AgXtend acquires minority stake in Geoprospectors

AgXtend was established in 2018 and cooperates with start-ups. It has now acquired a minority stake in Geoprospectors GmbH, 1 of the start-ups supported by AgXtend.

Soil scanner

The Austrian company is best known for the Topsoil Mapper (TSM), a front mounted soil scanner. CNH Industrial and Geoprospectors already worked together in the past, so this scanner was already for sale under the CNH flag as SoilXplorer.

Austrian Geoprospectors was established in 2014, and has participated in the AgXtend platform since January 2019.

Improved synergy

According to CNH the acquisition leads to more dedication from CNH to AgXtend’s product line and distribution network, with a stronger representation in soil sensor technology, and improved synergy between the companies, which would help launch new products.

AgXtend for the aftermarket

CNH Industrial set up subsidiary AgXtend for precision farming activities in addition to the Case IH, New Holland and Steyr tractor brands. Under the flag of AgXtend, CNH sells products in the aftermarket, or outside of the 3 tractor brands, with which the AgXtend products can also be obtained by competitors and other customers. AgXtend is also seen as an ‘accelerator’ because the company embraces small start-ups.

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With the Topsoil Mapper from Geoprospectors farmers can automatically adjust the working depth of a tool based on soil conditions. – Photo: Geoprospectors

Electric weed control system

In addition to the soil scanner, the product range includes things like the electric weed control system from Zasso. This is called CNH XPower Weed Control system. The Isaria crop sensor is also available via CNH. With AgXtend, the crop sensor is called CropXplorer.

Also available are the NIRXact (NIR sensor) and a real-time weather station with app and sensors called FarmXtend. At the end of this year, IsoMax was added, a system for developing Isobus applications.