EarthOptics’ proprietary sensor technology precisely measures the health and structure of soil through a combination of ground-based sensors, satellites, physical soil samples, machine learning models and agronomic expertise. Today the company announced a round of strategic investments from both existing and new investors. The US$27.6 million in funding, part of EarthOptics’ Series B investment round, was led by Conti Ventures – an investment team within Continental Grain Company. Rabo Food & Ag Innovation Fund (RFAIF), CNH Industrial, Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, and CHS and Growmark’s Cooperative Ventures join current EarthOptics investors Leaps by Bayer, FHB Ventures, S2G Ventures, iSelect Fund,…
Author: Matt Peskett
Matt Peskett
Matt has worked in digital publishing and media for over two decades across the science, technology, food and agricultural sectors. With a lifelong passion for growing his own food, Matt also produces 300kg giant pumpkins for exhibition and volunteers with the Royal Horticultural Society. He has a sizeable horticultural social media presence and has been a finalist in the Garden Media Guild's blog of the year and social media awards. Matt also dabbles in start-up investment with companies like Small Robot Company, Drone Ag and RootWave.
US firm Bloomfield Robotics develops AI-driven plant imaging technology for use in specialty crops. The company’s mission is to make every farm vehicle a continuous data collection platform that assesses the health and performance of every plant in the specialty crop space. This data can be used to provide plant-level insights for improved decision making by growers. This week investments in the company by Kubota Corporation and Oeneo Group SA have been announced. These investments will reinforce Bloomfield’s commitment to partner with leading players in its strategic markets. “Our partnerships with Kubota and Oeneo are examples of how we want…
With expertise in retrofitting existing farm machinery with autonomous systems, today US firm Sabanto, Inc. announced the availability of its autonomy kit for Kubota M5 tractors. Sabanto’s system retrofits onto existing machinery, allowing operators to turn tractors they already own into autonomous machines. The release of the Kubota M5 aftermarket autonomous system marks Sabanto’s first system availability to end users in North America. Systems for additional manufacturers and tractor models will be announced at a later date. “We are completely disrupting the way the industry views autonomous equipment, and we are bringing in partners who share our vision,” said Craig…
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted UK drone specialist AutoSpray Systems with the first ever Operational Authorisation for agricultural spraying. To date UK drone use has been strictly regulated by the CAA with take-off weight limited at 25kgs and a ban on the release of materials from the air. The new authorisation will see AutoSpray Systems utilising P40 and V40 UAVs from its Chinese partner XAG to spray British fields legally. Why use drones in agriculture? With increasingly variable changes in weather such as extreme rainfall events or long periods of drought, the structural viability of soil is…
In incubation for five years within Alphabet’s ‘X – Moonshot Factory’, Project Mineral is now an Alphabet company of its own. Its name? Well ‘Mineral’ of course. The new technology company will continue to build upon previous work in gathering high-res crop images, analysing plant growth variables and integrating external data sources to produce tangible outcomes for sustainable agriculture and maximum food production. Powered by solar panels, Mineral’s prototype plant rovers have been actively gathering data by roaming fields containing a range of crops including strawberries, salad crops, oats and barley. GPS software maps individual plants as high quality images…
Case IH and New Holland, global agricultural brands of CNH Industrial, have been busy picking up different awards recently, they recognise both good design and innovation. The Good Design Awards are organised by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and Metropolitan Arts Press Ltd. Four 2023 ASABE AE50 awards have also been given to Case IH and New Holland by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). The Good Design Awards The Good Design Awards recognise the most innovative and cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic designs produced around the world. The selection criteria are based on…
2023 sees a fresh batch of eight start-ups entering the Deere & Company Startup Collaborator program. Launched in 2019, the Startup Collaborator helps John Deere to enhance precision technology in its agriculture and construction equipment. Previous companies that have benefitted from the program include Bear Flag Robotics, a company acquired by John Deere in 2021 to support the company’s autonomous tractor solutions. In 2022, John Deere also invested in Hello Tractor, a program participant that connects tractor owners with smallholder farmers through a farm-equipment sharing app. “This year’s group shows the importance of connecting with the start-up community across a…
The start of a new year always brings us the CES 2023 technology show in Las Vegas, and there we have become accustomed to John Deere announcing ground-breaking (or could it be ground-saving) farming technology solutions. Readers will be interested to learn of more precision ag technology being developed by the agricultural machinery manufacturer, this time in the shape of ‘ExactShot’ – a new robotic seed planter. The technology will, the firm claims, reduce fertiliser application by up to 60%. Travelling at a speed of 10 miles per hour, ExactShot can sow 30 seeds per second, each of them coated in…
EOS SAT, the first agri-focused satellite constellation, began its space roll-out this week with EOS SAT-1 successfully placed into a low Earth orbit. Delivered by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, this first imaging satellite will make up one of seven small optical satellites in the total constellation. Together the group of satellites will assist agribusinesses in monitoring crop growth and detecting heat, cold, water stress, weed spread, pest attacks, and other issues threatening crops. Users of EOS SAT will be able to: Optimise their input use based on productivity and vegetation maps Test the effectiveness of new crop protection products or…
Lindsay Corporation‘s FieldNET® platform will be populated with high-resolution images from Ceres Imaging following a strategic partnership between the two technology firms. In a reciprocal arrangement, in-depth analytics and recommendations, powered by FieldNET data, will also be accessible within the Ceres Imaging platform. FieldNET enhances growers’ ability to remotely monitor, control, analyse and apply irrigation recommendations. The addition of Ceres’ imagery and access to its analytics platform will allow growers to monitor and adjust operations based on key indicators of crop performance such as emergence, canopy density, soil composition, water stress and nitrogen content. These indicators will provide valuable insights…
