Since 2014, Kreisel has been a leading innovator focused on the development of immersion-cooled electric battery modules and packs for high-performance and off-highway applications. The company has a differentiated battery technology and battery-buffered charging infrastructure offering and currently serves a global customer base across multiple end markets, including commercial vehicles, off-highway vehicles, marine, e-motorsports and other high-performance applications.

According to an email from Mig Dobre, senior research analyst at Baird, the goal of Kreisel’s founders is to provide superior battery technology to rival Tesla performance. Since 2014, the team has implemented over 150 successful projects, partnering with the likes of Porsche and Shell. The company’s origins are in designing retrofit packs for electric car conversions, but it has rapidly expanded into large-scale production of battery packs.

John Deere sees demand growing for batteries as a sole- or hybrid-propulsion system for off-highway vehicles. Products in Deere’s portfolio such as turf equipment, compact utility tractors, small tractors, compact construction, and some road-building equipment could rely solely on batteries as a primary power source. Deere intends to continue to invest in and develop technologies to innovate, deliver value to customers and work towards a future with zero emissions propulsion systems.

The majority investment in Kreisel Electric will allow Deere to optimally integrate vehicle and powertrain designs around high-density battery packs while leveraging Kreisel’s charging technology to build out the infrastructure required for customer adoption. Dobre says the investment pairs well with Deere’s acquisition of Bear Flag Technologies earlier this year, building out Deere’s capabilities while accelerating its path toward a fully electric, autonomous fleet.

“Kreisel’s battery technology can be applied across the broad portfolio of Deere products, and Kreisel’s in-market experience will benefit Deere as we ramp up our battery-electric vehicle portfolio. Deere will provide the expertise, global footprint, and funding to enable Kreisel to continue its fast growth in core markets. This is an opportunity to invest in a company with unique technology that’s designed for the demanding conditions where Deere customers work,”

said Pierre Guyot, senior vice president of John Deere Power Systems.

“Furthermore, building an electrified portfolio is key to John Deere’s sustainability goal of pursuing new technologies that reduce the environmental impact of new products and work toward zero emissions propulsion systems on equipment, while increasing our customers’ efficiency and productivity.”

Dobre says the pace of technology investment is accelerating, and next-gen offerings have the potential to extend the ag replacement cycle beyond 2025 with Deere’s consolidating its leadership position. Demand for batteries as a sole or hybrid propulsion system is growing among DE’s off-highway customers as sustainability goals coupled with rising fuel costs.

“The Kreisel acquisition adds a proven electrification technology that Deere can continue to build on, with the integration of high-density battery packs into Deere’s portfolio of vehicles a key step in moving toward zero emissions equipment,”

Dobre says.

Kreisel Electric will retain its employees, brand name and trademark, and continue to operate from its current location in Austria to serve its growing customer base. The company was founded by brothers Johann, Markus, and Philipp Kreisel, and has approximately 160 full-time employees.

In a joint statement, Johann, Markus, and Philipp Kreisel said the Kreisel team looks forward to expanding its base business, leveraging the Deere channel to accelerate the adoption of battery-electric vehicles and charging stations, and working with Deere’s vehicle design teams on product advancements.

The transaction requires final regulatory approval in Austria, with closing expected to take place in approximately 60 days. Financial details are not being disclosed.

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With their ratification of new collective bargaining agreements, employees see a brighter future with Deere

The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) has informed Deere & Company that its production and maintenance employees have voted to ratify new six-year collective bargaining agreements that cover more than 10,000 workers at 14 facilities across the United States.

“I’m pleased our highly skilled employees are back to work building and supporting the industry-leading products which make our customers more profitable and sustainable. John Deere’s success depends on the success of our people. Through our new collective bargaining agreements, we’re giving employees the opportunity to earn wages and benefits that are the best in our industries and are groundbreaking in many ways. We have faith that, in return, our employees will find new and better ways to improve our competitiveness and transform the way our customers do their work. Together, our future is bright,”

said John C. May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Deere.

Please visit one.deere.com for details on the ratified agreements.

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Companies to Explore Opportunities to Develop Technologies, Products and Services for Farmers to Support Profitable, Sustainable Agriculture

ADM and Farmers Business Network announced that ADM has made an equity investment as part of FBN’s latest capital funding raise and that the companies have signed a letter of intent to expand their existing relationship through a wide range of potential future areas of cooperation.

This partnership combines ADM’s scale and expertise across the global food and agriculture value chain with FBN’s cutting-edge digital farm commerce and data-analytics capabilities to identify opportunities to increase farmer profitability, expand sustainable agricultural practices, and provide farmers unprecedented convenience and product accessibility.

ADM and FBN have agreed to examine several areas of collaboration, including developing premium end markets for low-carbon grain that will reward farmers for the adoption of regenerative practices.

