THE move to a high-tech agricultural environment continues apace with recent agreements and acquisitions cementing intent of key players in the machinery segment.
Data and the tools needed to produce in-field agricultural data has been the focus of recent moves with John Deere, CNH and Raven all in the game.
Raven and CNH Industrial have signed an agreement to partner on the use of Raven technology and products through CNH brands Case IH and New Holland.
The partners say the agreement enables Raven and CNH to help customers increase efficiency, decrease input costs and deliver higher yields.
Raven Applied Technology Division’s Brian Meyer said the deal was a commitment “to developing ground-breaking products and high quality service that has a positive impact on our customer’s efficiency and profitability in their operations”.
John Deere similarly intensified its focus on precision agriculture, acquiring a European planting equipment business and a US based digital agricultural solutions business.
Deere and The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto, signed an agreement to share data and for Deere to acquire the Precision Planting equipment business that will allow exclusive near real-time data connectivity between some Deere equipment and the Climate FieldView platform.
Deere claimed the agreement as the ag industry’s first and only near real-time in-cab wireless connection to Deere equipment by a third-party supplier.
The company said the agreement would maximise the value of digital agriculture – essentially the collection of in-field agronomic data.
The agreement allowed Deere a wider range of retrofit product options from Precision Planting and allowed them to expand into new territories.
The connectivity so valued allows farmers to collect and share data to the Climate Corporation cloud and enable data visualisation in-cabin and the development of customised data with science-driven insight.
Deere has also acquired European specialised planter manufacturer Monosem in a deal sealed in early November, which includes plants in France and the US.
Deere has indicated it does not plan to change the family-owned brand’s name or trademarks.