Trimble to Acquire AGRI-TREND to Provide Stronger Toolset for Crop Advisors

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Nov 10, 2015, 06:30 ET

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today that it will acquire the assets of privately held AGRI-TREND® of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, which operates the largest network of independent agricultural consultants in North America. The acquisition will enable Trimble to provide agronomists and other crop advisors with a stronger set of brand-agnostic tools they can use to advise growers on how to better manage their operations. The combination of AGRI-TREND's experience in agronomy, grain marketing, farm business and data management together with Trimble's experience in precision agriculture will further empower growers to gain efficiencies throughout the entire farming cycle. The acquisition is expected to close in November 2015. Financial terms were not disclosed.

AGRI-TREND's network of over 200 specialists spread throughout the U.S. and Canada includes over 110 independent "coaches" specializing in agronomy, precision farming, crop marketing and farm business management. Coaches are supported by a team of science specialists comprised of over 30 Ph.D.'s and M.Sc.'s providing in-house research, training and insight support for both the coaching network and the AGRI-DATA® Solution platform--a proprietary farm data management solution. As a result, AGRI-TREND's solutions enable growers to make informed business decisions that better allocate scarce resources to produce safe and environmentally sustainable food.

"Trimble's acquisition of AGRI-TREND is another step towards total farm management for the grower. Together with Connected Farm, we will provide growers and their trusted advisors with a combined offering that is unique in the marketplace today," said Joe Denniston, vice president for Trimble's Agriculture Division. "AGRI-TREND is a leader in providing expert advice and decision support for growing crops, marketing commodities and managing a farm's finances. Trimble is a leader in precision agriculture technology that precisely applies those decisions whether it is seed, nutrients or water. Together, Trimble and AGRI-TREND will enable the integration of decisions and execution to give greater control over the outcome, resulting in maximized productivity for the grower."

"AGRI-TREND has been working side by side with farmers for over 17 years. With the strength that Trimble provides, we aim to help even more farmers as the move to precision agriculture continues to gain momentum globally," said Rob Saik, founder of AGRI-TREND. "The combination of our advanced agricultural technical expertise and Trimble's exceptional precision agriculture tools provides us with a platform that will support production practices that are sustainable both from an environmental and financial perspective for today's farmers. We're excited to be a part of the future of agriculture, and we're pleased to work with the great people at Trimble."

Full Farm Support

Grow the Crop: To assist in optimizing crop growth, AGRI-TREND has a network of experienced agronomists who serve as a personal Agri-Coach™ to help farm customers assess the performance of every acre on a yearly basis. Agri-Coaches work on the analytics, looking at the cost of production as well as nitrogen and water use efficiency, interpreting the data and making customized recommendations for each field. Recommendations are then followed up with field scouting and performance tracking to ensure farm goals are met.

Sell the Crop: To maximize crop sales, AGRI-TREND creates a Strategic Marketing Plan that includes business analysis, operational strategy, risk management and a harvest review. This customized plan is developed by an AGRI-TREND Market-Coach™ who works closely with each farm client to understand the unique situation of their farm and the cost of production for each field. The AGRI-TREND Market-Coach then provides advice on how to best achieve better selling prices, risk mitigation and optimal cash flow for their farm customers.

Manage the Money: In order to enable farmers to better manage their money, AGRI-TREND provides a network of Business-Coach™ Professionals, which consists of experts in specialized areas such as accounting, banking, corporate finance and insurance. The Business-Coach starts by gaining an understanding of the farm business including strengths and weaknesses, measuring the farm's performance against benchmarks, creating the Strategic Farm Business Plan™ and then implementing the farmer's long-term growth plan.

The AGRI-DATA Solution

The AGRI-DATA Solution is a complete farm management platform that focuses on the unique agronomic challenges that farmers face every year as they work to maximize yields and profits. This platform is the foundation for AGRI-TREND advisors as they work on crop planning, crop input tracking, soil sampling, tissue testing, manure analysis, fertilizer blending, field scouting, harvest data tracking and more. The platform supports over 75,000,000 legacy acres with over eight million acres added in 2015. Farmers have also adopted the AGRI-DATA mobile applications for both Android™ and iOS devices, preferring to work with their information on the go. For more information, visit: www.AgriDataSolution.com.

Trimble Connected Farm Advisor

Trimble Connected Farm Advisor--a field data management tool for the farmer's trusted advisor--will be integrated with the AGRI-DATA platform to empower AGRI-TREND coaches with a greater toolset to deliver more services to their growers.

If you would like to learn how to become an AGRI-TREND coach, visit: w3.agritrend.com/join-agritrend. Growers interested in finding an AGRI-TREND coach to work with, can visit: www.agritrend.com/contact-us/find-a-coach-professional. To learn more about Connected Farm, visit: www.connectedfarm.com.

About AGRI-TREND

AGRI-TREND has been helping growers achieve exceptional results for more than 17 years and today represents North America's most expansive network of agricultural advisors. From crop consulting to farm business management, precision farming to complete data management, AGRI-TREND helps farm operations improve efficiency, maximize yield and plan for the future. See more at: http://agritrend.com.

About Trimble's Agriculture Division

Trimble Agriculture solutions enable customers to maximize efficiency and reduce chemical and fertilizer inputs while also protecting natural resources and the environment. Trimble's precision agriculture solutions cover all seasons, crops, terrains, and farm sizes, and its brand-agnostic strategy allows farmers to use Trimble products on most vehicles in their fleet--regardless of manufacturer. To enable better decision making, Trimble offers the Connected Farm™ solution which allows farmers to collect, share, and manage information across their farm in real time. To optimize water use, Trimble provides water solutions for irrigation, drainage, and land leveling. Trimble's product suite includes vehicle and implement guidance and steering, as well as a portfolio of correction options that are the most versatile of their kind in the industry. Additional solutions include an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for aerial imaging and mapping; application control for seed, liquid, and granular products; a harvest solution; and farm management software. For more information on Trimble Agriculture, visit: www.trimble.com/agriculture.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location--including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

For more information, visit: www.trimble.com.

Certain statements made in this press release are forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual events and results may differ materially from those described in this news release. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: successfully closing the acquisition and realizing the anticipated benefits from the acquisition; market adoption and growth prospects for AGRI-TREND solutions among agronomists, other crop advisors and growers; and Trimble's ability to successfully integrate AGRI-TREND solutions with Connected Farm and provide compelling offerings that maximize productivity for growers. Additional risks and uncertainties include: the risks inherent in integrating an acquisition; unanticipated expenditures, charges or assumed liabilities that may result from the acquisition; and retaining key personnel and commercial relationships. Information about potential factors which could affect Trimble's business and financial results is set forth in reports filed with the SEC, including Trimble's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K. All forward looking statements are based on information available to Trimble as of the date hereof, and Trimble assumes no obligation to update such statements.

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SOURCE Trimble