Abstract
Farming is going digital. Software, equipment, and agricultural chemical firms are spending billions of dollars to develop digital tools such as in-soil environmental sensors and aerial imaging systems so farmers can capture data and use it to boost crop yields. The combination of digital tools with robotic farm vehicles could greatly change the way fertilizers and pesticides are applied. Agrochemical firms fear losing control of how farmers apply crop chemicals and are responding by partnering with developers of software and hardware to digitize agriculture the way they want. But digital agriculture is proving to be a tough business. While agriculture firms have been making some large acquisitions in the digital space—such as Monsanto’s nearly $1 billion acquisition of weather data analyzer Climate Corp.—many digital farming technologies have failed to generate the financial returns expected. Despite the risks, the big German chemical maker BASF expects digital agriculture technology to increase profits
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
