Climate Corp., John Deere cancel deal for Precision Planting

SAN FRANCISCO — The Climate Corporation, a subsidiary of Monsanto Company, has terminated its agreement with Deere & Company for the acquisition of the Precision Planting LLC equipment business. The announcement was made May 1.

The agreement was announced in November 2015, and closing has been delayed by Department of Justice concerns with the transaction. Climate Corporation officials said the company still intends to sell the Precision Planting equipment business and have spoken with several third parties that have expressed interest in purchasing it.

John Deere also announced their termination of the Digital Ag Connectivity agreement with The Climate Corporation. The termination of this agreement will have no impact on existing Climate FieldView customers who currently use John Deere’s Wireless Data Server technology to stream data into their account.

The Climate Corporation remains focused on its digital agriculture platform that enables field data collection from multiple equipment types and software systems into its Climate FieldView platform.

Climate FieldView also will retain connectivity with Precision Planting’s industry leading 20/20 SeedSense monitor, regardless of the planned sale of the business.

In addition to equipment connectivity, Climate has agreements in place that enable data transfer from more than 80 percent of the top retailers across the Corn Belt into the Climate FieldView platform.