John Deere buys startup that uses AI to kill weeds Tractor maker Deere & Co. has just acquired a Sunnyvale-based artificial startup that has built robots that can identify unwanted plants in fields of crops and eliminate them with herbicide. Deere said it spent $305 million to acquire Blue River Technology.(SiliconANGLE)
John Deere drives into SF looking for farm-tech engineers John Deere, the Illinois farm-machine company, may seem like a surprising presence near the San Francisco office towers of software giants like Salesforce and LinkedIn. Deere’s San Francisco outpost opened in May, and this month the company made its first big move to beef it up, agreeing to pay $305 million to buy Blue River Technology, a Sunnyvale startup developing farm equipment using computers and robotics to automatically detect every single plant on a farm. (Portland Tribune)
BUSINESS EARNINGS Deere Lowers Profit, Equipment-Sales Guidance Export-market access and commodities demand ‘are causing farmers to become much more cautious about making major purchases’ A child tries out a John Deere tractor at a fair in South Bend, Ind., last month. PHOTO: MICHAEL CATERINA/ASSOCIATED PRESS By Allison Prang Updated May 17, 2019 6:58 a.m. ET Deere DE -5.17% & Co. lowered its guidance for profit and equipment sales for the current fiscal year as its farming customers continue to face headwinds in the agriculture industry and remain concerned about trade disputes. Deere said Friday it expects about $3.3 billion in profit and about a 5% increase in equipment sales. Deere guided in February it would generate about $3.6 billion in profit and for equipment sales to rise 7% from the prior year. “Ongoing concerns about export-market access, near-term demand for commodities such as soybeans, and a delayed planting season in much of North America are causing farmers to become much more cautious about making major purchases,” Chief Executive Samuel Allen said in prepared remarks, adding that “overall economic conditions remain positive.” READ MORE U.S. Farmers, Wanting a Trade Deal, Brace for Aid Package They Fear Will Fall Short Farmers Plow Through Netflix While Plowing Fields Canadian Soybeans Come Under Heavier Chinese Scrutiny After Missouri River Flooding, Thousands Cut Off by Closed Bridges Shares fell 3.8% in premarket trading. Profit declined 6% to $1.14 billion, or $3.52 a share, in the company’s second quarter, which ended in late April, from the comparable quarter a year earlier. Analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting $3.59 a share. For the most recent fiscal second quarter, Deere’s income-tax expenses nearly doubled from a year ago. Net sales of equipment rose 5.4% to $10.27 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting $10.19 billion. Deere’s customers are facing both effects from tariffs and the slump in the agriculture industry. This month President Trump announced plans to increase tariffs on billions of dollars in Chinese products, and days later, China said it would increase tariffs on billions in U.S. goods. JPMorgan this week said there were “rapidly deteriorating fundamentals” in the agriculture industry in the U.S. and downgraded its rating on Deere and lowered its target stock price on the company. Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com
"Uber of tractors" John Deere has struck a deal with Hello Tractor, a Nigerian startup that allow farmers to hail tractors with an app. Deere is testing Hello Tractor's technology on its vehicles in Ghana and Kenya, and is targeting a rollout across Africa in the second half of the year. The idea is to connect small-scale farmers, who cannot afford the outlay for a tractor, with the vehicles' owners. Reuters