The Climate Corporation to create industry’s first in-field sensor network to feed its analytics platform and to build first centralized platform for industry-wide digital Ag technology development

Date:11-28-2016

Yesterday, The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto Company, announced an unprecedented advancement in digital agriculture: the development of the industry’s first in-field sensor network, including a groundbreaking soil nitrate sensor, that will feed into the agronomic models in the company’s Climate FieldView™ platform. Climate’s new sensor network will create a true digital ag ecosystem to support the important agronomic decisions farmers make each season to protect and increase yield.

To encourage additional advancements in agriculture and enable a faster path to market for digital ag innovations, Climate also announced it will extend its software infrastructure to enable other innovators to build upon and provide additional data layers into its industry-leading platform.

“Our platform extension marks an evolutionary step forward for agriculture technology, representing the industry’s first centralized platform for diverse technology development from other companies,” said Mark Young, chief technology officer for The Climate Corporation. “The extension of our platform goes beyond the cloud-to-cloud data transfer agreements we’ve made with many industry collaborators. By welcoming other ag innovators to contribute to and build upon our platform, we’re helping simplify the complex digital ag landscape for farmers and making it easier for other ag innovators to bring valuable new technologies to farmers faster.”

Climate’s first platform partner is Veris Technologies, which manufactures and markets the world’s first high-resolution, on-the-go soil sensing technology that produces precise maps of soil texture, organic matter and pH. This unique technology is designed to help farmers improve profitability by accurately mapping soil variability across their fields.

“We’re excited to incorporate the high-resolution soil maps from Veris as a new data layer for our agronomic models in the Climate FieldView platform,” said Young. “The addition of this valuable soil information will enable our models to provide insights for farmers that are even more customized to their unique fields.”

The extension of the platform is enabled by Climate’s latest science innovation to develop the first in-field sensor network, currently in early testing. “Our sensor network will collect an unprecedented amount of field data, at a more frequent and granular level, to drive insights that can help farmers unlock untapped yield potential,” said Sam Eathington, chief scientist for The Climate Corporation. “We’ve made significant advancements to help farmers connect data from their equipment to Climate FieldView. With in-field sensors, we’ll be connecting the field the same way we’ve connected the cab. Ultimately, we will incorporate many types of sensors to turn fields into living data systems that integrate into the Climate FieldView platform.”

Climate’s sensor network includes the industry’s first in-field nitrate sensor that can support farmers’ efforts to manage the application of nitrogen to enhance efficiency and maximize yield. Recently, the company purchased SupraSensor Enterprises and acquired rights to this unique nitrate sensor technology. Other sensors in Climate’s research pipeline include precipitation, equipment-mounted sensors, and additional soil sensors.

“Having the ability to connect all of my farm data into one platform, whether the data comes from my equipment, field management practices or new sensor technologies, is really important for me because I’m able to quickly analyze the information in real-time and derive more precise insights from the Climate FieldView tools I use on my operation,” said farmer Tim Malterer of Janesville, Minn. “Additionally, I think the extension of the Climate FieldView platform to other companies is great because it will give me a convenient, central spot to access the latest technologies on the market.”

Climate’s digital ag ecosystem and platform extension enhance the innovation of Climate FieldView tools, which include: Climate FieldView™ Pro, providing customized, field-level agronomic insights powered by data science; Climate FieldView™ Plus, providing seamless data integration and visualization; and Climate FieldView™ Prime, providing field-level weather, notifications and scouting.