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Crop protection firm ADAMA launches new multi-Crop, broad spectrum fungicide

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Crop protection firm ADAMA launches new multi-Crop, broad spectrum fungicide

Crop protection firm ADAMA, has announced the launch of Maxentis®, a new versatile fungicide that delivers reliable control over a broad range of diseases in wheat, barley, and oilseed rape, to increase yields and improve income.

Maxentis® delivers dependable control of Septoria, Yellow Rust, and Brown Rust in wheat; Leaf Blotch, Net Blotch, and Rust in barley; and Sclerotinia and Alternaria in OSR, helping bring peace of mind to farmers while simplifying and reducing the expense of their spray programs.

In high potential wheat areas Maxentis® can be used as a T1 application in a spray program with other fungicides, or as a standalone T1 or T2 broad spectrum product in lower-potential areas.

The non-SDHI formulation makes it an excellent partner for spraying programs, allowing farmers the flexibility to use an SDHI combination at the critical flag leaf stage of the wheat.

Two modes of action are combined to enhance the impact of Maxentis®. This means that fungal diseases are controlled across multiple growth stages of the disease, resulting in greater efficacy and healthier crops.

Broad spectrum

Maxentis® improves yields, while the ability to control numerous diseases in multiple crops with a single product increases convenience, reduces complexity and lowers costs, resulting in increased income for farmers.

“Farmers across Europe expressed a need for more versatile, broad label products that can serve multiple crops and combat a range of diseases, without requiring them to juggle a complicated mix of products,” says Alex Mills, Global Head of Fungicides at ADAMA.

“We responded with the value innovation that is an integral part of ADAMA. Maxentis® delivers dependable control of the most important diseases in wheat, barley, and OSR, in a single convenient product that’s ready to go when you are.

Thanks to its flexibility and reliability, farmers can produce higher yields with less stress.”

Maxentis® is part of ADAMA’s new European cereal fungicide portfolio, which it began rolling out in 2023. Launches will continue across the continent, UK, and Ireland throughout 2024.

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The future of crop protection: AI and plant-level spraying

Why smart spraying is rapidly gaining ground

Vesconite Bearings innovates in the tractor tyre replacement market

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Vesconite Bearings innovates in the tractor tyre replacement market

Custom-made wear-resistant low-friction Vesconite bearings and wear pads are being trialled on a BEISS tyre stripper machine by a company in the thriving tractor-tyre-changing industry.

The trial, conducted in Bultfontein, South Africa, at a company that specialises in tractor-tyre stripping and replacement, aims to prove the efficiency and durability of Vesconite in tractor tyre maintenance.

The wear pads, produced by Vesconite Bearings, were strategically installed on the slides of the hydraulic sled carriage, a crucial component of the tyre stripper machine.

This carriage, carrying essential tools for tyre removal and replacement, moves repeatedly during tyre mounting and dismounting operations.

Wear-resistant

Vesconite’s wear-resistant properties are expected to mitigate excessive wear, ensuring smooth and reliable performance over extended periods.

Furthermore, Vesconite bearings have been deployed as rollers beneath the table used for positioning tractor tyres during maintenance procedures. The constant back-and-forth motion of this table often leads to wear on conventional components.

By introducing Vesconite products, the company anticipates an increase in durability and longevity, providing a reliable solution for garage equipment used on large tractor tyres.

The Vesconite solutions were installed in January 2024, replacing conventional nylon wear pads and bearings that had worn out over three years.

The client, introduced to Vesconite through positive word-of-mouth feedback, will provide information on the performance of the Vesconite components on the BEISS machine, which is exposed to the rigours of cumbersome tractor tyres.

Should the Vesconite bearings and wear pads outperform the traditional nylon products, Vesconite Bearings plans to expand its offerings to other tyre stripping operations specialising in tractors.

This move aligns with the increasing demand for durable and efficient solutions in the agricultural sector, which is driven by a growing global population’s need for food, the rise in mechanisation in agriculture, and, in some cases, supportive government policies and subsidies promoting agricultural equipment purchases.

