FRANKFURT, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Bayer reported a

16.5% drop in second-quarter adjusted earnings on Tuesday,

becoming the latest farming supplies maker hit by lower demand

because of falling crop and grain prices.

The slump in agriculture markets poses a new headache for

CEO Bill Anderson, who has launched a push to speed up business

decisions and slash excess bureaucracy to turn around the

embattled diversified group.

The German company's quarterly earnings before interest,

taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), adjusted for

one-off items, fell to 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion), also

dragged lower by negative foreign exchange effects, in line with

an average analyst estimate posted on the company's website.

Bayer, which had close to 100,000 staff at the end of

2023, said it cut the equivalent of 3,200 full-time jobs during

the first six months of the year, marking an acceleration after

it reported a decline of 1,500 during the first quarter.

The CEO has said he would not set specific job cutting

targets but predicted that an ongoing unit-by-unit review would

result in significant cutbacks in aggregate.

U.S. rival Corteva ( CTVA ) last week cut its full-year sales and

earnings forecasts, hurt by lower prices for its crop protection

products.

A decline in agricultural commodity prices has forced

farmers to rein in on spending, hurting demand for crop

chemicals.

Bayer confirmed its previous full-year earnings guidance.