The Saskatoon company’s camera-based system mounts on a sprayer boom and captures field conditions as farmers make passes across the field. Using machine learning, it analyzes thousands of images to generate crop and weed maps, along with plant stand counts.

The system was first introduced in a limited rollout in 2022 and went through on-farm testing before expanding more broadly. Early versions were installed on a small number of farms to gather data and refine the technology.

“We spend a couple of years using the product in the field before it’s commercialized,” CEO Cory Willness said.

“By the time something gets commercialized, it has already been used internally and has been through pretty rigorous testing.”

Adding in-season data to zone maps

SWAT Cam is designed to complement the company’s core SWAT Maps platform, which divides fields into management zones based on soil, water and topography. While those maps are relatively static, SWAT Cam adds a layer of in-season observation.

As the sprayer moves through the field, cameras mounted on the boom capture images every 50 to 60 feet. Those images are processed to measure plant populations and identify weed pressure and are then overlaid onto existing zone maps.

“It’s really a tool that uses the SWAT Map as the base underneath to define what’s happening in different areas of the field,” he said.

The system is not designed to make real-time decisions. Instead, it provides information that farmers and agronomists can use to evaluate performance and adjust management in future seasons.

For example, growers can use the data to compare expected and actual plant stands or identify patterns in crop performance across different parts of a field. In some cases, that can lead to changes in seeding rates or other input decisions.

“It’s information that helps them make better decisions in the future,” he said.

“It’s like a quick check-up tool.”

Adoption to date has been concentrated in Western Canada, where the company operates both directly with farmers and through a partner network.

The technology can be used on crops such as canola, wheat and soybeans, although its effectiveness depends on crop stage and canopy conditions.

The milestone offers a snapshot of how Croptimistic’s platform is expanding beyond its original focus on soil-based mapping.

In recent months, the company has introduced a series of new initiatives aimed at building out that platform, including SWAT Labs, an in-house soil testing facility, and a white paper outlining its approach to regenerative agriculture.

Together, those efforts point to two sides of the company’s development — expanding its core services while building new tools and frameworks around them.

“We have what I call an innovation engine and a business engine,” Willness said.

SWAT Labs is an example of the “business engine,” reflecting an effort to bring more of the soil data pipeline under one roof, from sampling through analysis.

The white paper, meanwhile, falls under “innovation,” and signals a push to shape how that data is interpreted and used in agronomic decision-making.

“These initiatives are building toward bigger things,” he said.

CLARIFICATION, April 7, 2026: Cory Willness’ name was accidentally left out of the print version of this article in the April 9 issue. We regret the error.

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The case is part of broader scrutiny in the U.S. over so-called right-to-repair practices, with regulators and plaintiffs arguing that some manufacturers limit competition by controlling access to repair tools and software.

What does the settlement cover?

The settlement fund covers eligible plaintiffs who paid Deere’s authorized dealers for repairs to large agricultural equipment from January 2018, according to a document filed on Monday in the federal court in Chicago, Illinois.

In the settlement, Deere also agreed to make available to farmers for 10 years “the digital tools required for the maintenance, diagnosis, and repair” of large agricultural equipment, including tractors, combines, and sugarcane harvesters, the filing showed.

The proposed accord requires a judge’s approval.

“This settlement addresses the issues raised in the 2022 complaint and brings this case to an end with no finding of wrongdoing,” Deere said in a separate statement.

Deere faces FTC suit

Deere also faces a separate lawsuit brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. A U.S. judge ruled in 2025 that Deere must face that lawsuit, which accused the company of forcing farmers to use its authorized dealer network and driving up their costs for parts and repairs.

Deere is blocking farmers from acquiring the “tools and information necessary to repair their equipment in a timely and cost-effective manner,” the FTC had said in a court filing in April. Deere has denied the wrongdoing.

— Reporting by Carlos Méndez, Mrinmay Dey in Mexico City and Mike Scarcella in Washington

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“North American sales decreased by $33 million year over year, and operating margins remain below breakeven,” said Damon Audia, Agco’s senior vice-president and chief financial officer.

