John Deere has agreed to a tech-based acquisition focused on applying machine learning to its agriculture equipment.
The company announced Wednesday evening that it has agreed to buy Sunnyvale, California-based Blue River Technology for $305 million.
Blue River specializes in intelligent crop spraying equipment. This spraying equipment uses “computer vision” to see a crop and machine learning in order to “reduce the use of herbicides by spraying only where weeds are present,” according to the Deere news release announcing the deal.
But Deere has more than spraying equipment on its mind with this purchase.
Beyond the fact that this buys the heavy equipment manufacturer a 60-person office in Silicon Valley, Deere says it is confident that the technology can be applied on “a wider range” of products as well.
