The planter market is competitive, but the Department of Justice recently ruled a proposed purchase would crimp that competition. Now one party in that transaction is moving to keep the industry competitive.

John Deere announced it will provide Ag Leader with the technologies and licenses needed to manufacture and sell the Precision Planting Speedtube and related tech, including vSet, vDrive and DeltaForce. The deal can only occur if Deere's proposed purchase of Precision Planting from Climate Corp. is completed.

COMPETITIVE DECISION: If John Deere's acquisition of Precision Planting is approved, key Precision Planting products - SpeedTube, vSet (shown), and DeltaForce - will be made and sold by Ag Leader as part of a new agreement.

As part of the deal, Ag Leader would also be able to further develop the products and continue delivering innovative solutions for precision agriculture. If Deere gets Precision Planting, even though it would pass on these products to Ag Leader, it would retain other software and tech currently available from Precision Planting, and future products from that acquisition.

In its release, Deere says the move "further enhances competition and innovation in the market and expands customers' choices for planting equipment, whether they are buying new machinery or retrofitting older planting equipment made by various manufacturers."

The move is aimed to expand competition in the market - a key point of contention for the Department of Justice. As part of the deal, Ag Leader can sell Precision Planting products using the current names that farmers have come to trust. And Ag Leader remains a completely independent competitor to Deere and Precision Planting.

Ag Leader will integrate these Precision Planting products with existing SeedCommand planting technology and its InCommand displays. The company reports that it intends to build on this technology to deliver future planting equipment innovations that support faster planting speeds. Ag Leader issued its own release regarding the transaction, quoting Al Myers, president: "Ag Leader is continuously looking for opportunities to expand our already impressive line of precision farming technologies. When this prospect arose, we knew it was worth looking into for our customers and dealers, as high-speed planting is an emerging precision agriculture technology."

In November 2015, Deere signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Precision Planting, LLC equipment business. In August, the U.S. Department of Justice challenged the transaction, delaying its completion, and Deere has announced it would contest that decision.

Source: John Deere, Precision Planting