The world’s largest seed company, Monsanto, said it terminated its November 2015 deal to sell Precision Planting to Deere and Co., the world’s largest farm-equipment maker, and was looking for another purchaser. The Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against the sale to Deere, saying it would dominate the market for high-speed planters, which are expected to become the industry standard.
In a statement, Monsanto said its subsidiary, The Climate Corp., intends “to focus its business exclusively on its digital agriculture platform and that strategy has not changed.” It said several companies have expressed interest in Precision Planting.
So-called precision planters are vital tools in the integration of Big Data into agriculture. Variable-rate applicators and planters allow growers to adjust seeding, fertilizer and pesticides to varying conditions in their fields to maximize yields and control production costs. Data gathered at harvest can be used to guide application rates at planting. High-speed precision planters can operate at twice the speed as conventional planters, up to 10 mph, while accurately placing seed into the soil.
In addition, a digital collaboration agreement between Deere and Monsanto was terminated. Deere said it would continue to develop technology products that improve farm efficiency by leveraging their data in decision-making. Monsanto and Deere are rivals in Big Data services to farmers.