Deere to acquire Precision Planting; The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto, to gain connectivity to John Deere equipment

MOLINE, Ill. and SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) and The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON), have signed definitive agreements for Deere to acquire the Precision Planting LLC equipment business and to enable exclusive near real-time data connectivity between certain John Deere farm equipment and the Climate FieldViewTM platform. The agreements represent the industry's first and only near real-time in-cab wireless connection to John Deere equipment by a third party.

"To maximize the value of digital agriculture, farmers need solutions for simple and seamless collection of in-field agronomic data," said Mike Stern, president and chief operating officer for The Climate Corporation. "As a result of these milestone agreements, farmers will experience the fastest, most frequent and highest resolution third-party connectivity between John Deere's equipment and the Climate FieldView platform."

John May, president, agricultural solutions and chief information officer at Deere, said, "The agreements we are announcing allow John Deere to extend the range of retrofit options available from Precision Planting to many more products and into new geographies.

John Deere strengthens its position as the most open platform in the industry both in our equipment and the cloud-based data management solution known as the John Deere Operations Center."

Under the terms of the agreements, Deere will purchase Precision Planting while Climate will retain the digital agriculture portfolio that has been integrated into the Climate FieldView platform. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities to the extent required.

Stern said, "Our agreements enable farmers to combine the industry-leading technology of John Deere equipment with Climate FieldView, the platform that offers farmers the broadest equipment connectivity in the industry backed by data science. This connectivity allows farmers to collect and directly share data to the Climate cloud, enables data visualization in the cab and supports the development of customized data science-driven insights."

"This strategic acquisition expands the John Deere precision agriculture business and accelerates our momentum as a market leader," May said. "Strategic use of information is an important factor in successful agriculture. Today's actions demonstrate John Deere's ongoing investments to enhance the product and service solutions we offer our customers."

The companies said customers will have the option to share their current and historical agronomic data between the John Deere Operations Center and the Climate FieldView platform and seamlessly execute agronomic prescriptions with John Deere equipment.

About Deere & Company

Deere & Company is a world leader in providing advanced products and services and is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land – those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world's dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. Since 1837, John Deere has delivered innovative products of superior quality built on a tradition of integrity. For more information, visit www.JohnDeere.com.

About The Climate Corporation

The Climate Corporation, a division of Monsanto Company, aims to help farmers around the world improve their farming operations with uniquely powerful software and hardware. The company's proprietary Climate FieldView™ platform combines local weather monitoring, agronomic modeling, and high-resolution weather simulations to deliver Climate FieldView Prime™, Climate FieldView Plus™ and Climate FieldView Pro™, online and mobile solutions that help farmers improve profitability by making better informed operating decisions. The company's unique technologies help the global agriculture industry to stabilize and improve profits and, ultimately, help feed the world. For more information, please visit www.climate.com or follow the company on Twitter @climatecorp.

About Monsanto Company

Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad range of solutions to help nourish our growing world. We produce seeds for fruits, vegetables and key crops – such as corn, soybeans, and cotton – that help farmers have better harvests while using water and other important resources more efficiently. We work to find sustainable solutions for soil health, help farmers use data to improve farming practices and conserve natural resources, and provide crop protection products to minimize damage from pests and disease. Through programs and partnerships, we collaborate with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities and others to help tackle some of the world's biggest challenges. To learn more about Monsanto, our commitments and our more than 20,000 dedicated employees, please visit: discover.monsanto.com and monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter® at twitter.com/MonsantoCo, on the company blog, Beyond the Rows® at monsantoblog.com or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.

SOURCE Deere & Company

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