Trimble to acquire AGRI-TREND

Trimble recently announced that it will acquire the assets of privately held AGRI-TREND® of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, which operates the largest network of independent agricultural consultants in North America. The acquisition will enable Trimble to provide agronomists and other crop advisors with a stronger set of brand-agnostic tools they can use to advise growers on how to better manage their operations. The combination of AGRI-TREND's experience in agronomy, grain marketing, farm business and data management together with Trimble's experience in precision agriculture will further empower growers to gain efficiencies throughout the entire farming cycle. The acquisition is expected to close in November 2015. Financial terms were not disclosed.

AGRI-TREND's network of over 200 specialists spread throughout the U.S. and Canada includes over 110 independent "coaches" specializing in agronomy, precision farming, crop marketing and farm business management. Coaches are supported by a team of science specialists comprised of over 30 Ph.D.'s and M.Sc.'s providing in-house research, training and insight support for both the coaching network and the AGRI-DATA® Solution platform--a proprietary farm data management solution. As a result, AGRI-TREND's solutions enable growers to make informed business decisions that better allocate scarce resources to produce safe and environmentally sustainable food.

"Trimble's acquisition of AGRI-TREND is another step towards total farm management for the grower. Together with Connected Farm, we will provide growers and their trusted advisors with a combined offering that is unique in the marketplace today," said Joe Denniston, vice president for Trimble's Agriculture Division. "AGRI-TREND is a leader in providing expert advice and decision support for growing crops, marketing commodities and managing a farm's finances. Trimble is a leader in precision agriculture technology that precisely applies those decisions whether it is seed, nutrients or water. Together, Trimble and AGRI-TREND will enable the integration of decisions and execution to give greater control over the outcome, resulting in maximized productivity for the grower."

"AGRI-TREND has been working side by side with farmers for over 17 years. With the strength that Trimble provides, we aim to help even more farmers as the move to precision agriculture continues to gain momentum globally," said Rob Saik, founder of AGRI-TREND. "The combination of our advanced agricultural technical expertise and Trimble's exceptional precision agriculture tools provides us with a platform that will support production practices that are sustainable both from an environmental and financial perspective for today's farmers. We're excited to be a part of the future of agriculture, and we're pleased to work with the great people at Trimble."