Merged Bayer-Monsanto will corner the market on farm data and software

he Department of Justice (DOJ) is expected to approve the merger between Bayer and Monsanto. If that happens, the world’s newest and largest seed and chemical company will have more in common with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica than meets the eye. In recent years, large agrochemical companies, including Bayer and Monsanto, have been heavily investing in digital agriculture. This new platform involves collecting data from farms, then building mathematical models and algorithms aimed at giving farmers real-time information on how to grow and manage their crops.There are a number of ag tech start-ups producing digital agriculture products. However, it appears that Monsanto and Bayer are trying to become like the Microsoft of the late-1990s and control the future of this emerging industry.  Bayer has reportedly agreed to divest all of its digital agriculture assets to assuage the fears of antitrust regulators. Don’t be fooled by this misdirection. Bayer never even released its digital farming platform, Xarvio Field Manager, in the United States, but the company will be happy to take over Monsanto’s similar products.