“Raven Cart Automation is a profound benefit for farmers and operators seeking to enhance control in the field and minimize traditional harvest time pain points like grain spillage and operator fatigue.

With this technology, we’re empowering farmers and operators to reclaim their time, reduce fatigue and stress and navigate their fields with unmatched precision to amplify their productivity.”

explains Paul Welbig, product marketing director – precision technology for New Holland.

Alleviating Harvesting Pain Points

Raven Cart Automation syncs combine movement with the grain cart, allowing the combine operator to control the positioning and speed of the grain cart during the filling process.

The grain cart driver can sync with the combine’s auger once they are within 200 feet. The tractor operator engages automatic steering and propulsion to enable the combine operator to control the grain cart’s bin positioning, speed, and direction.

Once the grain cart is full, driving capabilities are re-engaged for the tractor operator to navigate to the unloading point. Through coordinated combine and tractor motions, the system significantly helps reduce grain spillage and operator fatigue that’s typically associated with manual unloading while on the go.

Raven Cart Automation has a user-friendly interface, making it easy for operators of any skill level to use. It reduces grain cart operator training time and uses a real-time radio connection between combine and tractor, aligning with a GPS-based AB line.

Unmatched Versatility

The system allows operators to sync up to six tractors with one combine, allowing for a harmonized harvesting process and improved operational efficiencies. Raven Cart Automation can supplement technological assistance for small to mid-sized operations.

Raven Cart Automation is compatible with most New Holland tractors with CVT/PST transmission (2020 model year or newer) and seven CR combine models (2015 model year or newer).

“Initial feedback from customers and dealers during testing has been overwhelmingly positive.

We see a fit for this technology on so many different operations. It comes at a time when every bushel matters more than ever and the labor crunch is being felt on many farms across the U.S. and Canada.”

states Welbig.

Source: New Holland

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More than 71% of the outstanding shares of Raven voted, and of the shares that voted, over 99% voted in favor of the transaction with CNH Industrial.

Dan Rykhus, Raven President & Chief Executive Officer, said,

“We thank our shareholders for their strong support of this transaction. We look forward to working with the CNH Industrial team to close the transaction.”

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and acceptance by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) of a signed commitment letter.

The final voting results will be reported in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, after certification by Raven’s inspector of elections.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisor to Raven and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP as its legal advisor.

Source: Raven Industries

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According to David R. Salem PhD, CPhys, Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, South Dakota Mines, and SAMPE member:

“Eric does not shy away from any opportunities to expand his knowledge base. He also continually seeks new connections with people having knowledge of the challenges faced in the advanced materials industry, thereby helping to expand his exposure, and understanding of the needs to be addressed. This exposure has deepened Eric’s interest in polymer composites, which in turn has fueled his drive to study the properties and performance needed to make these future industrial materials both successful and cost-effective.”

Schmid’s contributions to SAMPE are significant:

1. SAMPE Spring show 2013: Student Leadership Award recipient
2. Supports SAMPE social media projects
3. Volunteers with the SAMPE Young Professionals initiative
4. SAMPE North America Awards Committee Co-Chair
5. CAMX 2020 Deputy Technical Chair
6. SAMPE University Research Symposium Winner, 2018
7. SAMPE Volunteer Leader with SD Mines Student Chapter
8. Community STEM outreach with multiple local universities and K-12 organizations

“We are happy for Eric and his well-deserved achievement. Our culture is positioned to supporting the growth and development of our young professionals, and Eric’s involvement is in direct alignment,”

remarked Scott Wickersham, Division Vice President and General Manager of Raven Engineered Films.

“Eric Schmid’s accomplishments are truly remarkable. His early career achievements come as no surprise to those who know him and recommended him for this award. Eric is generous with his scientific knowledge and stands out not just as an industrial research leader but as a SAMPE volunteer leader as well. I look forward to witnessing great things from this young man in the very near future,”

said Scott Stephenson, Executive Vice President of SAMPE North America.

