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JOHN DEERE PARTNERS WITH SPACEX TO EXPAND RURAL CONNECTIVITY

A new agreement between John Deere and SpaceX will allow farmers facing rural connectivity challenges to fully utilize their precision agriculture technologies.

Mike Kool, John Deere’s senior product manager for connected fleet, says farmers will soon be able to get the Starlink network equipped to their machines. “This is going to be game changing for our customers that are in those areas,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of extensive research over the past few years and realize 30% of crop land within the U.S. is just not covered to a level that they need to be.”

He tells Brownfield Starlink will connect both new and existing machines through satellite internet service. John Deere dealers will activate the solution by installing a ruggedized Starlink terminal on compatible machines, along with a 4G LTE JDLink modem to connect the machine to the John Deere Operations Center.

“We understand the challenges that our customers are up against,” he said. “Tighter and tighter windows of getting planted into the ground, spraying, harvesting, ever changing weather. We want to enable them to do more with less.”

According to John Deere, the agreement will help enable autonomy, real-time data sharing, remote diagnostics, enhanced self-repair solutions, and machine-to-machine communication.

Kool says the new satellite communications service will initially be available through a limited release in the U.S. and Brazil starting in the second half of 2024.

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Canada's Agriculture Day 2025

Video: Canada's Agriculture Day 2025

Let's celebrate Canadian agriculture.

Well, number one, you don't eat without farmers. Farmers put food on the table. And what could be more important than that?

Well, I think it's important that Canadians understand exactly what takes place, what happens to produce this food, no matter what sector you're talking about.

An awful lot of work goes into that. It's important to understand that meat does not come out of a showcase, and milk does not come out of a bottle. It's produced by farmers and hard work.

Canada has the best farmers in the world. And agriculture is vital to Canada.

In 2024, our agriculture and agri-food sector represented $150 billion of Canada's GDP, nearly $100 billion of our exports, and one in nine jobs.

From grains to fruits to dairy and beef, we are truly blessed with an incredible bounty. Having spent my whole life in agriculture, I see so much potential for the sector.

This time last year, I was proud to open our first-ever agriculture and trade office in the Indo-Pacific, the world’s fastest-growing economy, to cement our presence in the region and grow our exports even more. We've also been making historic investments to help our farmers to boost their yields, protect the planet, and earn a fair living.

The world wants more top-quality, sustainable food, and I know our Canadian farmers can deliver. And it's so important that you do that with pride. We need you.

Quite simply, you eat the most top quality food in the world. You do that because of the quality of farmers and ranchers you have in this country.

Just say thank you to a farmer or a rancher. They work very hard, yes, for a living, but also with a sense of pride in what they produce.

That's what Canada's Agriculture Day is all about.