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Economy

Monsanto Cancels Deal with Deere

A deal between John Deere and Monsanto has been called off. Monsanto canceled the agreement to sell its subsidiary, Precision Planting.

The agreement was first announced in November of 2015, then last summer the US Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block the sale, saying it wanted, quote, "to preserve competition in the market for high-speed precision planting systems." And that the sale to Deere "would combine the only two significant U.S. providers of high-speed precision planting systems." 

Also canceled is the proposed collaboration with another Monsanto subsidiary, The Climate Corporation, a software company based in San Francisco. It would have allowed farmers to upload data from their fields and have it analyzed to increase their productivity. 

Deere said it was disappointed with the cancelation of the agreement, because it would have benefited its customers. 
 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.