Source: Raven Industries

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The acquisition builds upon a long partnership between the two companies and will further enhance CNH Industrial’s position in the global agriculture equipment market by adding strong innovation capabilities in autonomous and precision agriculture technology.

“Precision agriculture and autonomy are critical components of our strategy to help our agricultural customers reach the next level of productivity and to unlock the true potential of their operations. Raven has been a pioneer in precision agriculture for decades, and their deep product experience, customer-driven software expertise, and engineering acumen offer a significant boost to our capabilities. This acquisition emphasizes our commitment to enhancing our precision farming portfolio and aligns with our digital transformation strategy. The combination of Raven’s technologies and CNH Industrial’s strong current and new product portfolio will provide our customers with the novel, connected technologies, allowing them to be more productive and efficient,”

said Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial.

“Our Board and Management are excited about this partnership and what it means for our future. For 65 years, our company has been committed to solving great challenges. Part of that commitment includes delivering groundbreaking innovation by developing and investing in our core capabilities and technology. By coming together with CNH Industrial, we believe we will further accelerate that path as well as bring tremendous opportunities and value to our customers — once again fulfilling our purpose to solve great challenges. Our relationship with CNH Industrial has expanded over decades, and we have a deep respect for one another and a shared commitment to transform agriculture practices across the world. We look forward to CNH Industrial leveraging the Raven talent and culture, as well as the Sioux Falls community, as part of their vision and future success,”

said Dan Rykhus, President & Chief Executive Officer for Raven Industries.

“Raven Industries’ capabilities, innovation culture, entrepreneurial spirit, and engineering talent are impressive and will continue to thrive as part of the CNH Industrial family. Sioux Falls is and will continue to be a true center of excellence. We are incredibly excited to collaborate in bringing our customers more integrated precision and autonomous solutions, not only to improve productivity and profitability but also to promote more sustainable solutions and environmental stewardship. Together, our teams will create a stronger business for our employees, dealer network, and customers, enabling us to shape the future of agriculture, augment our world-leading sustainability credentials, and maximize our growth opportunities,”

added Wine.

Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Raven Industries is organized into three business divisions: Applied Technology (precision agriculture), Engineered Films (high-performance specialty films), and Aerostar (aerospace) with consolidated net sales of US$ 348.4 million for the twelve months ended January 31, 2021. The company is a global technology partner for key strategic OEMs, agriculture retailers, and dealers. The transaction is expected to generate approximately US$400 million of run-rate revenue synergies by the calendar year 2025, resulting in US$150 million of incremental EBITDA.

The Engineered Films and Aerostar segments are industry leaders in the high-performance specialty films and stratospheric platform industries, respectively, and CNH Industrial believes they represent attractive independent businesses with excellent near and long-term potential. Accordingly, CNH Industrial plans to undertake a strategic review of each business to best position them for future success and maximize shareholder value.

CNH Industrial does not expect the proposed acquisition will have any impact on its guidance for 2021. The acquisition is expected to be funded with Group consolidated cash1 not affecting third-party debt of industrial activities. Cash consideration for the transaction is not included in the free cash flow definition, and consequently, it will not affect its free cash flow guidance for the FY 2021E.

Barclays and Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisors to CNH Industrial and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as its legal advisor. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisor to Raven and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP as its legal advisor.

Source: Raven Industries

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AGCO announced it has entered into a proof of concept (PoC) collaboration agreement with Robert Bosch GmbH, BASF Digital Farming GmbH, and Raven Industries Inc., with the objective of evaluating targeted spraying technology to make the application of crop protection products more effective and efficient by reducing crop input costs while driving farm and environmental sustainability.

