BASF to strengthen digital farming offer with acquisition of ZedX Inc.

Limburgerhof, Germany and Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, USA – April 25, 2017 – BASF has signed an agreement to acquire US-based company ZedX, a leader in the development of digital agricultural intelligence. The acquisition is expected to be completed within four weeks.

 

ZedX’s expertise lies in the development of agronomic weather, crop, and pest models that can rapidly translate data into insights for more efficient agricultural production. With the planned acquisition, BASF strengthens its digital farming footprint and further invests in helping growers take advantage of the increasing amount of big data generated in farming and beyond.

 

“BASF is playing an active role in the digital transformation of agriculture. We are constantly evaluating how digital solutions can help our customers,” said Jürgen Huff, Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Marketing of BASF’s Crop Protection division. “ZedX’s experts impressed us with their extensive and deep know-how in agronomic models. We are very pleased to incorporate their knowledge into our offers to serve farmers’ needs through innovative products and services.”

 

In a time when digital transformation is changing business approaches BASF aims to ensure that agronomic insights and recommendations from digital solutions help its customers to make better, more informed decisions.

 

As Keith Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer of ZedX, explained, “We see ourselves as the ones connecting the dots. We develop innovative products and solutions for our customers by finding the shortest path between data, analytics, knowledge management, and decision-making.” Headquartered in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, ZedX was founded in 1987 and has built a data platform offering agronomic models, visualization tools, and tailored analytical solutions.

 

BASF’s planned acquisition of ZedX builds upon a strong established relationship between the companies. Joe Russo, ZedX’s Founder and President, pointed out that during a three-year collaboration the partnership has already shown great results. “Our modeling expertise coupled with BASF’s knowledge of chemistry has truly benefited growers and agriculture. For example, we developed a model that, based on important weather and environmental conditions, identifies the right window of application for a BASF herbicide.”

 

Weather conditions, soil temperature, wind speed – all of these factors can influence the performance of crop protection products. By acquiring ZedX, BASF will be able to help farmers use their resources more efficiently and sustainably. Also, it will further complement BASF’s online platform offer;MaglisTM launched in 2016.

 

“The smart use of digital solutions can open up all sectors of the economy to many new opportunities, and farming is no exception. ZedX is a great fit to our growth plan. We will strengthen our sales by offering targeted advice, insights and recommendations and by interacting more closely with our customers,” concluded Huff.

 

About BASF’s Crop Protection division

With a rapidly growing population, the world is increasingly dependent on our ability to develop and maintain sustainable agriculture and healthy environments. BASF’s Crop Protection division works with farmers, agricultural professionals, pest management experts and others to help make this possible. With their cooperation, BASF is able to sustain an active R&D pipeline, an innovative portfolio of products and services, and teams of experts in the lab and in the field to support customers in making their businesses succeed. In 2016, BASF’s Crop Protection division generated sales of more than €5.6 billion. For more information, please visit us at www.agriculture.basf.com or on any of our social media channels.

 

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 112,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of more than €70 billion in 2015. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at  www.basf.com.

 

About ZedX
ZedX, Inc. has been a leader in the development of information technology (IT) products and services for the agriculture sector since 1987. ZedX is known for its innovation and custom solutions for growers, consultants, universities, government and industry. It is globally recognized for its integration of weather, plant, pest, and management models in support of production decisions and food security at all spatial and temporal scales important to agriculture. ZedX has stayed true to its mission for thirty years to build advanced knowledge systems and concomitant IT tools to ensure abundant food and a healthy environment for a growing population, and to support the foundations of sustainability. Additional information is available at  www.zedxinc.com.