Vesconite Bearings remains dedicated to advancing innovation in the agricultural industry and the equipment that supports the farming sector.

Also Read

AGCO and Trimble Close Joint Venture, Form PTx Trimble

Tech-driven mechanization boosts Africa’s smallholder farmers

AGCO and Trimble Close Joint Venture, Form PTx Trimble

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AGCO and Trimble Close Joint Venture, Form PTx Trimble

AGCO and Trimble have announced the closing of their joint venture (JV) transaction.

The JV, known as PTx Trimble, combines Trimble’s precision agriculture business and AGCO’s JCA Technologies to form a new company that will better serve farmers with factory fit and retrofit applications in the mixed-fleet precision agriculture market.

AGCO has acquired an 85% stake in PTx Trimble, and Trimble will hold a 15% stake. Going forward, the PTx Trimble JV will be consolidated into AGCO’s financial statements.

“Farmers worldwide need technologies that support them to be more productive and profitable while minimizing the environmental impact of their operations,” said Eric Hansotia, AGCO’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “PTx Trimble will provide farmers greater access to next-generation precision ag tools, no matter what brands of tractors and implements they operate.”

The formation of PTx Trimble enhances AGCO’s comprehensive technology offering around guidance, autonomy, precision spraying, connected farming, data management and sustainability.

Real winners

“Farmers are the real winners here,” said Rob Painter, Trimble’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “By combining our expertise and resources through this JV, we aim to accelerate the pace of innovation. With a focus on open technologies, customers will benefit from tech solutions available to farmers across a broad range of tractor and implement brands.”

AGCO’s consolidated precision ag revenue is now expected to exceed $2.0 billion by 2028, and the transaction is expected to be accretive to AGCO’s revenue growth, adjusted operating margin profile and adjusted earnings per share in the first full year post-close.

AGCO financed the transaction through a combination of $1.1 billion in recently issued senior unsecured notes, a $500 million term loan facility, other borrowings and cash on hand.

Also Read

Bayer pilots unique generative AI tool for agriculture

John Deere turns to satellite technology to boost rural connectivity

Kenya perishable exports set to sour with development of cool-logistics corridor

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Kenya perishable exports set to sour with development of cool-logistics corridor

Kenya has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kingdom of the Netherlands to develop a cool-logistics corridor a move that the east African country hopes will revitalize perishable exports.

“The MoU I signed with the Dutch Ambassador in Kenya, Maarten Brouwer, will facilitate private investment in cool-logistics infrastructure to support the transportation of fresh produce by sea,” said Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen.

Kenya’s perishable exports could soar, creating millions of jobs, thanks to the new agreement with the Netherlands. The signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) paves the way for a “cool-logistics corridor” – a sea freight system specifically designed for fresh produce.

Boon for Kenya’s horticultural exporters

This project has the potential to double or even triple Kenya’s horticultural exports. This surge could create up to 3 million new jobs within the horticultural and agro-logistics industries.

The MoU, signed with the Dutch Ambassador to Kenya, facilitates private sector investment in cool-logistics infrastructure.

The project encompasses various logistical aspects, including port facilities, transportation networks, and regulations. It aims to revolutionize fresh produce transportation which will benefit trade between Kenya and the Netherlands, while propelling Kenya’s agricultural sector forward.

The CS acknowledged Kenya and the Netherlands long-standing relationship built on trade, transport, and development cooperation with nearly half of Kenya’s flower exports already reaching the Netherlands and avocado exports rapidly increasing as well.

This cool-logistics collaboration promises to further strengthen ties between these two key gateways – Kenya to East Africa and the Netherlands to Europe.

The Mombasa-to-Malaba corridor prioritizes sustainability. Sea freight boasts a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to air freight – a 95% reduction in emissions.

Additionally, sea transport offers a more cost-effective solution. Developing this system will enhance Kenya’s competitiveness in the global market.