Agco experienced a nine per cent drop in sales in North America over 2025, one per cent less than the 10 per cent overall market decline. The company attributes that drop to farm income declines in the United States and tariff costs, which it expects will continue into 2026.

The company’s softer sales came largely from lower demand for sprayers and mid-range tractors.

“Farmers are delaying new equipment purchases due to elevated input costs and tighter profit margins,” said Audia.

“The U.S. government’s $12 billion farmer bridge assistance program has helped shore up farmers’ balance sheets but has not translated into new equipment purchases at this time.”

Less decline

While Agco’s financial statements pool all of North America into one market segment, sales reports from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers shows Canada had significantly less decline in tractor and combine sales than the U.S.

This means much of the North American market decline appears to be attributable primarily to reduced U.S. sales.

Other, stronger global market regions, however, helped push the company’s overall operating profit to an average 7.7 per cent for 2025.

“Our adjusted operating margins are among the best in Agco’s history and the strongest for this point in the (farm machinery sales) cycle,” said chief executive officer Eric Hansotia.

“We nearly doubled our adjusted operating margins from prior (demand) troughs.”

Because low North American demand, particularly in the U.S., is expected to continue through 2026, the company is planning to continue its reduced manufacturing output, hoping to lower machinery inventory here to a six-month supply.

“You’re going to see North America down in a loss margin in the high single, low double-digits for 2026,” said Audia.

“Europe should stay right around that 15 per cent (profit) margin for the full year.”

A big factor in that loss is tariff costs imposed by the U.S. government.

“The absolute tariff costs for 2026 will be around $105, $110 million,” he added. “That’s what’s compressing our year-over-year margins.”

Gains of other sorts

Despite that negative financial news from this side of the Atlantic, the company actually saw a gain in market share in North America, and executives expect another two to three per cent marketshare gain in 2026 as the company’s newest machines debut.

“Agco turned in the highest market share in our history in 2025” globally, Hansotia said.

“It was the largest one-year gain for market share in North America.”

One North American segment that is likely to run counter to the declining sales trend is smaller tractors.

“The North American small tractor market offers a more positive counter balance as livestock and hay economics look comparatively resilient,” Audia said.

“And the older (farmer-owned) fleet points to emerging opportunities in 2026. We expect smaller tractors to be up modestly.”

Overall, though, the company expects large ag equipment sales numbers in North America to fall further, by as much as 15 per cent.

On the other side of the Pacific, Australia has seen gains for the company.

Europe, however, is likely to remain the brightest spot for Agco, with a possible five per cent sales increase expected due to solid farm incomes there causing positive sentiment among producers.

“Farmer sentiment (in Europe) is relatively positive,” said Hansotia.

“At Agritechnica, the feedback we were getting was more positive than we expected.”

While the company doesn’t expect the global machinery market to significantly improve this year, it should boost profit margins due to production cost reductions and overall total global sales stability outside of the U.S.

“We expect global industry demand to be relatively flat compared to 2025,” said Hansotia.

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The NL710 is a single-bin fertilizer spreader the Iowa company says is comparable in productivity and profitability to its dual-bin NL720.

“It’s a high-precision, high-output, wide fertilizer spreader that is user-friendly and low-maintenance,” says Benjamin Boelter, director of product development with New Leader.

The machine’s 120-foot spreading capacity is a rarity in the U.S. market, he says, with most manufacturers opting for 90 feet.

“We also increased the throughput … so you don’t have to slow down to get a wider pattern, so we have more material that can go through the machine.”

The applicator features a spread pattern “wizard” that makes automatic output adjustments.

“You don’t have to make manual adjustments on the machine to change the spread pattern. That’s all taken care of internally for you,” says Boelter.

The machine’s variable rate spreading capability includes four options: 120, 90, 80 and 70 feet.

Boelter uses turn compensation as an example of its variable-rate capabilities — say, when “spreading on the left hand side of the spreader needs more material than the right hand side. Our machine can adjust for that,” he says.

