MOLINE, Ill. — Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) has reached an agreement to enable Ag Leader, a precision agriculture competitor, to offer products currently sold by Precision Planting. The agreement is contingent on Deere completing the acquisition of Precision Planting from The Climate Corp., a subsidiary of Monsanto Co.

The agreement will provide Ag Leader the technologies and licenses necessary to manufacture and sell the Precision Planting SpeedTube and related technology, including vSet, vDrive, and DeltaForce, once the acquisition of Precision Planting is completed. The agreement enables Ag Leader to further develop these products and continue delivering innovative solutions for precision agriculture.

It also further enhances competition and innovation in the market and expands customers' choices for planting equipment, whether they are buying new machinery or retrofitting older planting equipment made by various manufacturers with the latest innovations in planting technology.

The agreement will expand competition and the availability of various planting solutions as Ag Leader will be allowed to sell Precision Planting products using the current names that farmers have come to trust. Importantly, Ag Leader remains a completely independent competitor to Deere and Precision Planting.

In November 2015, Deere signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Precision Planting LLC equipment business. In August, the U.S. Department of Justice challenged the transaction, delaying its completion, and Deere announced it would contest the DOJ action.

For generations, Deere has helped American farmers successfully compete globally. The proposed acquisition would accelerate the development of new precision equipment solutions to help farmers improve productivity and increase yields to help feed a growing global population. 

Deere anticipates Ag Leader will sell Precision Planting components to retrofit Deere and other brands of planters and will provide a separate and competitive source of supply for OEM planter manufacturers that choose to equip their products with Precision Planting components.

SOURCE: Deere & Co.