John Deere, Kinze Manufacturing, and Ag Leader Technology have announced a collaboration agreement that will make it easier for farmers to integrate each company's equipment and technology solutions into their farming operation.

The collaboration enables farmers to combine the quality equipment and digital solutions offered by John Deere, Kinze and Ag Leader. As part of the agreement, farmers operating Kinze and Ag Leader planting and display products will now have the option to seamlessly integrate their agronomic data into the John Deere Operations Center. The companies have also agreed to resolve all outstanding litigation through an arrangement where John Deere will license planting technology to Kinze and Ag Leader, ensuring their customers continue to have access to the True Speed and SureSpeed technologies. In late October, John Deere was awarded $16.3 million in damages and royalties in a lawsuit that alleged Kinze Manufacturing and Ag Leader Technology infringed on patents for seeding methods owned by John Deere.

"At John Deere, we're proud of the equipment and technology solutions we develop for farmers, but we also know our customers have choices when they make equipment purchase decisions," said Aaron Wetzel, vice president of production & precision agriculture production systems. "We put our customers first with this agreement, which will result in a more seamless integration of Kinze planting solutions with John Deere equipment and our technology stack. We remain committed to helping all of our customers, including those with mixed fleets, be more productive, profitable, and sustainable in their operations."

Susanne Veatch, president of Kinze said, "We are excited to have True Speed back on the market. A key component of technologies like True Speed is the creation and collection of data. This agreement will benefit our joint farmer customers who utilize John Deere Operations Center by ensuring they can seamlessly integrate their data generated by any Blue Vantage controlled equipment."

Al Myers, president of Ag Leader, added: “Ag Leader is excited SureSpeed is available to our customers again. Our focus has always been to provide tangible solutions to the market through quality precision products that fit the mixed fleet grower. Being able to connect with other platforms like John Deere Operations Center through AgFiniti gives our growers the ability to seamlessly map and analyze data in one place regardless of equipment color. This agreement allows us to take another step toward better serving our customers' growing needs.”

In addition, Deere and Kinze announced plans to explore further technology collaborations, with details to be shared when they are available.