Deere Seeks Satellite Network to Connect Far-Flung Farms

Farmers require Wi-Fi to use tractor maker’s data services, automated equipment

By Bob Tita | May 1, 2023 6:00 am ET | The Wall Street Journal

Deere’s technology was on display at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year. PHOTO: PATRICK T. FALLON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

To raise more crops from the earth, tractor maker Deere & Co. is looking to space.

The farm-equipment company wants to use satellites to connect farms in remote areas of Brazil and the U.S. as the company rolls out high-tech machinery and software designed to sow and harvest crops more quickly, and with less manpower.

Deere, which had $52.5 billion in revenue last year, wants to generate 10% of its annual revenue by the end of the decade from software fees for using driverless tractors, smart crop sprayers and other enhancements for its farm and construction equipment.

The Moline, Ill.-based company last year started offering driverless tractors for plowing fields, and sprayers that distinguish weeds from crops. Deere this year introduced precision fertilizing capabilities on its seed planters, which the company said reduces by 60% the amount of starter fertilizer sprayed during planting.

To provide driverless tractors and keep smart sprayers updated, executives said Deere needs widespread connectivity, often in some of the most remote, rural parts of countries.

“The areas that aren’t covered are where a lot of our customers are doing their work,” said Jonny Spendlove, Deere’s senior program manager for connectivity. (Continue to The Wall Street Journal for the full article)