To support the reduction in herbicide application, the targeted spraying PoC will focus on real-time sensing technology to make crop protection decisions. By detecting weeds in growing crops as well as on fallow ground, day or night, this technology will execute precise targeted product placement down to the individual plant level. In addition to the environmental benefits, targeted spraying will help enhance farmer profitability by only spraying the herbicide where needed. This makes the use of more efficient herbicides affordable allowing for much better weed control. Where optimal herbicides are already used, the smart sprayer provides a volume and cost reduction.

The initial concept is being evaluated on a Fendt Rogator sprayer in Europe with plans to extend to North America in 2022.

“Farmers have long been searching for innovative ways to minimize chemical usage and reduce passes through the field to achieve their crop protection goals. Combined with the potential for further regulatory pressure, we believe this collaborative spraying effort advances our farmer-first focus and is further evidence that we will work with the best-in-class partners to serve farmers’ needs. This effort is aimed at validating targeted spraying solutions, delivering a reduction in product use to achieve the same results as broadcast spraying in both pre- and post-emergence with the flexibility of spraying day or night,”

said Seth Crawford, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Precision Ag and Digital for AGCO.

Coupled with AGCO’s application equipment expertise, Bosch brings capabilities in hardware, machine learning and artificial intelligence as well as digital services. xarvio Digital Farming Solutions provides an automated, real-time, in field agronomic decision-making engine for weed management and crop optimization. Raven Applied Technology is committed to sprayer efficacy and operational efficiencies that further enable precision control of chemicals for targeted spraying applications.

“Raven is excited for this collaboration. The expertise of each organization will undoubtedly provide industry changing solutions for some of agriculture’s greatest challenges. This smart spraying proof of concept is the first of many that will aid in advancing solutions for a more sustainable future,”

said Dominic Walkes, Raven Applied Technology Director of Strategic Initiatives.

The combined power of the technologies that this collaboration is focused to deliver will empower farmers to drive greater efficiency in their operations while helping to protect the environment through reduced chemical usage in line with AGCO’s commitment to providing farmer-focused solutions to sustainably feed the world.

Source: AGCO

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Raven Industries announced the launch of its new product brand and autonomous growth platform, OMNi. This new product brand highlights Raven’s advancements in autonomous solutions for agriculture with a strategic offering of two integrated products: OMNiDRIVE and OMNiPOWER.

The OMNi name (meaning “all”) will take center stage within Raven.

Nick Langerock, Director of Strategic Marketing for Raven, said:

“Empowering ‘all’ is exactly what OMNiPOWER and OMNiDRIVE bring to the agriculture industry. OMNi enables holistic, hands-free precision; it gives the farmer total control of their time and maximizes operational productivity and efficiency. As we bring OMNi to market, we want farmers to understand that some of their pain points are now more manageable through autonomous solutions. OMNi solutions allow the farmer to trust the routine tasks to automation and focus on the important farm functions.”

Effective today, OMNiDRIVE replaces the AutoCart name from the previous acquisition of Smart Ag. The former DOT name is now OMNiPOWER. All of Raven’s intelligent autonomous solutions for the agriculture industry will be branded with the OMNi prefix and are part of one connected ecosystem. This ecosystem leverages Raven’s innovative and ever-growing technology portfolio that makes smart products smarter. OMNi solutions provide multiple paths to autonomy and equip the ag professional to get more, do more, and give more from their operation.

Dominic Walkes, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Raven, said:

“We understand the importance of quickly scaling and adopting new power platforms, farming applications, and implements into purpose-built autonomous agricultural machines. OMNiDRIVE is a significant growth platform and we are actively working with OEM partners to release compatibility on additional tractors and implements. We are excited about the opportunities rolling out under the OMNi prefix as it ties our entire portfolio together and helps to provide the entire solution from top to bottom for the farmer.”

OMNiDRIVE is Raven’s aftermarket technology kit that transforms existing tractors into driverless machines. It is the first farming application that allows the farmer to monitor and operate a driverless tractor from the cab of the harvester so the harvester can offload on the go, then return the tractor and grain cart to a predetermined unloading area — all without a second driver.

