Digital farming platform Climate FieldView launches in SA

The Climate Corporation, Bayer’s digital farming arm, has announced the commercial launch of its industry-leading digital farming platform, Climate FieldView, in South Africa. Adopted by farmers in more than 20 countries and on more than 60 million subscribed hectares globally (150 million acres), this new edition marks a significant milestone for the company as its first expansion onto the African continent.

First launched in the United States in 2015, FieldView quickly became one of the most broadly adopted platforms in the industry.

As the world becomes hotter and hungrier, farmers are pursuing new solutions to produce the food, feed, and fuel that power the planet. With the FieldView platform, The Climate Corporation and Bayer are pioneering the digital agriculture industry to help farmers actively manage risk and increase productivity while simplifying their operations. Through its suite of easy-to-use data collection and analysis tools, FieldView claims to offer farmers a single platform to unite data from each piece of their precision equipment – including tractors, planters, sprayers, and combines – and access those insights from anywhere with a smartphone, tablet device or computer.

“Digital technologies are showing major promise in the agriculture industry and have the power to unlock many valuable insights on the farm, but the use of technology can sometimes be intimidating,” said John Raines, chief commercial officer at The Climate Corporation. “With FieldView, we work to ensure our product is both easy to access and easy to use, so farmers can take control of their data and utilize these insights to make more informed decisions.”

South African farmers now have access to industry-leading data science capabilities and digital tools and digitize their operations. To get started, customers can connect field data through the Climate FieldView Drive device, a piece of hardware that farmers can insert into a diagnostic port in the cab of their precision equipment. It uses bluetooth technology to stream agronomic data from the equipment before being synced with their FieldView account. Farmers can also upload data generated by their equipment directly into their FieldView account through the Data Inbox tool, which does not require the use of the FieldView Drive.

According to the press release, all FieldView users have full control of their farm data. They choose if, how, and when to share their agronomic information. If they feel it benefits their operations, farmers can choose to share their insights with a trusted agronomic partner to help make data-driven business decisions.

As the digital agriculture landscape continues to evolve, innovative technologies such as Climate FieldView are reaching widespread adoption in regions worldwide. In 2020, South African farmers tested FieldView on more than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) and experienced the value the platform has to offer before its commercial launch.

In addition to supporting row crop farmers through digital tools like FieldView, Bayer has committed to empowering 100 million small-scale farmers by 2030 through relevant technologies and initiatives, such as the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) TELA Maize Project, Farm to Market Alliance, and the Better Life Farming Alliance.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the significant challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to drive sustainable development and generate a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability, and quality throughout the world.