They will also explore working together to advance innovative technologies, like those currently offered through FBN’s Gradable platform, to improve access and data security for producers who market grain to ADM locations. Other areas of potential cooperation include:

• Enabling FBN’s 30,000 farmers to conveniently sell grain to ADM’s extensive network of origination facilities with full digital transactional record-keeping, sustainability tracking, and payments through FBN’s Gradable Platform;
• Advancing research to develop new biologicals, seed traits, fertilizers, and crop protection products;
• Enabling FBN farmers to conveniently and transparently purchase ADM products such as fertilizer and animal nutrition with FBN’s leading e-commerce and finance platform; and
• Increasing farmer convenience and input product access by leveraging ADM’s substantial physical distribution network for FBN farmers.

“Differentiated grain and sustainable solutions are two of ADM’s strategic growth platforms, and FBN is the perfect partner to help power our success as we work together to find new ways to cultivate incremental value for stakeholders across the food, sustainable solutions, and agricultural value chain. We’ve already been working with FBN and producers to connect verifiable low-carbon crops with market demand, and now we’re excited to explore new areas of growth, from digital technology and analytics to e-commerce, to shared infrastructure and geographical expansion,”

said Greg Morris, president of ADM’s Ag Services & Oilseeds business.

“Our mission as a company is to improve the profitability of family farms around the world for generations to come and this partnership with ADM promises to accelerate the development of our technologies, including our grain and sustainability platforms, that are designed to increase farmers’ profit potential. This partnership enables us to double down on putting farmers first by further investing in technologies that lower costs, improve transparency, and create local community development opportunities in rural areas,”

said Amol Deshpande, FBN co-founder, and CEO.

The companies are also continuing their pilot program, launched earlier this year, to use FBN’s Gradable platform to measure and verify the carbon score of soybeans, and to connect farmers with customers eager to purchase low-carbon intensity crops and products that command premium prices.

“Producers have played a leading role in advancing sustainable agricultural practices, and now we have new tools to quantify the beneficial impact they’re having on the environment so we can go to market differently. We’re excited to work with FBN to advance these innovative technologies, and we look forward to doing even more to help support producers,”

Morris added.

ADM’s minority investment in FBN is being made via ADM Ventures, the company’s corporate venture capital arm. ADM Ventures invests in cutting-edge startups with disruptive technologies across three key areas: human nutrition, animal nutrition, and sustainability. ADM Ventures also seeks startups that utilize ADM’s assets and feedstocks to produce sustainable materials, in addition to technologies that enhance the effectiveness or efficiency of ADM’s operations.

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“We couldn’t be more excited the Henslin family is joining our team. The similarities in our companies – family-owned, business models, and values – make for a natural fit. We look forward to incorporating the knowledge and reputation that LaDon & Annette, Allen & Leslie, and the entire Henslin team has built,”

says Dan Sullivan, President of Sullivan Auctioneers.

Henslin Auctions, a family-owned business, has been offering farmland and farm machinery auctions in Minnesota and the surrounding states for over 40 years. The Henslin Auction team will be joining Sullivan Auctioneers to continue offering full-service auctions with Allen and LaDon Henslin carrying on leadership roles for the North Central Territory.

“Joining forces with Sullivan Auctioneers was an easy decision for us. Their level of professionalism and their respect for farmers match what we strive to bring to every auction,”

says Allen Henslin.

Source: Sullivan Auctioneers

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The license agreement foresees the launch of a scalable, modular electrification platform focusing on low horsepower tractors. These will be developed across multiple product families in the coming years, using an agile process that continuously gathers farmers’ input to ensure we create industry-leading, differentiated solutions aligned to customer needs. This agreement also furthers CNH Industrial’s ongoing commitment to decarbonizing agriculture through alternative propulsion systems.

Electrification and machine automation are key tenets of CNH Industrial’s strategy to become an even stronger technology leader in agriculture and drive customer value. This mutually beneficial partnership enables CNH Industrial to enhance its internal electrification capabilities and develop and implement new electrified platforms faster. In turn, Monarch Tractor will be able to harness the benefits of CNH Industrial’s deep sector expertise in product, brand, distribution, and supply chain strength.

“We are confident that the new pathways provided by Monarch will rapidly strengthen our competitive position in sustainable precision farming. Their talented team, exceptional engineering acumen, and Silicon Valley R&D ecosystem will greatly enhance our digital capabilities. We look forward to working with Monarch to accelerate innovation in EV technology and expeditiously bring customer-valued, autonomous, fully electric solutions to the world’s farmers,”

said Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial.

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Manny Gan, director of global golf at John Deere, said:

“We are honored to enter this long-term agreement with Pinehurst Resort, one of the most iconic golf destinations in the world. John Deere is committed to leading the industry in technology and precision turf solutions. Since entering the golf industry in 1987, our commitment to golf has resulted in our equipment being used by the best golf courses in the world, which now includes, Pinehurst Resort.”

