From The Daily Upside, September 11:
Farm equipment giant John Deere thinks technology can open up $150 billion added addressable market.
Farming is perhaps the only industry where you could say every worker is out standing in their field.
The world’s largest farming equipment manufacturer, John Deere, wants to harness the industry’s strong work ethic by planting software in its machines that will make agriculture more productive, harvesting billions in the process.
Born in the USDA
Like rivals CNH and Agco, Deere has spent hundreds of millions developing new generation farm equipment outfitted with smart technology. It began with the $305 million acquisition, in 2017, of Blue River Technology whose AI technology allows automated sprayers to differentiate crops from weeds. Last year, Deere tacked on the $250 million purchase of Bear Flag Robotics, a company that makes software to give old tractors autonomous capability. Earlier this year, Deere announced a fully autonomous tractor and crop sprayer, both of which are being rolled out on a limited basis this year.Deere executives told The Wall Street Journal the company wants 1.5 million machines connected to the cloud-based John Deere Operations Center, which will gather data on crops and weeds that can be used for deploying herbicides. Just as much as a technological revolution, they’re eyeing a business one....
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