Trimble will acquire the assets of privately held, Alberta-based Agri-Trend, which operates the largest network of independent agricultural consultants in North America. The acquisition will enable Trimble to provide agronomists and other crop advisors with a stronger set of brand-agnostic tools they can use to advise growers on how to better manage their respective operations. The combination of Agri-Trend’s experience in grain marketing, agronomy, farm business and data management with Trimble’s experience in precision agriculture will seek to further empower growers to gain efficiencies across the entire farming cycle. The acquisition is expected to close later this month. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Agri-Trend’s has a network of over 200 specialists spread throughout the U.S. and Canada. That network includes over 110 independent coaches specializing in agronomy, precision farming, crop marketing and farm business management. Coaches are supported by a team of science specialists comprised of over 30 Ph.D.’s and M.Sc.’s providing in-house research, training and insight support for both the coaching network and the Agri-Data Solution platform, a proprietary farm data management solution. Agri-Trend’s solutions enable growers to make informed business decisions that better allocate scarce resources to produce safe and environmentally sustainable food.
“Trimble’s acquisition of Agri-Trend is another step toward total farm management for the grower,” said Joe Denniston, vice president for Trimble’s agriculture division. “Together with Connected Farm, we will provide growers and their trusted advisors with a combined offering unique in the marketplace today. Together, Trimble and Agri-Trend will enable the integration of decisions and execution to give greater control over the outcome, resulting in maximized productivity for the grower.”
“Agri-Trend has been working side by side with farmers for over 17 years,” said Agri-Trend founder Rob Saik. “With the strength that Trimble provides, we aim to help even more farmers as the move to precision agriculture continues to gain momentum globally.”