Bayer CropScience Joins John Deere in Developing Digital Tools to Move from Precision to Decision™

Companies to collaborate on data exchange and analysis

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., March 13, 2014 /CNW/ - Bayer CropScience and John Deere are working together to integrate data access, wireless data transmission, and delivery of prescription recommendations to help farmers optimize yields and return on investment. The collaboration will enable Bayer CropScience and John Deere to provide data-enabled decision-support tools for farmers.

Beginning in 2014, in cooperation with retail and distributor partners, Bayer CropScience will initiate R&D-based field pilots designed to use agronomic data to prescribe Bayer CropScience products to maximize yield potential and overall profitability on each acre. Bayer CropScience's digital farming initiatives promote the creation and delivery of value-driven integrated solutions to farmers by leveraging new technologies and data availability to improve farm effectiveness and efficiency.

"Our intent is to leverage the agronomic strengths of Bayer CropScience and channel partners, combined with the precision-enabled equipment and the MyJohnDeere decision support platform offered by John Deere, to enable farmers to move from precision agriculture to decision agriculture," said Shane Hand, Bayer CropScience Digital Farming Strategic Marketing Lead.

Bayer CropScience's digital farming initiatives are designed to link agronomics, product performance and best management practices, while utilizing variable-rate and wirelessly connected technology offered by John Deere precision machinery. By integrating these elements, the two companies hope to enhance sustainable value at the farmer level and increase yields.

Through its John Deere FarmSight™ strategy, John Deere is creating a solutions ecosystem to enable agricultural customers to be more productive, experience greater uptime, and lower the cost of operation while improving yield. An important component of this strategy is MyJohnDeere; a comprehensive information platform enabling the management of equipment data, production data and farm operations. This online platform allows farmers to analyze yield variability, access decision support tools and collaborate with their agronomic advisors to improve their bottom line.

"The MyJohnDeere open platform gives farmers the opportunity to see the performance of their operations and collaborate with agronomic and business partners to optimize their production and costs. Bayer CropScience and John Deere share the commitment to optimize farmer returns while honoring the foundational principles of data management and stewardship," says Pat Pinkston, Vice President Technology and Information Solutions, John Deere.

To learn more about Bayer CropScience, visit www.bayercropscience.us or contact your local sales representative for product information. You also can follow and share with us on Twitter @Bayer4CropsUS or connect on the Bayer CropScience social media hub, Bayer Connect.

To learn more about John Deere, please visit www.JohnDeere.com or contact your local John Deere dealer.

About Bayer CropScience
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech materials. This year the company looks back on 150 years of working to fulfill its mission "Bayer: Science For A Better Life". Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has annual sales of EUR 8,383 million (2012) and is one of the world's leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control. The company offers an outstanding range of products including high value seeds, innovative crop protection solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action as well as an extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of products and services to control pests from home and garden to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce of 20,800 and is represented in more than 120 countries. This and further news is available at: www.press.bayercropscience.com.

About John Deere
Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) is a world leader in providing advanced products and services and is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land - those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world's dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. Since 1837, John Deere has delivered innovative products of superior quality built on a tradition of integrity. For more information, visit John Deere at its worldwide website at www.JohnDeere.com.

SOURCE: Bayer CropScience

Bayer CropScience Media Hotline, 1-877-879-6162, or Beth Roden, Director of Communications & Bayer CropScience NA Coordinator, Bayer CropScience, [phone], [email protected], or Barry Nelson, Manager, Media Relations, John Deere, [phone], [email protected]

http://www.bayercropscience.us