Editor’s note: Agtech Seedlings is a weekly roundup of the latest in agriculture technology news, digging into venture funding, product announcements and other innovation milestones. Have news to share? Email us here.
Bayer to offer AI adapted for agriculture in Microsoft collaboration
Crop sciences and pharmaceutical giant Bayer is working with Microsoft to offer artificial intelligence models fine-tuned for agriculture
The offering is part of a Microsoft effort to provide more industry-specific AIoptions using data from some of the largest businesses in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing and financial services. Bayer and other business partners list and monetize these models on Microsoft’s online catalog, which can be used by other companies to make customer service chatbots or enhance decision-making in factories and farm fields.
Those using Bayer’s models can tap into a trove of company data to answer questions about how to best grow crops. Microsoft said Bayer’s model “stands out” due to its “scalability to farm operations of all types and sizes and customization capabilities that allow organizations to adapt the model to regional and crop-specific requirements.”
Ferrero invests to reduce herbicide use in hazelnut farming
Nutella maker Ferrero awarded $340,000 in research grants to study disease resistance and ways to reduce herbicide use in hazelnut farming.
The company’s Ferrero Hazelnut Company division gave $180,000 to Oregon State University to support research into slashing herbicide use through biological control of invasive species, diseases and fungi. Ferrero recently doubled its sourcing from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and awarded more than $760,000 to OSU agriculture programs.
Ferrero also gave $160,000 to Rutgers University in New Jersey as part of a long-term disease study researching the development of hazelnut varieties resistant to Eastern filbert blight. EFB has been a significant roadblock to establishing hazelnut orchards outside of the Pacific Northwest. The fungus eventually reached its way to Washington and Oregon in the 1960s, and has challenged growers ever since.
“With Ferrero’s generous support, our program is helping to unlock hazelnut production in eastern North America while providing a means to combat this disease if it spreads to new regions of the world,” Thomas Molnar, associate professor at Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, said in a statement.
FarmQA acquires digital scouting tool Farm Dog
FarmQA, a provider of crop monitoring and soil sampling tools, said it acquired competitor Farm Dog, a digital platform for farmers’ field scouting records.
The purchase bolsters FarmQA’s customer base and agronomy capabilities, according to a statement. The deal will also allow Farm Dog owner Deveron to focus on its core mission of soil science and testing.
FarmQA has expanded its managed acreage to over 30 million acres from 2.7 million at the end of 2021. Founded in 2015, the platform allows farmers to get a “comprehensive overview of their operations, including field information, crop scouting reports, weather data, spray records, satellite imagery, and more,” according to the company’s website.
“The acquisition of Farm Dog’s innovative data technology is a transformative step in further enhancing FarmQA’s position as a leader in the ag tech market,” Kris Poulson, CEO of FarmQA, said in a statement. “This strategic move strengthens our ability to provide agriculture professionals, including agronomists and growers, with precision tools and actionable insights that span the entire crop production cycle.”