The MoU presents an exciting opportunity for the private sector, and along with other ongoing developments around the Port of Mombasa, like the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone, creating a favorable environment for such investments.

This private sector-led initiative empowers businesses to adapt their infrastructure to seamlessly integrate with the cool-logistics system.

Also Read

Tech-driven mechanization boosts Africa’s smallholder farmers

Britain bolsters trade and food security in Africa

Tech-driven mechanization boosts Africa’s smallholder farmers

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Tech-driven mechanization boosts Africa’s smallholder farmers

Heifer International, a global nonprofit working to end hunger and poverty through sustainable farming, recently released a report highlighting how tens of thousands of Africa’s smallholder farmers have seen their livelihoods transformed by a tech-driven mechanization initiative.

The report, titled Mechanization for Africa: Innovative Financing for Agricultural Transformation and Youth Job Creation, examines the role and benefits of agricultural innovation, mechanization, and catalytic financing in empowering smallholder farming communities in Africa, while creating new opportunities in agriculture for Africa’s youth population.

It showcases how Heifer’s support and investment in innovation and youth catalysed the expansion of an agritech initiative to power large scale affordable access to tractors for smallholder farmers.

The resultant increased mechanization spurred enhanced productivity, leading to improved livelihoods for smallholding farming communities across the pilot countries in Africa.

“Smallholder farmers are the backbone of Africa’s food systems, accounting for up to 80 per cent of food production in sub-Saharan Africa” said Adesuwa Ifedi, senior vice president of Africa programs at Heifer International.

“Equipping them with the right tools and resources, including appropriate and sustainable mechanization, is essential for increased productivity.

As this report shows, access to affordable tractors increased incomes of smallholder farmers by 227% within the beneficiaries’ pool, leading to not just enhanced productivity, but a plethora of critical transformational pathways — increased inclusion, an energised ecosystem, and job creation for Africa’s energetic youth” she notes.

Impact summary

Key findings of the report include the value of catalytic financing and partnerships to scale innovative agricultural solutions, as well as the effect of affordable mechanization on improved agricultural yields, labour efficiency, and household income for smallholder farmers.

The importance and advantage of incorporating local contexts, farmer needs, and gender equity into new technologies is also emphasized.

The report reveals that the initiative provided service to 21,048 smallholder farmers in need of mechanization services in the three pilot countries of Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda, as of December 2022.

A total of 104 farmers became tractor owners through a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) model. The project also created 368 direct jobs for youth serving as booking agents, tractor operators and technicians, and 784 indirect jobs across target communities.

Heifer – Hello Tractor Partnership

Heifer partnered with Hello Tractor to launch a PAYG tractor financing service to facilitate affordable tractor rental services to smallholder farmers via a tech platform that enables ease of access for beneficiaries, ease of monetization for tractor owners, and overall effective monitoring.

Hello Tractor is an agricultural technology company that connects tractor owners to smallholder farmers in need of tractor services. Hello Tractor works like the ride-hailing service, Uber, using Internet of Things (IoT) technology via the Hello Tractor app.

The Hello Tractor app is a marketplace that enables smallholder farmers’ access to equipment, while enhancing profitability for equipment owners and building technical capacity.

The app works by identifying and listing equipment owners looking to rent, recruiting booking agents and establishing them as links between equipment owners and farmers’ requests for equipment leasing.

This information available on the app also provides financiers with the data and ability to calculate returns and measure results.

The AYuTe Africa Challenge

Hello Tractor leveraged catalytic funding of US$1M from Heifer Africa’s Agriculture, Youth and Technology (AYuTe) Initiative to kickstart expansive operations.

The initiative is a catalyst for growth, combining grants with business development and ecosystem transformation initiatives to translate the energy and ideas of young African innovators into meaningful impact for African farmers.

One of the pillars of the AYuTe Africa Initiative is an annual Challenge that awards cash grants to promising young agritech innovators and firms across the continent — professionals who are using technology to reimagine farming and food production in Africa.

