Ag Tech Investments News

Monheim: The aerospace technology company Planetary Resources, based in Redmond, Washington, USA, and Bayer have signed a memorandum of understanding about the development of applications and products based on satellite images.

To create new agricultural products and improve existing ones, Bayer intends to purchase these data from Planetary Resources. The collaboration will be part of the Digital Farming Initiative at Bayer.

Farmers can time their irrigation systems much better to save water, receive planting date recommendations and re-planting advice, and assess their soil’s water-holding capacity, using the combined technologies from the two companies. Another project is a canopy temperature scout. It provides weekly practical insights and scouting support from emergence to harvest by identifying problem areas in the field.

Member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG and head of the Crop Science Division, Liam Condon said, “The sensors from Planetary Resources can become a powerful tool that can provide a new level of information on crops anywhere in the world. The combination of Bayer’s scientific and agronomy expertise and Planetary Resources’ unique sensor capability will greatly improve our ability to deliver truly practical intelligence to growers anywhere on the planet.”

Chris Lewicki, CEO of Planetary Resources, added: “We have identified Bayer as a prime partner in the agriculture industry based on their expertise in several fields and anticipate that this collaboration will accelerate technology deployment, product development, and market acceptance.”

Bayer intends to provide farmers all over the world with practical decision-making aids based on the precise evaluation and combination of diverse data such as weather data or topographic maps. Using this farmers can optimize their business management and lower costs. Bayer is now strengthening its activities in the market of digital farming through strategic investments.