Crop Data Alliances Formed

Dow AgroSciences and BASF will collaborate with farm equipment maker John Deere on data and information services for farmers. The services will help farmers make site-specific decisions about seeds and chemicals as well as monitor crop development to improve yields and manage costs, the companies say. In 2012, John Deere introduced an online platform for farmers that logs precise information about equipment, operations, and crop production. BASF will add to the technology with a new service for field scouting and agronomic decision support. Meanwhile, Dow says it will use the John Deere platform along with cloud-based technologies to customize products, such as corn hybrids, for individual growers. The agreements come on the heels of Monsanto’s October announcement that it will acquire Climate Corp., an agriculture analytics and risk-management start-up, for $930 million.