With the grant in place, Heifer Africa and Hello Tractor co-designed a mechanization program to ensure maximum impact and sustainability. Heifer provided additional funding of US$3.5 million in grant financing to pilot the model in three countries (Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda).

This grant financing further unlocked commercial capital of over US$7M for increased tractor penetration and ecosystem development.

“The partnership with Heifer and Hello Tractor was the first of its kind. By injecting capital at the base of the pyramid and empowering traditionally unbanked entrepreneurs to become tractor owners, we are driving economic growth and transforming livelihoods.

This investment has unlocked commercial capital for Hello Tractor and has contributed to the prosperity of our tractor owners and the thousands of smallholder farmers they serve every season,” said Jehiel Oliver, founder and CEO of Hello Tractor.

“The impact of this project, as shown in this report, has exceeded expectations; and we are happy to have catalysed the unlocking of commercial capital that Hello Tractor needs to scale this innovation,” said Ms Ifedi.

“We encourage stakeholders, including policymakers, development organisations, and the private sector to join us to promote responsible and inclusive agricultural mechanization in Africa.”

Heifer’s commitment to advancing sustainable food systems and food sovereignty in Africa through youth-led, gender-balanced initiatives integrating innovative finance and technology is poised for significant expansion through heightened partnerships, such as the Heifer/Hello Tractor PAYG mechanization program.

Drawing on its extensive global experience and five decades of dedicated work in Africa, Heifer remains committed to reinforcing existing collaborations and forging new ones, leveraging this collective strength to achieve scalable and sustainable impact across the continent.

The mechanization initiative is currently being scaled across other countries on the continent.

Also Read

FAO Food Price Index declines in December

Ensuring nutrition is at the heart of climate smart agriculture

NAMPO Harvest Day 2024 14—17 May 2024

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NAMPO Harvest Day 2024 14—17 May 2024

The growing number of exhibitors at the NAMPO Harvest Day agricultural Trade Show can be attributed to a number of factors.

Foremost is the positive sales reaction experienced at the Show. Another is the unique demonstration programme that allows interactive demonstrations on stands in addition to the static exhibits.

All known sectors of the agricultural input suppliers are represented. These range from tractor and implement manufacturers, the chemical industry, fertiliser companies and financial institutions to feed manufacturers, extension services as well as commercial sectors, agricultural cooperatives and utilities such as Eskom – the national electricity supplier.

Several other industries, not related to agriculture, exhibit their products albeit in limited numbers. Because of the diversified nature of summer grain farming, the livestock industry is very well represented.

In total 31 breeds of cattle, 10 breeds of sheep as well as 3 breeds of horses and 6 breeds of goats are exhibited.

Over the past few years, several international exhibitors from countries such as Australia, Sweden, the USA, Britain, Italy, Pakistan, Germany and Brazil have also participated in the show.

Exhibitors’ profile

All agricultural input suppliers, including agricultural machinery, irrigation, chemicals, transport, fertiliser and seed, extension services, commercial sectors, utilities, feed manufacturers, financial institutions and livestock breeders.

Product Profile

Tractors, agricultural machinery, commercial vehicles, irrigation equipment, pumps, generators, research organisations, financial services, banking and futures, transport equipment and materials handling, chemical products, feeding systems products and services, seeds, dairy equipment and products, pig, poultry, cattle and sheep equipment and services, hydroponics, artificial insemination equipment, services and products and IT technology for farming.

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FRUIT LOGISTICA offers exhibitors various chances to shine

Oman Agrofood: 2 to 4 December 2024

Britain bolsters trade and food security in Africa

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Britain bolsters trade and food security in Africa

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) and impact investor, today announced a US$ 100 million finance facility with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB).

The investment is designed to strengthen economic resilience in the region by supporting essential trade finance activities, fostering agricultural development and addressing critical challenges such as food insecurity.

The facility will empower TDB to provide financial support to local businesses and financial institutions in several key markets in Africa.

Many African economies are facing various economic challenges, including currency depreciation, rising inflation, debt challenges, and climate-related vulnerabilities, all exacerbated by global economic factors such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and post-COVID economic turbulence.

