Missouri-based Monsanto Launching New Digital Farming Platform

• August 17, 2016

Missouri-based Monsanto Co.’s Climate Corp. unit has completed development on a new in-field sensor network, which includes an industry first soil nitrate sensor, and plans to expand its software infrastructure to allow other companies to build on the platform encouraging future innovations.

“Our platform extension marks an evolutionary step forward for agriculture technology, representing the industry’s first centralized platform for diverse technology development from other companies,” said Mark Young, Climate Corp.’s chief technology officer. “The extension of our platform goes beyond the cloud-to-cloud data transfer agreements we’ve made with many industry collaborators. By welcoming other ag innovators to contribute to and build upon our platform, we’re helping simplify the complex digital ag landscape for farmers and making it easier for other ag innovators to bring valuable new technologies to farmers faster.”

Also in the company’s research pipeline are precipitation, equipment-mounted and additional soil sensors, that will turn fields into “living data systems” that integrate with the new platform.

The use of drones, satellites and data is transforming farming as we know it. Missouri companies, like Monsanto, are leading the way in investment and innovation in advanced farming. In Missouri, the future of agtech is happening today. Big data, smart farming, input optimization, precision ag, biologicals, breeding, green chemistry, green pharmaceuticals … it’s all growing right here.