Cue the wedding bells.
xFarm and Farm Technologies merged their digital ag platforms to become xFarm Technologies. The Italian company will offer artificial intelligence and Internet of Things solutions to their 80,000 farms and 1M hectares.
To help ease farmers into this new technology, the company is offering a “freemium” subscription for a “Spotify approach.” Farmers test it for free, build trust, and then can upgrade from there.
The new company will drive agriculture’s digital transformation with a 360-degree approach that includes:
- Farm management information systems
- Agronomic models & AI
- Training & education
- IoT sensors
- Big data & analytics for the supply chain
- Project management in digital transformation
The backstory: xFarm used a network of sensors to collect field data to bolster farmers’ decision-making and strategies. Farm Technologies provided a smart irrigation platform called Idroplan to help farmers pinpoint how often and how much water different crops needed.
Both companies’ products used data and algorithms to reduce wasted resources: both economic and natural.
The new company’s CEO, Matteo Vanotti, says they had worked together for the past few years, and this collaboration was the obvious next step. The combined platform allows farmers to pick a seat, not a side for a fast, better product.