Bob Farren, CGCS, director of golf course and grounds management at Pinehurst Resort, said:

“This agreement will unite the rich legacies of Pinehurst Resort and John Deere. Pinehurst is well known as a premier golf destination, with a reputation of delivering Championship conditioning levels for not only Major Championships but for its Members and Guests as well. Our agronomy team looks forward to working alongside John Deere and Revels Turf & Tractor to leverage the top equipment and turf solutions to deliver a best-in-class golf experience to every guest at Pinehurst Resort for years to come. We are excited to see and be part of what the future may hold as we work together to create solutions that will benefit the turf industry.”

Pinehurst Resort has built a storied reputation in the golf industry, hosting more single golf championships than any other site in North America. As a part of this agreement, John Deere and Revels & Turf and Tractor will help support marquee events, including the 2024 and 2029 U.S. Open Championships as well as hosting the John Deere World Championship in 2022.

In addition to the use of the John Deere equipment at Pinehurst Resort, the agreement will also allow the brand and the golf destination to partner on other industry growth initiatives, such as Green Start Academy. Moving to Pinehurst Resort for its 2021 program, Green Start Academy, held in partnership with John Deere, Bayer, and Rain Bird, will invite 50 of the brightest assistant superintendents from across North America to Pinehurst, N.C., for a unique educational and networking experience. The program is currently accepting applications through August 1, 2021. Those interested can apply for a spot in this year’s class on the Green Start Academy website.

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With this collaboration, SHI will evaluate the soil health at selected UPL research and development field stations around the world (including UPL’s OpenAg Farm in Brazil), provide soil health training for UPL field agronomists, and help establish R&D protocols for evaluating the impacts of management practices on soil health.

Soil is the basis of our world’s agroecosystems that provide food, feed, fiber, and fuel. By 2050, the world will be challenged to feed nine billion people while also managing limited natural resources and the impact of climate change. UPL, with its mission to make every food product more sustainable, collaborates with partners, farmers, and key stakeholders to meet the future demand of agriculture, and improving soil heath will be essential to achieving that goal.

Farmers adopting regenerative soil health systems can help our nations grow food for an expanding population, mitigate and adapt to climate change, improve water quality, and increase biodiversity. The partnership with SHI will advance understanding of the most beneficial and scalable regenerative practices agriculture can employ to meet the challenges of tomorrow, while at the same time, improving productivity and farmer livelihoods.

“Our collaboration with SHI is a step towards understanding our soil in a much deeper way to provide the right solutions for farmers to enhance soil health, a key element for sustainable agriculture,”

said Adrian Percy, Chief Technology Officer, UPL.

“It exemplifies our belief in activating connections across the world’s agriculture system and ​powering new levels of sustainable growth, in line with our OpenAg purpose, an agriculture network that feeds sustainable growth for all. No limits, no borders.”

“Our research and training programs are focused to provide useful outcomes for farmers, the environment, and society,”

said Dr. Wayne Honeycutt, CEO of the Soil Health Institute.

“So far, most of our work has been in North America. This collaboration with UPL will allow us to further explore and translate soil health science into actionable management practices in other regions of the world, too,”

said Honeycutt.

Source: UPL

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The transaction, valued at approximately $300 million, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

Building on Global Partnership Accomplishments

Since 2019, Valmont and Prospera have successfully integrated AI technologies with center pivot irrigation to develop real-time crop analysis and anomaly detection solutions resulting in strong adoption and greater returns for the grower. Leveraging Prospera’s unique technology, the partnership has expanded its intelligent solutions, monitoring five million acres in 2020 against an original estimate of one million, with twice as many growers using the service as compared to 2019. Grower adoption is expected to double in 2021 with greater acceleration in the near-term.

“Today’s acquisition is a testament to our commitment to make the farm more efficient and increase productivity while dramatically improving sustainability. Building on the successful partnership with Prospera, we are accelerating our commitment to provide services that enhance the lives of our customers and the communities in which they operate, as well as finding new ways to achieve higher crop yields using less – land, water, chemicals, fertilizers, fuel and time,”

said Valmont President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen G. Kaniewski.

Kaniewski continued,

“Over the past two years we have delivered a widely-adopted, differentiated grower offering and significantly accelerated the deployment of AI technologies on irrigated acres, positioning us well for strong, highly-accretive growth of technology sales over the next several years. We are excited to welcome the Prospera team to Valmont and collaborate to commercialize technology for growers with unique in-season capabilities, while having a positive impact on our planet and enhancing long-term stakeholder value.”