“As you spread with VRT, as you’re going through the field and your rates are changing and your speed is changing, the amount of product dropping on your spinner is changing. So we have built into our software (the ability to) make the adjustments as you’re going through those rates to keep your spread pattern at a very good precision.”

According to the company, the NL710 also features:

• A 33 per cent more efficient high-output design.
• Uniform spread pattern with advanced swath width control.
• Tool-free maintenance and zero grease points for reduced downtime.
• Ability to pattern test and set the machine using only three pans.

The applicator was designed for productivity, efficiency and low maintenance, says Boelter, but the fundamental goal was simplicity.

“We tried to make it very simple for the operator to use. So one of the, I would say, most unexpected things from an operator standpoint is we added a lot of capability, but it’s actually easier to use from a control standpoint than what’s in the field today.”

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Launched in 2019, the program pairs Deere with hand-selected startups for year-long, project-based collaborations designed to test how emerging technologies perform in agricultural and construction use cases. It is not primarily an acquisition or investment vehicle.

“We’ve intentionally designed it that way,” said Colton Salyards, who manages the program within Deere’s corporate development and strategy group.

“The program was never designed to be an investment or an acquisition vehicle.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Emerging sensing and AI technologies could eventually improve soil analysis, equipment uptime and precision decision-making on farms.

Instead, Deere and each startup define a joint project, outlining objectives on both sides and evaluating how a given technology might perform in agricultural or construction use cases.

With the addition of this year’s five companies, Deere will have worked with 42 startups through the program.

Each year, Salyards said, public announcements of the cohort generate significant inbound interest from startups hoping to participate. The response can be “overwhelming,” but the companies selected stand out.

“There’s a key reason why we’ve selected them,” he said.

“There are use cases across agriculture that we believe could be of tremendous customer value.”

Sensor sensibility

Among the 2026 cohort is Australian firm resonAg, which is adapting miniaturized MRI-based sensing technology — technology originally developed for medical imaging, and later adapted for industries such as mining and oil and gas — for use in advanced soil sensing.

Deere is exploring how that sensing capability could support precision agriculture applications.

“This is of huge importance for precision agriculture,” he said.

“Imagine a planting system that can sense and act in real time to conditions across the field.”

Another company, AIRS ML, is developing edge-AI systems that combine machine sensor data with on-device machine learning to predict equipment failures in real time. The goal is to improve uptime by identifying potential maintenance issues before they lead to breakdowns.

The remaining companies in the cohort include:

• IoTag, which focuses on telematics and mixed-fleet performance insights.
• TorqueAGI, which is developing AI foundation models for robotics.
• Aerobotics, which applies drone imagery and computer vision to specialty crop production.

While not designed as an acquisition vehicle, the program has, in two instances, led to investment or acquisition when the strategic fit aligned. Salyards emphasized that integration into Deere equipment is not the default outcome.

“This is one vehicle among many that we use to understand what innovative companies are out there,” he said.

“Ultimately, it helps us determine how well those technologies could fit for our ag and construction customers.”

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“I want John Deere and Case and all of – they’re great companies, Caterpillar… I want these companies to give it to you in the form of lower tractor and equipment costs,” Trump told hundreds of farmers and ranchers gathered under drizzle at an event on the South Lawn of the White House.

Deere & Co shares dropped two per cent after the statement. Case IH manufacturer CNH Industrial fell one per cent while Caterpillar Inc was down nearly 1.2 per cent in late-session trading.

The three companies could not immediately be reached for comment.

Trump seeks support from struggling farmers

Trump called for lower prices in an aside during a speech that otherwise focused on shoring up support among the Republican president’s loyal constituency of rural voters, who have backed Trump in all three of the last presidential races.

For the fourth straight year, U.S. crop producers are facing tight margins, high production costs and low commodity prices – and are struggling financially – despite near-record government payments.