TDB will use the financing to fund trade transactions, including importing and exporting goods, commodities, and essential services across the region.

This allocation of capital is crucial for overcoming the barriers to trade in Africa, including the retreat of international correspondent banks from the continent, and addressing the substantial trade financing gap estimated at $80-120 billion.

With improved access to trade finance, businesses can engage more readily in import and export activities, facilitating increased cross-border trade, contributing to food security, and stimulating job creation, economic growth and resilience in Africa.

The financing will enable local companies to procure essential agricultural inputs, such as fertilisers, seeds, and machinery.

By facilitating access to these critical resources, the facility aims to enhance local production capabilities, increase agricultural productivity, support both export sectors stimulating forex generation and elevate the overall quality of food products.

This helps address immediate food security issues and increases the agricultural sector’s capacity, global competitiveness, and economic output.

In recent years, TDB has strengthened its collaboration with financial institutions, recognising them as essential partners to boost trade. This strategic partnership is vital to increasing the flow of goods and services, including through financial institutions.

The transaction builds on BII and TDB’s shared ambition of empowering critical segments of the economy, as well as the private sector including SMEs, which the institutions are committed to supporting to promote inclusive growth across the continent.

Andrew Mitchell, Minister for Development and Africa, said: “This investment underscores the UK government’s commitment to supporting economic and agricultural development across Africa by empowering businesses, stimulating trade, and increasing the flow of essential goods and services.

This funding will also help to lower trade barriers so that companies across the continent are better able to expand into overseas markets, access vital resources and tackle critical challenges such as food security.”

Ndaba Mpofu, Director and Head of Financial Services Debt at British International Investment,said: “Through this investment, BII is focusing its capital on offering strategic support to key financial institutions in countries we have a long-term commitment to.

This facility with TDB aligns with our core mission to address the financing gaps in areas that help empower local businesses to drive inclusive growth, boost trade flows, and strengthen economic resilience.”

Admassu Tadesse, TDB Group President and Managing Director, said: “TDB Group has been playing an important role in the trade finance space, often working countercyclically to contribute to the security of supply of essential commodities in high priority sectors such as agriculture and healthcare.

This is the fourth facility we are signing with BII and its predecessor. We are pleased to continue building this strategic partnership, and through this new facility, enhance efforts to address ongoing supply chains disruptions and forex shortages, and their impact on food security.”

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Goodyear Farm Tires creates Low Sidewall Technology centre in France

Symaga participates in Modern Food Security Project in Bangladesh

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Symaga participates in Modern Food Security Project in Bangladesh

Bangladesh, one of the most populated countries in the world, is experiencing strong economic and demographic growth demanding expansion of their agri-food industry supported by government projects food security.

Symaga is proud to have participated in Modern Food Security Project (MSP), led by the Bangladesh government, by manufacturing and delivering two silo installations of silos to the Danish company Cimbria.

One plant is located in the town of Naranyanganj reaching up to a number of 12 Silos SBHX1834/15 and the second one in Barisal, a city located in the Ganges delta with 16 silos SBHX1680/13.

The Government of Bangladesh has launched an innovative plan to build grain storage plants at several strategic locations. These plants will be equipped with a “Food Stock and Market Monitoring System”.

The objective is to supervise the food stock, as well as the transport and the overall market in order to reduce inefficiencies.

Bangladesh is a key country for Symaga, with 1.5 M m3 of built storage in 150 silos assembled in “The Lands of Rivers”. The country’s main agribusiness players such as City Group, A R Specialized, Auto Rice Mills, Akij, and Basundhara have relied on our industrial silos.

Symaga has participated in other projects in the Asian country as a port terminal for one of the large business groups in the country, Bashundhara LT and in a few weeks will start the assembly of the Chittagong terminal. Less recently we participated in several feed mills.

Food security projects in Bangladesh are emblematic for Symaga, as they strengthen the company’s corporate mission: helping to feed the world.

