DECATUR, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Today, The Climate Corporation, a division of Monsanto Company (NYSE:
MON), announced at Farm Progress Show the launch of its newly integrated
platform - bringing existing product offerings into one seamless
platform and launching new solutions to turn farm data into real value
for farmers. Climate’s existing suite of digital tools will become the
Climate FieldView™ digital platform, and the company will launch new
functionality over the course of the next few weeks for the 2016 season
to further support data-driven decision making on the farm.

“For farmers, time and knowledge are the most valuable inputs,” said
Mike Stern, President and Chief Operating Officer for The Climate
Corporation. “The new Climate FieldView digital platform combines
farmers’ field data with real-time and historic soil, crop and weather
data to help them efficiently manage their operations and gain deeper
insights about their fields,” said Stern.

This season, the Climate FieldView platform builds on its digital
agriculture foundation with an integrated platform and a new option for
seamlessly connecting field data to the cloud. The platform includes
three tiered product offerings:

  1. Climate FieldView Prime™, formerly Climate Basic™, supports
    timely decision making, with field-level weather, scouting tools and
    notifications.
  2. Climate FieldView Plus™, formerly FieldView® Plus from
    Precision Planting, provides seamless field data connectivity and
    visualization in the cab and on demand.
  3. Climate FieldView Pro™, formerly Climate Pro™, is the premium
    offering that provides field-level agronomic insights driven by data
    science.

The Nitrogen Advisor and Field Health Advisor in Climate Pro last year
received great reviews from farmers. Paul Spratt farms with his father
and brother in McLean County, Ill. and has used Pro for the past two
growing seasons. “Climate FieldView Pro has proven to be an excellent
tool for our operation, especially given the very wet season we’ve
experienced in Illinois,” said Spratt. “With the heavy rains, we knew
our crop needed additional nitrogen to survive. When we went to make our
side-dress application, the Nitrogen Advisor indicated a shortfall, and
we found that insight to be spot on and made an additional application.”
Spratt added, “The maps provided through the Field Health Advisor helped
us quickly identify drowned out areas of our fields.”

New Functionality in 2016

In addition to launching an integrated platform for the 2016 season, The
Climate Corporation is providing new features to help farmers optimize
resources and maximize yield.

Climate FieldView Plus is enabled by the new Climate FieldView Drive™,
a device that helps farmers easily transfer their data from the field to
the cloud. “Climate FieldView Drive is an exciting new technology that
represents an important advancement in digital agriculture,” said Stern.
“For years, farmers have collected and stored their field data in
different formats and haven’t been able to use that data to inform
important operating decisions. The Climate FieldView Drive is a
significant first step in helping farmers unleash the potential of their
field data.”

While Climate FieldView Drive is planned for limited release and is
compatible only with certain equipment types this year, the company
expects to expand the device’s compatibility in coming seasons, in
addition to pursuing other methods for seamless field data flow.

In 2016, Climate FieldView Pro will be available to more farmers across
an expanded geography, provide easier data entry for farmers, and will
include a new Script Creator feature to help farmers create variable
rate seeding prescriptions and execute them on their equipment of
choice. “We’ll definitely be using Climate’s digital ag platform next
season, and I’m really excited about some of the new features,
especially the Script Creator,” Spratt said.

Pricing and Promotions

In 2015, The Climate Corporation’s digital platform was used by farmers
across 75 million acres, and their premium offering on more than five
million of those acres. For the 2016 season, Climate Pro is being
offered for three dollars an acre, and the company is offering special
pricing to encourage farmers to experience the value of digital
agriculture firsthand.

First-time users of Climate FieldView Pro, can get their first 120 acres
free. Farmers can also use the service across their whole operation for
as little as $999 for farms up to 2,500 acres. Larger farms can enroll
in the service at additional price points.

To give more farmers the opportunity to experience Climate FieldView
Plus and Climate FieldView Drive this year, the company is offering a
starter package that includes the annual software subscription, a
Climate FieldView Drive device, and an iPad® mounting kit for the cab
for only $499.

Climate FieldView Prime is free and available across most crop-growing
regions in the U.S.

To take advantage of Climate FieldView offers, farmers can contact
a certified Climate FieldView dealer, or call Climate’s support line
at 1.888.924.7475 to be connected with a local dealer. To learn more
about Climate FieldView visit www.climate.com.

About The Climate Corporation

The Climate Corporation, a division of Monsanto Company, aims to help
farmers around the world improve their farming operations with uniquely
powerful software and hardware. The company’s proprietary Climate
FieldView™ platform combines hyper-local weather monitoring, agronomic
modeling, and high-resolution weather simulations to deliver Climate
FieldView Prime™, Climate FieldView Plus™ and Climate FieldView Pro™,
online and mobile solutions that help farmers improve profitability by
making better informed operating decisions. The company’s unique
technologies help the global agriculture industry to stabilize and
improve profits and, ultimately, help feed the world. For more
information, please visit http://www.climate.com or
follow the company on Twitter @climatecorp.

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