The technology connects, manages, and safely operate autonomous agricultural machinery and is compatible with:

• Case IH Magnum CVT (2014-2020 models): M250 / 280 / 310 / 340 / 380 (available in October 2021)
• New Holland CVT (2014-2020 models): T8.320 / 350 / 380 / 410 / 435 (available in October 2021)
• John Deere 8Rs Powershift and IVT (2010-current models)

OMNiPOWER is a self-propelled power platform that easily interchanges with farm implements. This will allow the ag professional to perform multiple farm tasks in all the growing seasons. The farmer launches missions in autonomous mode or can also control directly from the tablet. In either instance, no driver is necessary. Currently, OMNiPOWER has interchangeable implements for spreading and spraying with additional applications coming soon.

More OMNiPOWER implements will launch quickly and consistently as Raven works with OEM partners to release new implements.

OMNiPOWER will be available for order on June 1, 2021, with delivery in the fall of 2021.

“The future of agriculture is here and now. The pivot point is OMNi. You’ll see the new brand identity and campaign to reflect and communicate our advancements to the market,”

said Langerock.

Source: Raven Industries

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Jaybridge’s unique IP portfolio includes significant and critical patents for technology directly related to path-planning, obstacle detection and avoidance, and multi-machine control systems. Raven will leverage this IP portfolio with the Company’s continued development of Driverless Ag Technology — including integration of the technology into the Company’s AutoCart platform.

“By acquiring Jaybridge’s intellectual property we are able to advance our autonomy strategy by combining necessary, technology-leading patents with our current suite of proprietary products in this space. Having this technology will allow us to accelerate the development of vehicle automation for agriculture equipment applications,”

said Jared Kocer, Raven’s Director of Technology Solutions.

The acquisition was completed in the first quarter of the Company’s current fiscal year.

Source: Raven Industries

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Raven Applied Technology delivers impactful technology to farmers and custom applicators around the world. Deeply committed to feeding a growing world population, Raven develops precision agriculture products that promote environmental stewardship, allowing farmers to grow more with less.

“Raven is committed to raising the bar to improve farm productivity. For more than 40 years, Raven has been leading the way in sprayer efficacy, and our participation in the Operation Weed Eradication coalition reflects our ongoing commitment to helping growers improve yields and solve challenges for their ag operations.”

said Dominic Walkes, Raven Applied Technology director of strategic initiatives.

Operation Weed Eradication takes a balanced approach of utilizing cultural practices such as tillage and cover crops, chemical control such as layering residuals and using herbicides with multiple sites of action, and eradication diligence such as managing weeds around field edges to help growers eradicate Palmer amaranth and waterhemp from their fields.

“As we continue to build upon the efforts to drive an eradication mindset toward on-farm pigweed, the Operation Weed Eradication coalition welcomes the opportunity to add Raven as a coalition member, which will only make this industrywide initiative stronger. Palmer amaranth and waterhemp are incredibly difficult weeds to control, so it is imperative that we continue to work with farmers and others in the industry to combat these weeds using multiple approaches.”

said Nick Fassler, BASF technical marketing group manager.

AGCO was the first company to join the Operation Weed Eradication coalition.

“We are excited to have Raven join the Operation Weed Eradication coalition. Adding industry members to the coalition continues to drive the initiative to eliminate these hard-to-control weed species.  Our technology and systems, available through AGCO’s RoGator and TerraGator platforms, are geared to give farmers, retailers, and professional applicators the agronomic advantage.”

said David Webster, AGCO director of marketing for application equipment.

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Raven Industries, Inc. announced the release of Virtual Thumb Drive, the latest tool in Raven Applied Technology’s expansive CRx field computer product suite. VTD’s powerful addition to ag operations is enabled through the Slingshot Services and Logistics platform. Available for order today in Russia, Europe, and Latin America, this solution brings greater reliability in over-the-air data transfer for ag operations.