We look forward to continuing to contribute to this MFSP (Modern Food Security Project) by supplying silos for the upcoming grain storage plants.

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Goodyear Farm Tires creates Low Sidewall Technology centre in France

Goodyear Farm Tires creates Low Sidewall Technology centre in France

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Goodyear Farm Tires creates Low Sidewall Technology centre in France

Goodyear Farm Tires has created a new Low Sidewall Technology Development Centre in France to provide its UK and European distributors and customers with improved access to one of the most innovative products on the market.

The French HQ of Titan International – which re-introduced Goodyear Farm Tires to the European market in 2019 – will begin the manufacturing and customisation of wheels for the exclusive LSW wheel and tyre assemblies at the start of April.

The LSW assemblies have been a huge success for farmers across the world.  Operating at up to 40 per cent lower inflation pressures than standard tyres, they provide increased crop yield thanks to reduced soil compaction.

Featuring a larger rim diameter and smaller sidewall than a conventional tyre, the LSW possesses exceptional flotation properties enabling easier travel on wet soil as well as reduced power hop and greater stability which minimises road lope.

Previously, all production and assembly of LSW products took place in the USA but the move to a French base means they will now be delivered to European countries at a faster pace and with greater flexibility.

Lindsay Hart, European Sales Director for Goodyear Farm Tires, said: “This is a real game-changer for our LSW offering across Europe and it will bring huge benefits to distributors and farmers alike.

“The LSW is the centrepiece of the technological expertise and insight we deliver at Goodyear Farm Tires and we wanted to ensure that the European market had the best possible access to all the benefits it brings.

“We will now be in a position to supply the LSW products more quickly and efficiently. Dealers will be able to order the products in smaller quantities than they have been able to previously and with more flexibility in terms of the different wheel offsets required for the various applications.”

Of the LSW products available to European farmers, the most popular front and rear combinations are the 1100/45R46 and 1000/45R32, which can be used on a range of different tractors including a selection of John Deere, Case and New Holland models.

Scott Sloan, agricultural products manager for Goodyear Farm Tires, said the technology has been received extremely positively in multiple markets.

“LSW technology was developed to address the everyday issues that growers face and to eliminate those headaches,” he explained.

“The lower sidewall virtually eliminates road lope and also reduces the sidewall’s ability to buckle under high draft loads, dramatically reducing or eliminating the issue of power hop.”

Titan International has been manufacturing Goodyear Farm Tires in America for more than a decade and has supplied tyres specifically for the European market since 2019.

Also Africa 

Bayer pilots unique generative AI tool for agriculture

Simeza Silos to build one of the biggest hopper bottom silos in Europe

Bayer pilots unique generative AI tool for agriculture

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Bayer pilots unique generative AI tool for agriculture

Bayer has announced the pilot of an expert GenAI system to benefit farmers and up-level agronomists in their daily work.

The company has been using proprietary agronomic data to train a large language model (LLM) with years of internal data, insights from thousands of trials within its vast testing network, and centuries of aggregated experience from Bayer agronomists around the world.

The result is an expert system that quickly and accurately answers questions related to agronomy, farm management, and Bayer agricultural products. Instead of a time-consuming process, the intuitive system responds to natural language and can generate expert information within seconds.

Validated by agronomists, the pilot is already unlocking productivity for Bayer teams in the United States while significantly outperforming out-of-the-box LLMs currently serving the agricultural market.

The future benefit in comparison to today’s reality: A farmer asks their agronomic advisor a series of detailed questions about a product’s characteristics, performance under specific conditions, and application rates.

Today, the advisor searches online materials, sends text messages to colleagues, gathers information from multiple sources, and puts together a response, all while the farmer waits hours or days for urgently needed information.

Bayer’s expert GenAI system is changing the game, making better information more quickly and readily available.

“Our unique GenAI system has the potential serve agronomists and benefit farmers all over the world, further advancing AI as an indispensable technology for agriculture,” said Amanda McClerren, CIO and Head of Digital Transformation & Information Technology for Bayer’s Crop Science division.

