Following the ‘Falling Dominos’ in AgTech
May 3, 2023 If you regularly check for interesting videos on the Internet, chances are you’ve run across someone lining up thousands of dominos and then setting them in motion. When performed properly, these falling dominos lead to all sorts of pre-determined patterns and pictures across vast stretches of floorspace.
In the world of business, there is also a “falling domino” game often played. Based on the evidence, we are now seeing many “patterns and pictures” beginning to emerge in the realm of agricultural technology as well.
The first step, of course, is simply setting up the dominos. In agtech, this involves identifying potential “hot” product categories to jump into and setting up a company to do so. Since at least the start of the 2010s, dozens of new technology-oriented companies have entered the agricultural marketplace, dappling in everything from improved planting advances to automatic steering systems to drones. Most recently, companies are beginning to explore the potential artificial intelligence (AI) and application work can accomplish when combined.
The second step in this “falling domino” scenario is further developing and improving upon these myriad technologies. To this end, the marketplace has seen such developments as Raven Industries launching its autonomous spreader, the OmniPower 3200, at the 2022 Commodity Classic; John Deere expanding upon its Blue River weed identification system to introduce the See & Spray Ultimate system for self-propelled sprayers; and HevenDrones debuting a hydrogen-powered drone for agriculture, which promises to increase the payload and operating range of these systems in the near future.
Now that these first two “domino” situations have played out, the agtech industry is entering the latest phase: Consolidation/partnerships. With all the activity, some agtech companies are beginning to acquire other agtech companies to “fill in” some of the gaps in their domino lines. Examples of this trend would include CNH Industrial buying Augmenta, which manufactures the Sense & Act technology that can be used in sprayers for selective application work; Intelinair acquiring Aker Technologies, which will allow the company to expand its portfolio with drone-based digital agronomy tools; and CNH Industrial purchasing Hemisphere GNSS, a provider of high-performance satellite positioning technology.
On the partnership front, AGCO Corp. recently announced a formal partnership with Bosch BASF Smart Farming to integrate Smart Spraying technology on its Fendt Rogator sprayers. According to the companies, this system will offer an end-to-end user experience through AGCO on-board and off-board controls and Bosch BASF Smart Farming’s integrated digital platform from xarvio Digital Farming Solutions, with insights into the data gathered during the application.
“What makes our system unique is the combination of superior precision, digital tools, and agronomic expertise,” said Matt Leininger, Bosch BASF Smart Farming, North America. “With a 24/7 application capability, we create exceptional green-on-green and green-on-brown performance.”
And these are just some examples of the falling dominos in agtech today, with many more likely to come in the months ahead.
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