Reuters' Michael Hirtzer reports Walmart has set its sights on a new efficiency: sponsoring its own wheat fields.

"The aim is simple: use Wal-Mart's commercial muscle to get its Great Value-branded flour and wheat products from field to shelf more efficiently, using less carbon," he writes.

The company's involvement could have far reaching consequences, lowering costs and improving yields as wheat suppliers compete for the Bentonville behemoth's business, he says.

Tim Robinson, the company's senior buyer of baking commodities, told Hirtzer the company is likely to promote "precision farming."

The technique "uses satellite-guided planting to improve yields and no-till methods which proponents say reduce soil erosion and maintain land quality," Hirtzer writes.

Read Hirtzer's full report at Reuters.



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