Trimble to acquire green-on-green spraying innovator Bilberry

Trimble has signed an settlement to buy Bilberry, the France-based firm that makes a speciality of selective weed spraying programs.

Bilberry, which was based in Paris in 2016, has developed a synthetic intelligence platform and digicam system that identifies weeds in real-time, permitting sure sprayers to be retrofitted with know-how to focus on weeds in a rising crop — generally known as “green-on-green” spraying know-how.

Whereas the corporate’s green-on-green system has been commercialized in Australia, Bilberry engineers have been engaged on bringing the system to the North American market. Testing and knowledge assortment passed off this spring and summer season in Western Canada, focusing on broadleaf weeds in cereal crops, grassy weeds in canola, and each broadleaf and grassy weeds in corn (as Bilberry engineer Adrien Persuy mentioned on this RealAgriculture Wheat College episode.)

For Trimble, the acquisition of Bilberry will complement the big tech firm’s current WeedSeeker spraying system, which may determine vegetation on naked soil (green-on-brown) previous to a crop rising.

“Our deliberate acquisition of Bilberry builds out Trimble’s crop safety portfolio by including green-on-green selective spraying capabilities and helps our growth of autonomous options,” stated Jim Chambers, vp of Trimble Agriculture, in a information launch. “The Bilberry answer is model agnostic and appropriate with a broad vary of spraying tools producers, which is good for combined fleet operations. This functionality, along with current Trimble competencies, will allow us to broaden our function within the rising marketplace for precision agriculture options that may cut back enter prices, create efficiencies for our prospects and drive sustainability in farming.”

Monetary phrases of the deal weren’t made public. The acquisition is anticipated to shut within the fourth quarter of 2022.

Associated:

Wheat College: Educating green-on-green spot spraying programs to determine weeds present in Canada