“We’ll continue to use traditional AI to develop better products, and we’re also committed to harnessing new GenAI technology in a thoughtful way that augments and supports knowledgeable experts across the industry, bringing value to farmers and those who serve them.”

Developed in collaboration with Microsoft as leading technology partner and Ernst & Young (EY) as an industry partner, Bayer is exploring ways to integrate the expert GenAI system into its digital offerings, and the company anticipates broad opportunities for collaboration with other agricultural offerings and partners.

Designed as a global capability, the tool will benefit millions of smallholder farmers in the future by democratizing access to agronomic advice and product information critical to feeding communities and improving global food security.

“AI and automation are helping farms of all sizes produce more while using fewer natural resources, and we’re starting to see how they can enhance decision-making on almost any plot of land,” said Ranveer Chandra, Managing Director, Research for Industry & CTO, Agri-Food at Microsoft.

“With Bayer’s strengths in data science, digital, and especially agronomic expertise, we’re pleased to be contributing to an expert system that will make agronomic understanding more accessible and empower those responsible for feeding the planet.”

Bayer aims to expand the pilot of the expert GenAI system to selected agronomists and potentially farmers as early as this year, while continuing to advance a separate GenAI prototype allowing users to directly query their own farm data.

Because they also pull insights from closed data sets, these GenAI tools are unique for agriculture and will bring more meaningful value to farmers, agronomists and other industry users, compared to out-of-the-box LLMs that only use open-source data.

Advancing solutions to enable the ‘cloud-connected acre’

In addition to collaborating with Microsoft on the expert GenAI system, Bayer announced an update late last year on the companies’ strategic partnership to bring readymade capabilities, AgPowered Services, to the agri-food industry.

Making available a capability that was previously for internal use only, Bayer® Historical Weather brings a comprehensive weather dataset to Azure Data Manager for Agriculture that spans the last 40 years and provides detailed, field-level weather insights across global agricultural regions.

Integrating tools from IBM, including from the IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite, the new capability can inform weather risk assessments and actuary processes. It will also be used by Bayer and now others to forecast crop seasonality and production changes year over year, as well as train agronomic models.

Building on the commitment to provide machine data connectivity with leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Bayer is developing a connector that enables access to irrigation data from Lindsay Corporation, an industry-leading irrigation solution provider.

This expands the data types available to Azure Data Manager’s enterprise customers, making it possible for them to connect to irrigation data in the same seamless fashion as weather, imagery, OEM data, and other data types.

For technology providers, it brings down the cost of technical investment required to develop these tools. For farmers, it accelerates the development of digital tools that can help them monitor, measure, and control water usage in their fields.

The new cloud offerings will also support regulatory and sustainability reporting. For example, capabilities that provide supply chain traceability can help ensure compliance with new laws like the EU Deforestation Regulation, which is expected to go into effect at the end of 2024.

Bayer® Smart Boundary ID uses satellite imagery to detect the boundaries of a field, and automatically identifies the geographic area within a field where the seasonal farming activity took place. The solution can help commodity traders ensure regulatory compliance, as well as serve food companies and financial institutions who are looking to monitor growing progress.

“Whether you are a farmer using digital tools or a company that operates downstream, you need technologies that can help your business adapt to a changing landscape. With our AgPowered Services, we are making access to digital tools easy and convenient, benefiting the industry and driving innovation,”

said Jeremy Williams, Head of Digital Farming for Bayer’s Crop Science division. “There is both a tremendous opportunity and a pressing need for digital technology to better serve farmers and the industry, and we aim to achieve this by enabling the cloud-connected acre.”

Under industry preview, the cloud offerings from Bayer and Microsoft will make it possible for organizations to access readymade capabilities and build on top of a robust digital infrastructure, instead of developing from scratch.

This reduces time to market for new capabilities, delivering increased opportunities for farmers and value chain customers.

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Simeza Silos to build one of the biggest hopper bottom silos in Europe

Kenya’s Kakuzi offers free avocado testing as export begins

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