The Trump administration is distributing $12 billion (C$16.7 billion) in aid to U.S. farmers — a move that farm trade groups and agricultural economists have said is helpful in the short-term but will not fully compensate farmers for financial losses that have topped $30 billion in recent years.

On Friday, Trump said he would seek even more such aid for farmers from Congress. More than 50 farm-interest groups, such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, are urging Congress to approve additional aid in a military funding package.

Trump pledges new loan guarantees

The event happened as the administration finalized new biofuel blending mandates for U.S. oil refiners, requiring them to mix more of the fuels made from corn and other agricultural products into the nation’s gasoline and diesel than initially proposed, in an apparent win for farmers.

Trump also said the U.S. Small Business Administration would open up new loan guarantees for farmers and food suppliers.

Farmers are entering the critical spring planting season under a cloud of uncertainty as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran disrupts global trade, causing fertilizer and diesel costs to spike.

The long-term U.S. trade relationship with China also remains unclear amid the ongoing trade war launched by Trump’s administration with the country, the world’s top soy importer.

Rural voters constitute a fifth of the U.S. electorate, and they favored Trump by a two-to-one margin over Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

— Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya

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The cumulative value of those outstanding shares determines the overall value or market capitalization of a company. Of course, those numbers change daily as share prices rise and fall with normal market fluctuations.

WHY IT MATTERS: While Fortune 500-level companies are typically somewhat better insulated against market shocks, reduced market cap can make it more difficult for publicly traded firms to obtain favourable credit or raise capital through share offerings.

Those fluctuations are the result of profits each company reports and the outlook on their future fortunes along with the condition of the overall economy.

In recent days, however, there is another consideration to factor into those market trends: the war in Iran. That gambit, initiated by the Trump administration and Israel’s leadership, has roiled markets around the world.

The U.S. Dow Jones had been riding pretty high despite a global economy upended by U.S. tariff policy.

The Dow had reached a yearly high average on Feb. 10 of more than 50,000. However, the Middle East war cratered it, causing the average to drop to slightly more than 46,000 by March 25. Almost every other market around the world saw significant declines as well.

At the same time, oil prices have reached higher than US$100 per barrel as global supply is choked down by roughly 20 per cent due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, impacting urea fertilizer prices as well.

All of this has affected the input costs farmers will face this year, but it has also had a negative impact on the market value of farm machinery manufacturers.

As their profitability and share prices were starting to rise from a low point in the cyclical equipment demand cycle, the stock market declines have caused significant reductions in the valuation of those companies.

Here’s a look at just how much the market capitalization of those brands had fallen from mid-February to late March:

• John Deere shares peaked just before the war on Feb. 24 at US$664. By March 25, those share values had dropped $82. With about 270.1 million shares outstanding, that represents a market capitalization loss of roughly $22 billion.
• Agco shares peaked Feb. 13, and by March 25 had seen a $1.7 billion valuation reduction.
• CNH Industrial, parent company of Case IH and New Holland, realized a $2.5 billion decline.
• In the automotive sector, the story is the same. For example, Ford saw its market value decline by more than $8 billion.

The situation is the same for nearly all publicly traded companies listed on many different stock exchanges around the world, meaning globally, companies collectively have probably lost trillions of dollars in market value, at least temporarily.

At the same time, financial analysts are sounding the alarm over the possibility of insider trading on the U.S. stock market related to government announcements, with unusual trading patterns observed that could have netted millions for unidentified entities just minutes before a White House announcement.

More than a few analysts are now questioning the integrity of the U.S. stock market as a result. Since the current administration took office, the ability of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to prosecute violations has reportedly been significantly reduced.

This comes at a time when foreign investment in U.S. government treasury bonds is declining, reportedly due to a lack of confidence in the administration. Those bonds help finance the government’s deficit. Without continued investment, the U.S. treasury will find itself in a bind.

Add to that the recent increase in global oil trades conducted in yuan, rather than the standard U.S. dollar transaction, which came to be known as the petro-dollar.

