Bayer's digital platform reaches 22 million hectares mapped in Brazil

Climate FieldView, Bayer's digital agriculture platform, recorded a record reach in Brazilian crops last year and has become an increasingly relevant ally for farmers.

Between 2020 and 2021, the platform’s use in the country jumped from 12.8 million hectares monitored to 22 million hectares, an increase of 72%.

The area is equivalent to more than half of the hectares of soybeans planted in Brazil, the world's leading producer of the grain. Globally, platform monitoring increased by 20% compared to 2020, from 60 million hectares to 72 million hectares.

This growth maintains Climate FieldView as a leading digital agriculture platform and proves the willingness of farmers, especially Brazilians, to adopt innovative solutions in the field, according to Abdalah Novaes, Bayer's business leader for Latin America. “FieldView has proved to be an essential tool for rural producers' decision-making and is capable of adapting to the needs of each one of them. For this reason, the pace of growth of our platform, especially in Brazil, continues to accelerate,” he said.

Launched in the country in the 2017-2018 harvest, the platform has already helped Brazilian rural producers to save on the application of fertilizers and pesticides, optimize the use of natural resources and make more proactive decisions for different crops, from soybeans, corn and cotton, to other crops such as coffee, sugar cane and vegetables. Today, farmers in more than 20 countries enjoy the features and benefits of FieldView.

“Digital transformation is changing the way rural producers see their property, helping them to extract the maximum potential from the solutions they already use, such as biotechnologies and inputs, allowing them to manage operations more efficiently. FieldView, for example, has the exclusive and unique ability to capture the most important data from production, something that, in the end, allows the farmer to see value in the technology he has hired,” Novaes pointed out.

Climate FieldView's growth coincides with a time when factors such as adverse weather conditions and high costs associated with agricultural production demand greater efficiency in decision-making. Given this scenario, FieldView has enabled the rural producer to extract the greatest possible return from each investment made.

“With FieldView, farmers can integrate their data in one place, manage their operations more efficiently and maximize their productivity and profitability in a much more sustainable way. The tool also allows the producer to monitor every square meter of his property. In this way, the applications of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides are carried out with a more efficient distribution,” the executive said in conclusion.

Partnership with more than 10 startups

Founded in 2006, Climate FieldView was born as a meteorology startup that, over time, changed its business model and became a digital agriculture agtech. The company reached a valuation of U＄1 billion in 2013, becoming the first agri unicorn, and its growth was based not only on partnering with farmers but also with other startups. Since then, it has established strong connections to identify producers' pain and bring solutions to them. Today, there are already more than ten partner companies in Brazil alone with solutions integrated into the platform and the list should grow from 2022 onwards.

Together, Climate FieldView and all the startups now part of its partner portfolio seek to co-create and integrate agile solutions that make production smarter and more sustainable. “This is in line with Bayer's open innovation strategy, which includes establishing a relationship with startups, innovation hubs, universities and other entities, including the scientific community,” said Guilherme Belardo, responsible for Climate FieldView integrations.

FieldView recently announced a partnership with Leaf Agriculture, a data infrastructure company to further accelerate and facilitate this cross-platform integration process. With this initiative, it has been possible to further expand the range of connected startups, providing rural producers with a more efficient digital experience, with more agility and scale when integrating solutions.

Companies connected to FieldView have several services and products, such as maps and photos of drones, cost management and pest monitoring software, aerial spraying, among others. According to Belardo, the goal is to continue increasing the dialogue with startups and expand these integrations with other startups in Brazil and worldwide.

“It is increasingly difficult to innovate alone these days. Innovation is a collaborative process and that is why we have fostered, and acted through the open innovation model, establishing partnerships in search of innovative solutions to challenges and problems faced by the sector,” Belardo pointed out.