A Deere in satellites

Illustration: Dianna “Mick” McDougall, Photo: John Deere

From soil to sky, the agricultural industry has largely embraced the digital revolution. Ag companies have integrated drones, machine learning, AI, and automation into their everyday operations, all with the aim of helping farmers save time, money, and labor. Look up: Soon, you may be able to add satellites to the list. John Deere, which has previously debuted tech like self-driving tractors, crop-spraying drones, and weed-identifying sprayers, said in January that it was “finalizing a satellite partner” in an effort to create geospatial maps to help analyze crop growth and bring connectivity to remote and rural farmers. The push to connect farmers comes as Deere looks to digitize its revenue sources—last year, it set a goal to get 10% of its revenue from software subscription fees by 2030. The company currently offers its customers free connectivity services through its JDLink platform. Deere spokesperson Sara Fazli said in an email that it’s “still working through the details of what SatCom-enabled connectivity will look like.” Look ahead: As farm equipment becomes smarter—decked out with sensors and layered with AI—connectivity will become more important to growing operations, Scott Duncan, partner and head of Americas Agribusiness practice at Bain & Company, told us.