The world’s largest seed and ag chemical company, Monsanto, said it has reached an agreement to sell its seed-planter business to farm-equipment maker AGCO. It was the second time Monsanto has announced the sale of Precision Planting; a 2015 deal with Deere and Co. fell apart in the face of an antitrust suit filed by the Justice Department.
Precision Planting and Deere dominate the market for so-called precision planters, which are expected to become the industry standard. The planters operate at speeds of up to 10 mph—twice as fast as conventional planters—without sacrificing planting accuracy. They are vital tools in the integration of Big Data into farming practices, which seeks to maximize yields by calibrating seeding and the use of fertilizer and pesticides to the productive capacity of discrete parcels of land.
AGCO chief executive Martin Richenhagen said the purchase “will solidify AGCO as one of the global leaders in planting technology.” Monsanto subsidiary The Climate Corp. said the sale of its Precision Planting unit would “enable broader distribution of Precision Planting technology.” Deere and Monsanto have been competitors in the software and advisory services of Big Data as well as in the hardware that uses them.