“Our strategic partnership has demonstrated the unique combined value of Prospera’s capabilities and Valmont’s agricultural expertise and market leadership,” said Prospera Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Koppel. “This combination is the fastest way to scale impactful ag-tech solutions. We are excited about the future and the opportunity to continue to further our work to feed an expanding global population through our machine learning technologies that allow growers to make more informed, efficient and scientific decisions.”

Combining Capabilities to Accelerate Industry Leadership

• Unique, Disruptive and Differentiated Value Proposition: The transaction will create one of the largest global, vertically-integrated AI company in agriculture, immediately providing a highly differentiated in-season solution. Using the pivot as the digital data hub, this solution brings demonstrated, advanced agronomy and unprecedented visibility to the field, enabling the grower to take immediate action to remediate issues. Leveraging Prospera’s technology and Valmont’s global reach and omnipresence on the field, the combination will create the first commercially available subscription model of its kind, providing innovative and disruptive solutions to help growers lower costs, increase yields, use less land and save time.
• Catalyst for Growth: Strengthens and expands total addressable market by pursuing opportunities beyond traditional, pivot-based irrigated acres. Accelerates technology adoption with growers and provides a less-cyclical sales contribution delivered through recurring revenue from subscription-based data analytics and insights.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit and Key Talent Additions: Adds world-class talent across technology, data science and agronomy, including Prospera’s senior leadership team and 90 colleagues, all of whom will continue with the business post-close. With senior leadership headquartered in Austin, TX, one of the nation’s rapidly-growing tech hubs, and an R&D center located in Tel Aviv, Israel, an international ML and CV center, Prospera is well-positioned to expand its unique pool of talent, continuing growth and innovation with the same entrepreneurial spirit that has led to its success.

Founded in 2014 and backed by strategic investors including Bessemer, Qualcomm, Cisco, More and Tekfen, Prospera has recently been listed among the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers and CB Insights Top 100 AI Companies, Frost & Sullivan New Product Innovation and Fast Company World Changing Ideas, and has received the AgFunder Innovation Award.

Transaction Terms and Financing

Valmont will invest approximately $300 million to fully acquire Prospera and the transaction will be financed through a combination of funds from available cash and the Company’s revolving credit facility. Restricted stock retention awards will be granted to Prospera employees.

The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021.

Source: Valmont

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The agreement establishes Vermeer dealerships as the exclusive distributor for two of BRON’s tracked utility plows in the 200-HP (149 kW) and 300-HP (224 kW) class and provides them the ability to sell the line of BRON utility plow attachments.

BRON is a family-owned company based in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. The brand has supported utility and underground infrastructure installation markets for more than 40 years and has reliable, heavy-duty plows and attachments that include static and vibratory plows, trenchers, rippers, add-on plows, and more.

Vermeer is teaming up with BRON to support customers who are working to keep up with major global investments in rural fiber and underground infrastructure. BRON’s products complement the Vermeer utility plow lineup by providing additional options for heavy-duty plows and attachments that are geared for some of the deeper and more extreme installation applications.

“This agreement positions Vermeer to better help our customers capture more of the underground telecom and energy work that will be required to provide more reliable access to critical infrastructure around the world,”

said Vice President of Environmental and Infrastructure Sales, Dave Wisniewski.

“As a fellow family-owned company, we are excited to deepen our partnership with Vermeer and its dealers around the world. Our products, partnered with the reach and expertise of the Vermeer dealer network, put us all in a stronger position to support our customers with the tools and service they need to stay productive,”

said Robert Hall, president of BRON.

BRON expects its products to be available at Vermeer dealerships in February 2021.

Source: Vermeer

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Degelman Industries LP and John Deere Company announce that they have reached an OEM Agreement to provide a line of heavy harrows designed for small grains farmers. This gives the John Deere dealer network a powerful new tool for managing heavy residue, controlling weeds and volunteer plants, and for warming the soil ahead of spring seeding.

Three heavy harrow models will be available and include the HH50, HH70, and HH82 set up in 5 or 7-row configurations with 50-, 70-, and 82-foot working widths respectively. In the field, the heavy harrow can be operated up to 12 mph. The harrow’s robust torsion bar design hugs the contour of the field while keeping consistent down pressure moving across rolling terrain to effectively shatter and evenly distribute straw residue and move the soil.

The harrow’s quick folding and unfolding sequence can help farmers move more quickly between fields. Easy to reach service points, and exclusive long-life carbide-tipped tines keep maintenance requirements to a minimum.

While John Deere dealers will have access to this new line of harrows, Degelman will continue to manufacture, market, and promote the Strawmaster 7000 series of heavy harrows to our authorized Degelman Dealer network as we have for the past 27+ years.

In addition to the 7000 series, Degelman will continue to exclusively offer the Strawmaster Pro high-performance field conditioner, Strawmaster+ high-performance harrow, and Strawmaster X disc harrow to their entire dealer network.

Source: Degelman

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