The so-called petro-dollar has helped prop up demand for U.S. currency for decades. That has been an economic boon for the United States, but the continued decline in U.S.-dollar oil transactions would lead to significantly reduced demand for greenbacks.

As a lack of confidence in the U.S. among investors, trading partners and allies grows, there could be a very rocky road ahead for the U.S. economy, and the valuations of U.S.-based corporations could continue to take a beating.

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It was a relatively novel idea, a kind of road test, but with a combine instead of a car or pick-up truck.

During last year’s Fendt Harvest Tour, Brandon Montgomery, the company’s brand manager, said there was a possibility Agco might bring the tour to Canada.

This year, Montgomery said in early March that it remains a possibility. If there is enough interest and the logistics can be worked out, some Canadian farmers could get a chance to put an Ideal to work in their own field.

“We’re analyzing all the requests coming in right now. We’re trying to figure out logistically where all the requests are coming from, where the biggest demand is. Then we’ll start to make a path. We’re looking at a 10-day tour.”

Anyone interested in having the Fendt Harvest Tour stop at their farm can log on to fendt.com and register.

“We’re taking registrations right now all the way through until late May, early June,” says Montgomery.

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“The current Optums are a 270, 300 and 340 with a 6.7-litre engine,” says J.E. Cadle, North American marketing manager for Optum tractors.

“This is 360, 390 and our top model we call a 440, but it’s 435 maximum horsepower, and it’s the 8.7-litre. And it’s constant power. When we say 435, we’re delivering that 435 all the time.”

READ MORE: Scott’s high-horsepower tractor guide for 2026

To back up the bigger engine and deliver power, the three new models get a sturdier version of the continuously variable transmission (CVT) the brand has been offering in the current Optums.

“This is a CVT with our CVXDrive transmission. It’s a 4 X 2,” he says.

“It’s very similar to the one that’s in the Optum today, but it’s bigger, beefed up to handle the extra horsepower. That 4 X 2 design gives us more mechanical efficiencies. It’s a proven design, very quiet.”

The CVXDrive version in these Optums can hit 37 m.p.h. (60 km-h) on the road.

However, in order to cram that bigger engine and transmission into an Optum, Case IH’s engineers had to start from scratch and re-engineer the tractor.

“Even though the Optum name is not new for Case IH, this tractor really is new from the ground up,” says Cadle.

WATCH: Greg Berg shows us the new Optums at Agritechnica

With the new big three Optums able to deliver more power in the field and handle bigger implements, the hydraulic system needed to be ramped up as well.

A standard flow rate of 58 g.p.m. (219 l/m) comes from a single-pump system, but there is an option to go for a dual, twin-flow system now. Two pumps will boost flow up to a total of 95 g.p.m. (360 l/m). That allows the tractors to run bigger implements or run at a lower engine r.p.m. and still get high flow rates.

There is also a larger reservoir to allow for a higher volume of oil to flow, which accommodates the demands of larger or more hydraulic cylinders on an implement.

To help improve traction and smooth out the ride, the suspended front axle gets a redesign.

“Suspended front axle was standard on the current Optum … but an independent front link, a double wishbone suspension is what’s new,” says Cadle.

“So this is a totally different CNH-designed, independent front-link suspension. We get a really nice ride out of this tractor. It will keep power to the ground if you’re on a slope or uneven terrain. Its handling on the road is awesome with this new suspension.”

Added to that is an improved hydraulic braking system and the addition of an engine brake, making these tractors ideal for road haulage. There is also an option for built-in auto tire inflation system.

“The braking system on this tractor is outstanding,” says Cadle.

“It’s got an engine brake. You barely touch these brakes and the tractor stops on a dime if you need it to.”

Inside, the cab won’t see any significant changes. It will carry over the design, which was introduced a couple of model years back. The new Puma range of tractors uses the same cab.

The Optums get a facelift too, with a redesigned hood and overall appearance change that is in line with the look of the current Steigers, sprayers and the newest Pumas.

One unique feature of the redesign is the IH emblem built into the rear taillights.

