Deere & Company has an agreement to buy Blue River Technology, a leader in applying machine learning to agriculture.
Deere said it will invest $305 million to fully acquire Blue River Technology, based in Sunnyvale, California.
Deere plans to have the 60-person firm remain in Sunnyvale with an objective to continue its rapid growth and innovation with the same entrepreneurial spirit that has led to its success. The transaction is expected to close in September, Deere said in a news release.
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Blue River Technology has applied machine learning to agricultural spraying equipment and Deere is confident that similar technology can be used in the future on a wider range of products, said John May, president, agricultural solutions and chief information officer at Deere.
Blue River has designed and integrated computer vision and machine learning technology that will enable growers to reduce the use of herbicides by spraying only where weeds are present, optimizing the use of inputs in farming .
“Blue River is advancing precision agriculture by moving farm management decisions from the field level to the plant level,” said Jorge Heraud, co-founder and CEO of Blue River Technology. “We are using computer vision, robotics, and machine learning to help smart machines detect, identify, and make management decisions about every single plant in the field.”
Blue River Technology this year was listed among Inc. Magazine’s 25 Most Disruptive Companies, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, CB Insights 100 Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Companies in the World, and the Top 50 Agricultural Innovations by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