This software advancement seamlessly and quickly connects the office to Raven’s CRx field computers: CR7 and CR12. Raven’s CRx products offer lightweight field computers to any cab with extensive field-planning and job execution capabilities. VTD’s introduction into this product suite ensures operators have the information they need to confidently complete their job. VTD’s over-the-air access from the office to the field gives the flexibility to send jobs, update information, and receive job status to make informed decisions for the operation.

“Raven’s commitment to bring agricultural solutions to the market on a global scale is attributed to our service-first mindset. We have heard across the world that reliable connectivity from the office to the field is an ongoing challenge. Our team is listening to the needs of farmers from Russia to Brazil, and we are proud to release VTD as a part of our Slingshot platform. Slingshot bridges the gap from the field to the office, increasing productivity, confidence, and accuracy.”

said Frank Dorenkamp, International Business Director for Raven Applied Technology.

Raven’s Slingshot Services and Logistics platform is the leading technology solution to connect ag equipment to an operation’s offices for efficient, aligned, and accurate work. Through a tiered subscription approach, customers can receive a unique connectivity solution to fit their needs. Slingshot services offer a full spectrum of performance and control for an ag operation. Alongside VTD, the Slingshot platform gives operations:

• The ability to access coverage and guidance information between multiple machines in the same job.
• Machine operation, idle and transit time data, accessible 24/7.
• Complete visibility to where equipment and assets are located and what tasks they are completing.

Source: Raven Industries

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Raven Industries, Inc. announced that the company will be opening a new location near Regina, SK as Raven Applied Technology’s Canadian Headquarters. With significant capacity for machine production and five acres for testing, this new facility is positioned to be the central campus for precision and autonomous agriculture innovation, training, and service for Raven Canada. The expansion within Western Canada solidifies Raven’s commitment to pave the way in autonomous farming on a global scale.

Brian Meyer, Vice President of Raven Applied Technology, said:

“Establishing a headquarters for Raven Canada in Saskatchewan proves our dedication to this pivotal market. Our history with precision ag solutions in Canada has provided confidence that this location will be a catalyst for significant growth for Raven.”

Raven completed its acquisition of DOT Technology Corp., the Saskatchewan-based developer of the Dot Power Platform, in June of 2020. The new 21,000 sq. ft building will be at the forefront of autonomous support and innovation in Canada by being dedicated to assembling, manufacturing, and testing Raven Dot Power Platforms. Located at 4 Industrial Drive West, Emerald Park, SK, the Raven Canada Headquarters will open in November 2020.

Raven Autonomy Executive Director, Wade Robey shared:

“In the past 11 months, Raven Autonomy has boldly grown in technology and partnerships. Through Dot, we have a long-standing relationship with the Canadian agriculture market and have seen interest in autonomous machinery that is unmatched. Canada has proved to be a critical region for Raven for over 25 years. This new location will allow us to expedite product development, as well as provide outstanding service and support to our customers and partners.”

In addition to opening the facility near Regina, Raven is partnering with Economic Development Regina Inc. (EDR) as a part of the Investment Partnership Program (IPP). Through this program, Raven will provide resources to EDR’s Agriculture and Food Initiative to support Saskatchewan’s collaboration for agriculture throughout Western Canada.

Marco Coppola, Raven Autonomy Business Development Manager, said:

“I’ve had the pleasure of working and living in this community for years. Saskatchewan has always been pushing agriculture into the future, so our partnership with EDR is a seamless way for us to listen and support the momentum that’s already here. Community involvement and investment is a top priority for Raven, and we are eager to see the industry advancements that this program will produce.”

Raven is changing the ag technology landscape by helping ag professionals be safer, be more efficient, and ultimately run their operation to its highest outcome potential. By establishing Canadian Headquarters and investing in community collaboration, Raven will help transform futuristic ideas into concrete realities.

Source: Raven Industries

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