Two more major ag equipment makers have signed onto a framework that would grant farmers and independent repair shops in the United States reasonable access to the means to repair their machines. The Washington, D.C.-based American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) on Monday announced it had reached memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with equipment firms Agco and […] Read more

Agco, Kubota sign onto U.S. right-to-repair pledge
Firms join Deere, CNH in pacts with Farm Bureau

American Farm Bureau, Deere sign ‘right to repair’ memo
MOU to seek private-sector solutions
Chicago | Reuters — The American Farm Bureau Federation and machinery manufacturer Deere and Co. signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday that ensures farmers have the right to repair their own farm equipment or go to an independent technician. As the agriculture sector accelerates its adoption of technology, the reliance on high-tech machinery such […] Read more

Deere tapping into Apple-like tech model to drive revenue
'Hopefully the costs will be paid back in the long run'
Bondurant, Iowa | Reuters — Deere and Co. has sold its tractors and other equipment to farmers for decades, but the world’s largest agriculture machinery manufacturer is tearing a page from the technology world’s playbook — combining cutting-edge hardware with software and subscription models to drive revenue growth. In a world with a dwindling number […] Read more

Telus, Rabobank ag arms buy into farm data aggregator
Companies join in on deal for Minneapolis-based Conservis
The agriculture arms of one of Canada’s major telecoms providers and a major Dutch bank and financial services firm are taking a stake in a tech firm in the business of gathering on-farm data into a single window. Telus Agriculture and Rabo AgriFinance, which is headquartered in St. Louis and serves U.S. farm customers, announced […] Read more

Deere buys up ag software maker Harvest Profit
Software's integrations with non-Deere systems to continue
A North Dakota company whose software is used to help farmers gauge a crop’s profitability on a field-by-field basis will now run with the Deere. John Deere on Nov. 12 announced it has acquired Fargo-based Harvest Profit for an undisclosed sum. Harvest Profit — whose software was already integrated with the John Deere Operations Center […] Read more

AGI buys ag business management software muscle
Grain handling equipment maker Ag Growth Industries (AGI) plans to level up on its SureTrack farm management software platform with a deal for another Canadian player in the same business. Winnipeg-based AGI announced Thursday it has bought all outstanding shares in Oakville, Ont.-based Affinity Management Ltd., developer of the Compass brand of farm and agribusiness […] Read more

Telus buys Farm At Hand
Vancouver farm management software development firm Farm At Hand has become an arm of one of the Big Five in Canada’s communication services sector. Farm At Hand, which makes the cloud-based Crop Planner software suite for farmers and the Farm At Hand Agronomy suite for agronomists, announced Tuesday it has been wholly acquired by Telus […] Read more

Robo-tractors invented by farmers are already here
Software-savvy producers aren’t waiting for equipment makers — they’re writing code and automating their machines
Reading Time: 5 minutes Kyler Laird did it the John Deere way when he returned to the family farm in Indiana after his father’s death in 2010. But after five years of sitting in a tractor, planting crooked rows of corn, he decided to do it his way instead. “Even when I was a kid out discing or out […] Read more

DuPont to buy up farm software firm Granular
A San Francisco company providing farm management software to growers in four provinces and about three dozen states is poised to join the digital arm of DuPont and Dow’s merged agribusiness. DuPont — which as of last week had all regulatory approvals and clearances lined up to complete its merger with Dow Chemical — announced […] Read more
New edition of CropChoice$ crop-planning software available
Reading Time: < 1 minute CropChoice$ 2015 is now available. Producers can plug their yields from the 2015 harvest into the software and find whether their cropping plan can break even or make a profit. They can also enter target gross margins to see if they can achieve them. The software can analyze up to 40 dryland and irrigated crops […] Read more