Monsanto, DuPont Pursue Soil Deals

The two biggest U.S. seed companies are pushing deeper into the chemistry of soil, separately striking deals to expand data-driven analysis of dirt for farmers.

Monsanto recently agreed to acquire the soil-analysis business of Solum, Inc., a software and soil-testing company. DuPont recently joined with with the University of Missouri and the U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA) to develop more-detailed readings of the soil content in farmers' fields.

The moves come as big seed companies push to add technology tools to expand the range of services they sell to farmers, ranging from seed selection to fertilizer use and even choosing the best time to harvest crops. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, Mo., has projected that such data-science tools can help farmers raise an additional $20 billion worth of crops beyond what is possible today.

"Monsanto and DuPont and others are realizing that unless you solve all the parts of the equation together, you can't drive the right results," said Sid Gorham, who led Solum as chief executive and will continue as CEO of Granular Inc., previously one-half of Solum, and which is developing cloud-based business software aimed at farmers.

DuPont's three-year, exclusive partnership with the University of Missouri and the USDA will combine USDA soil-mapping functions with the university's soil-science expertise and DuPont's crop-modeling technology to produce a "higher resolution" view of soil conditions for farmers, according to Joe Foresman, director of services for DuPont's seed division.

DuPont, based in Wilmington, Del., plans to integrate the new information on soil conditions into its line of data services, which will help farmers better manage the way they use fertilizer, irrigation and other farm products, he said. "With commodity prices softening a bit, farmers are scrutinizing those (costs)," Mr. Foresman said.

Monsanto's acquisition of the Solum soil business adds an Ames-Iowa-based soil-testing lab that Mr. Gorham said is unique in the industry, because it can analyze dirt in its original state, compared to other labs that first bake the soil and then grind it to make it easier to test. Solum also has developed a soil-testing tool that farmers can use to take readings on nitrogen content in their fields, to help decide how much of that fertilizer to apply.

David Friedberg, head of Monsanto's Climate Corp. division, said that the added soil tools will help Monsanto provide more-specific advice to farmers as part of the company's expanding data-services business. Monsanto in November acquired Climate, which Mr. Friedberg led as CEO, for $930 million.

"Essentially, with more accurate and consistent data inputs, the insights and recommendations we provide for farmers can be more precisely customized to their fields, helping them make better decisions for their farms," Mr. Friedberg said.

Granular, which will continue to develop its agricultural business-management software in San Francisco, separately secured $4.2 million in financing from Silicon Valley investment firms Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures.