Partnership between Deere and SpaceX will help promote precision agriculture

Tractor manufacturer Deere & Company has announced an agreement with SpaceX to offer farmers Starlink satellite communication services. The aim is to help overcome connectivity challenges in rural areas and thus promote the use of precision technologies in agriculture. Starlink shared the news on its X profile (formerly Twitter); Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX, also made a brief mention, saying that the novelty will be excellent for farmers.

The global smart agriculture market was valued at US$22.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% between 2024 and 2030, reaching a value of US$54.7 billion by the end of the period, according to a study by Grand View Research, which pointed out that mobile technologies are helping to increase the innovative applications used throughout the agricultural value chain. “The smart agriculture market is witnessing a considerable degree of innovation, marked by the adoption of advanced technologies integrated with sensors and cameras. Market players continue to explore cutting-edge solutions to meet the challenges and satisfy the growing demands of farmers. The market has also been characterized by a high level of partnerships and collaborations between the main players. This is due to a number of factors, such as the need to enhance offerings and broaden geographical reach,” the report states.

Aaron Wetzel, vice president of Deere’s precision farming systems area, reinforces this idea, especially in relation to Internet connection technologies. “The value of connectivity for farmers is greater than any other single action. Connectivity opens up vast opportunities that were previously limited or unavailable,” says Wetzel.

He comments that by relying on connectivity services, farmers will be able to carry out production tasks in extremely short time intervals and in a precise manner. It will also be possible to manage machine performance, share data in real time, carry out remote diagnostics and minimize downtime.

To put the Starlink solution into use, Deere dealers will install a terminal on compatible machines, along with a 4G LTE JDLink modem to connect the machines to Deere’s operations center.

The solution will initially be available in a limited version in the United States and Brazil from the second half of 2024.

For SpaceX, this agreement with Deere may be being used as a response to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which, last December, reiterated its 2022 decision to deny Starlink nearly $900 million in subsidies to bring broadband Internet to rural areas of the country. The FCC said the decision was based on Starlink’s failure to meet the basic requirements of the federal program.

Another partnership

As well as Deer, another company that appears to be in talks with Starlink to offer broadband to remote areas is BT, the British telecommunications operator. The Telegraph reported that the talks include satellite phones and broadband services for regions where coverage is patchy, whether rural or not.

According to the report, BT is not interested in reselling Starlink terminals, which are already available to customers in the UK. The intention is to use Starlink’s satellite technology to improve its own services. From the looks of things, it also seems that BT’s initial interest is in improving connectivity for business use, although it could also offer obvious benefits to end users living in remote areas.

The question remains: what about OneWeb? Also of British origin, OneWeb became part of the French group Eutelsat in September 2023, becoming a subsidiary whose operations center remained in London. OneWeb has a fleet of 36 geostationary satellites and a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation of more than 600 satellites. In July last year, BT and OneWeb, in partnership with the UK government, began offering high-speed, low-latency connectivity to Lundy Island, providing the locality with reliable Internet connections for the first time.

In a press release, the companies cited that this is the first real-world example of how the strategic partnership between BT and OneWeb may be able to generate benefits for remote areas, both in the UK and elsewhere. They also mentioned that, in addition to Lundy, OneWeb’s LEO satellites are a crucial part of BT’s ambition to provide high-speed connectivity anywhere in the UK by 2028.

In fact, the partnership between BT and OneWeb began in November 2021, when they signed an agreement under which OneWeb would provide LEO satellite communication services across the BT group. BT would carry out integration tests between the satellites and its terrestrial assets. The most recent result of this agreement was precisely the initiative launched on Lundy Island.

As yet, the reasons for the possible talks between BT and Starlink are unknown. The only confirmation from BT is that tests are being carried out with Starlink technology at the Adastral Park Research & Development facility, which houses BT’s innovation labs, as well as a cluster of around 150 ICT companies and educational initiatives.

Another solution

On its website, Starlink also announced a new service for Internet service providers to offer symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 10 Gbps and latency of less than 99 ms to remote areas.

Through Starlink Community Gateways, Starlink satellites can provide fiber-like speeds that will be shared by local providers using last-mile or mobile networks. The costs are not very inviting: starting at US$ 75,000 per month per Gbps with an initial cost of US$ 1,250,000.

Starlink Community Gateway was first deployed in Alaska (USA), on the remote island of Unalaska.