Getting into the cab, steps are built into the 180-gallon fuel tank at a more gentle rake to make access easier.

New cats out of bag

Speaking of the Puma line, the brand just announced the debut of three new models — 155-, 165- and 185-horsepower versions made their debut.

Puma buyers can choose between the CVXDrive continuously variable transmission or the ActiveDrive 8 dual-clutch transmission.

Since the Optums made their debut at Agritechnica, Cadle says the brand has had a lot of positive feedback from potential customers waiting for their release on this side of the ocean.

“We got a lot of response in North America organically from that. We really didn’t put anything out in North America about it. Customers were contacting their dealers. They saw it on social media. So we’ve been getting a lot of positive response from customers out there already.”

Optums will be available for ordering in June. Buyers can expect deliveries to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

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Artificial intelligence, automation and data systems dominated nearly every session, from crop protection to robotics to biotech discovery.

However, beneath all that, one quieter theme kept surfacing.

A lot of the early, practical value of these systems is not in running machines. It is in interpreting data and turning it into recommendations.

WHY IT MATTERS: As AI tools take on more of the data work, farmers will still need trusted advice to turn those recommendations into decisions that work in their fields.

In fact, based on the discussions at the summit, that part of the conversation was in the rear view mirror. Much of the focus now is on what comes next — building systems that can act on those recommendations.

Soil tests, weather stations, satellite imagery, equipment data is familiar ground for agronomy. What is changing is how quickly and how consistently that information can be processed.

In one session about biotech discovery, speakers described AI systems that can design and refine experiments with minimal human input.

It is a long way from a Prairie field, but it is easy to imagine that same approach being used to improve plot trials or even guide on-farm decisions aimed at maximizing yield.

And it is already happening.

On the farm, that same capability is showing up in decision support — not perfect, not complete, but improving. These tools are getting better at taking large volumes of information and turning it into clear, actionable decisions.

From interpretation to action

And that raises a fair question. If more of that interpretation work can be done by a system, where does that leave farm agronomists?

The answer is not that they disappear. It is that the job shifts.

Research agronomists are not really in the crosshairs here. They are still building the knowledge base. The question is what happens to the people turning that knowledge into decisions on the farm.

That kind of agronomy has never just been about reading numbers off a report. It is about context: knowing the field, the farmer, the equipment and the risks they are willing to take.

A recommendation generated from data still has to be weighed against reality. Is the field fit? Does the timing work? What happens if the weather turns? Does it fit the rest of the rotation?

Those are not problems that go away with better models. In some ways, they become more important because more recommendations are coming, faster and with more confidence behind them.

What these systems may change is how agronomists spend their time. Less time pulling data together. Less time building base recommendations from scratch. More time stress-testing those recommendations, adapting them to local conditions and helping farmers decide what to act on and what to ignore.

There is also a practical layer to this that did not get as much attention on stage. These tools do not just appear on farms fully formed. They need to be set up, calibrated and understood. Someone has to translate them from a product into something that actually works in a field.

One discussion on soil health touched on a more basic issue: even something as fundamental as soil testing is not fully standardized. Results can vary depending on how samples are taken, handled and processed.

That is an opportunity.

It suggests there is still a role for the local private agronomist — someone who knows the region and their customers, understands local soil conditions, along with insect and disease pressure, and someone who farmers know personally and trust.

The role doesn’t disappear, it changes

It is easy to frame new technology as a threat to existing roles, but agriculture has22s a way of absorbing new tools and reshaping the jobs around them.

GPS did not eliminate the nesed for farm agronomists. Variable rate did not either. They changed the conversation.

This one feels different. These systems are starting to take on the interpretation work that has traditionally defined farm agronomy. However, the pattern is familiar.

The technology is moving quickly, that much is clear. However, it is still being tested against the same reality. Fields, weather and economics have a way of exposing weak ideas.

On-farm agronomy does not sit outside that process. It is part of it.

If anything, the need for people who can bridge the gap between what a system suggests and what actually works on the ground will only grow.

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