myself, we never gave up despite many challenges and obstacles. We’re still discovering how important that idea was and is to farmers. The success wasn’t the technology itself, but the persistence of the team who believed in that dream,” says Hodges, strategy lead for canola at Bayer’s Crop Science division based in Calgary, Alberta.
After a long career in agriculture that had its roots during his youth growing up in South Africa, he has worked in Canada since 2002 when he assumed the role of general manager for Bayer’s global canola seed business. In his current role, he is leading the proposed divestment of the InVigor Canola seed business to BASF.
Hodges and his team define what it means to play an influential role in the business of seed, and that role is only continuing to evolve as Bayer works through with the acquisition of Monsanto. Hodges has led the divestment process of the Bayer seeds business, which he says has involved grooming new leaders who can guide the business into the future.
(Garth talks about positioning the company for success through change.)
“The biggest challenge or dream I have now is recognizing InVigor’s responsibility as a leader in our segment, and how do we move our seeds business into a new corporate environment and make what has been a successful business into something that continues to be a leader in the industry,” says the 58-year-old.
But Hodges is well equipped to lead his teams into uncharted corporate waters. He began his career in agriculture when he finished a degree in plant pathology and entomology at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University. After finishing school, he joined the South African military in 1984. He quickly achieved the rank of lieutenant and gained his first experience in leadership.
Because of his educational background he was involved in carrying out agricultural projects on the northern border of South Africa. It was through those projects he made his first contact with crop protection companies. After his service was over, he went to work for a company called FBC Holdings. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, he has essentially been at the same company his entire career, eventually winding up at Bayer after it acquired Aventis CropScience.
He credits his military service with shaping him into the leader he has become, guiding the Bayer seeds business into a new future.
“In the military you learn principles of interdependency, discipline and leadership, but more importantly you learn to appreciate people and how each one contributes and how to bring out the best in those people.
That’s what I’ve tried to look for in putting an awesome team around me. When you’re in the business long enough, you get to see some of your dreams come true.”
