Inside the CDMS Acquisition: A Conversation with Matt Waits
March 12, 2021 After an insanely busy month around the home office, I finally got around to catching up with Matt Waits, President of Ag Solutions for Proagrica, to talk to him about the recent acquisition of CDMS, what it means for Proagrica and for the future of the renowned pesticide database company. It was an interesting conversation that required a look back to get the full scope of the deal.
Matt Waits
About four years ago, Waits and his management team were looking for a suitor to acquire his family’s precision ag software business, SST Software. At the time, he understood the value of keeping the assets independent from the influence of supply chain participants. Proagrica’s acquisition of SST fit the bill, providing not only independence but also significant resources and a global reach that wasn’t otherwise available to a relatively small, privately-held U.S. company.
So the acquisition of CDMS by Proagrica was a sort of repeating of history. “CDMS knew that to continue to be relevant and successful, they needed to be independent of the supply chain that they serve,” says Waits. “When they were looking for an exit that was an important factor. They have the largest contributory database of pesticides in the industry and they offer a lot of services to different parts of the market – and for that to remain, they have to be independent.”
“CDMS came to the same conclusion we did as SST when we agreed to be acquired – we’d run our small business to the point that, if we were going to make it all it could be, we would need additional investment,” he adds. “Ultimately, the businesses that are going to help digitize agriculture, and get it to where we all want it to go, are going to be well capitalized companies that are focused on providing solutions to global agriculture.”
While Proagrica has a longer term strategy for integrating CDMS capabilities, it will continue to offer services to the more than 50 farm management solutions that use CDMS to provide standardized product lists and regulatory compliance. Proagrica has committed to invest in CDMS to expand available services, and as a global company, apply the system to markets around the world.
“Our domestic partners should feel confident that CDMS will not only continue to offer existing solutions, but will receive the necessary investment to offer expanded services,” says Waits.
The longer term plan calls for the addition of data from more segments to be introduced, including fertilizer data, expanded seed data, and field equipment. “We want to give licensees the ability to leverage tools and have access to a wider variety of attributes that they can standardize and collect as they move data within their own systems, and between one another,” says Waits.
Another tool that will get more attention is CDMS’s Food Check, which allows food companies to overlay their own rules over the top of the what is required by the pesticide label. “EPA may say what you’re doing is ok, but if a food company has a different set of rules for product use, this tool will identify that extra layer of information,” says Waits. With changing consumer and food company preferences, and the potential for premiums for meeting sustainability and carbon requirements, expansion of this tool set makes sense.
Added features and services will be coming down the road, but for now, Waits says CDMS clients and users will not see significant changes, and CDMS leadership will continue. “It has a great brand and a long history, and we want to preserve that,” he says.
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