The global head of New Holland's Precision Land Management program is banking on a strategic partnership with Farmers Edge to provide customers with enhanced precision ag services in the cab.

The company announced earlier this month that it will be the exclusive OEM partner of Farmers Edge, a Canadian-based agriculture technology company.

Dan Halladay says the partnership will allow New Holland to offer services not currently available through its PLM Connect farm management program.

"They have a very, very powerful digital ag platform and something we see as a great asset to stand alongside New Holland Agriculture," Halladay says.

‘Smart' services
Farmers Edge has become well-known in the industry for its FarmCommand management platform and "Smart" suite of precision ag products, ranging from its SmartImagery service that offers daily satellite imagery of fields to its SmartVR program that offers zone or grid soil sampling, weather stations, enhanced technical support and variable-rate prescriptions.

Halladay says he is most excited about the company's imagery service, of which they are partnering with San Francisco-based Planet Labs.

"The imagery they are collecting is very up-to-date, which I think is very exciting," he says.

The Smart suite of products range anywhere from $1.50 an acre for SmartImagery to $3.50 an acre for SmartNutrient, which offers weather stations and flat-rate prescriptions, to $6 an acre for the premium SmartVR service.

All about choice
Halladay says the partnership with Farmers Edge is part of New Holland's strategy to partner with third-party companies on giving its customers more choices when it comes to farm management and precision ag products.

"The key that we always wanted was the choice element, allowing the customer flexibility without the confusion," he says. "This positions us quite differently from our key competitors."

He says the company will begin rolling out Farmers Edge products in North America early next year.  New Holland customers will be able to connect their current and legacy machinery fleets with CAN bus functionality to the Farmers Edge platform, according to a press release.

"I'm just excited," he says. "This is the fruits of plans we've had for a considerable amount of time now."