John Deere partners with Aussie precision ag leader

Date: 02.06.2023

PCT Agcloud is excited to have the opportunity to be a global partner with John Deere to help farmers and their trusted advisors get more from their data

A new allied agreement between John Deere and Australian precision agriculture leader PCT looks set to help revolutionise in-field data analysis for grain, corn, soybean, and cotton farmers in North America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Under the agreement, farmers will have the ability to take data from John Deere Operations CenterTM and seamlessly share it with PCT Agcloud, providing further automated insights into protein and yield for grain growers, and bale quality and yield for cotton producers.

The agreement gives John Deere customers access to PCT Agcloud advanced analysis tools, Protein Pro and Linked Cotton, through their local John Deere dealer. This formalises and expands the relationship which John Deere has shared with PCT Agcloud locally for several years.

John Deere Australia and New Zealand Production Systems Manager, Ben Kelly, said the relationship would automate the delivery of key insights to grain and cotton producers that can be acted upon quickly – to generate real outcomes in the field.

"I think it’s really exciting to see a local Australian agtech business partnering with a global agriculture leader to deliver solutions that are customer-driven,"
Ben says.

"Our global ambition is to improve profitability and sustainability for farmers and this agreement delivers on that by providing more automated insights growers can use to inform their management decisions and action in the field.

"This partnership works so well because John Deere has developed really accurate and reliable sensors on our equipment to collect data and PCT Agcloud offers precise and advanced analysis tools."

More protein data means greater sustainability, reduced costs

For customers who have purchased a HarvestLab™ 3000 Protein Sensor, PCT Agcloud’s Protein Pro uses protein and yield data to create a nitrogen removal map in Operations Center. Growers and agronomists can then create prescription maps for nitrogen or other nutrients as well as manage protein and yield to match soil capability in future seasons.

Ben says protein data offered customers a significant opportunity to maximise profitability and minimise environmental impacts.

"Nitrogen costs have increased markedly for farmers over the past few years and is also one of the highest contributors to on-farm emissions, so this partnership will help customers optimise nitrogen to maximise crop potential and profits, while also being more sustainable with their nitrogen use."

Making data solutions more widely accessible

PCT Agcloud general manager, Andrew Smart, says his company had been continuously developing advanced analytics and solutions for Australian John Deere dealers and early adopter farmers for more than 10 years, with a focus on making the technology easier to use.

He says the partnership with John Deere would now make these solutions more widely accessible to all growers, via Operations Center.

"PCT Agcloud is excited to have the opportunity to be a global partner with John Deere to help farmers and their trusted advisors get more from their data.

"We see automated insights as an important part of day-to-day decision making, and our job is to develop localised data sets and insights for each customer to create their ‘special sauce’."

Customers own their data

Customers will remain in full control of their data, as has always been the case for John Deere.

"Our philosophy has always been that the customer remains in full control of their data and information," Ben says.

"We also understand that in modern farming operations, farmers often need to share data with other business partners and trusted advisors and so have offered the ability for this information to be shared, but only if the customer approves it.

"John Deere’s vision is that our customers are the most profitable and sustainable in the world, and this agreement brings us one step closer to this vision." 

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