Farm Progress

Company to combine three programs into a single suite of products to serve farmers, advisers, retailers and food processors.

Willie Vogt

November 8, 2016

3 Min Read

Capturing and using precision ag data is becoming big business, but for farmers it can be confusing. Often you're working with two or three or more systems, that often don't talk to each other. Companies are working on ways to solve that problem, and one market player has announced a major move on that score.

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Trimble is merging three popular programs - ConnectedFarm, Farm Works and Agri-Data solutions - into a single application called Trimble Ag Software. The move is aimed at providing farmers, retailers, advisers and food processors, with a single place to pull in information and help make decisions for the farm. Trimble has long held a key position in precision ag with its GPS positioning and auto-steering products, but it has also been working on a range of other tools.

Trimble's position in agriculture may be under the radar for many readers. The company lays claim to working with more than 64,000 customers worldwide with 250,000 displays in the field operating on a daily basis. In addition, those displays are capturing and helping actively manage more than 120 million acres globally. "No other company is representing 120 million acres on their platform," Darryl Matthews, sector vice president, Natural Resources, Trimble, said during a media conference announcing the ag market move.

Matthews notes that farmers adopting precision ag technology are looking for a coordinated solution that pulls together different parts of the operation. "They want precision ag tech that communicates the work across the ecosystem, and we're launching that platform today," he said.

Ben Allen, enterprise solution lead, Trimble Agriculture, explained that in one platform farmers will have the three farm information management systems pulled into one farmer-oriented platform. "This tool is heavily mobile enabled, and will allow the farmer to have tech integration, doing all he needs to do in a single platform," he said.

According to Allen with Trimble Ag Software the farmer can get information, connect with equipment, check weather, analyze soil samples, review crop scouting data, interact with advisers and look at actual maps and as-applied maps. And you will be able to do that all from your phone. "This software is deep and wide, and you can do that all in one platform," he noted.

For the multi-brand farm user, Trimble has worked through the relationships with the major equipment manufacturers so they can do full data sharing with companies including John Deere, Case IH, New Holland, and Agco, Allen said.

The system reaches beyond the farmer with new tools for advisers, retailers and even food processors all with base level, mobile-enabled tools they can use in a single platform.

The single ag platform will be supported by the Trimble Vantage distribution network. For farmers this will be a subscription service – using the 'software as a service' model. It will be an annual subscription based on equipment and connections. Pricing is available on the website, the Farmer Pro services will be priced at $1,788 per year. That price point - about $144/month - is targeted to be lower than the average farm's cell phone bill, Allen says. Learn more at agriculture.trimble.com/software.

According to Allen, this data-intensive service is set up so farmers own their data and control its use. The privacy statement is online. The company may aggregate data in the future, but only for software improvement, Allen explained. Trimble has no plans to monetize aggregated data no or in the future.

About the Author(s)

Willie Vogt

Willie Vogt has been covering agricultural technology for more than 40 years, with most of that time as editorial director for Farm Progress. He is passionate about helping farmers better understand how technology can help them succeed, when appropriately applied.

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