John Deere is tapping into Brazil’s agriculture growth through technological advancements and a focus on addressing agtech adoption issues, like connectivity, that are still impacting most Brazilian farmers, company executives shared during the Brazil investor day on June 10.
John Deere executives spent nearly an hour and a half at its Indaiatuba, Brazil facility, outlining the company’s strategy for the country and highlighting three focus areas — increasing yield and crop efficiency, boosting operational productivity and facilitating farmer connectivity. Boosting technology adoption will not only unlock growth for John Deere but for the broader ag sector, executives said throughout the presentation.
John Deere’s Operations Center — a web-based portal for remote management of farming equipment and services launched in 2012 — is a linchpin to the tractor maker’s precision agriculture strategy in Brazil and abroad, Antonio Carrere, VP of marketing and sales for Latin America, said.
“A key part of transformation has been the introduction of the John Deere Operations Center, our digital farm management platform that ties production systems together with and enables machine optimization, logistics management and agronomic insights,” he elaborated.
Boosting connectivity across Brazil’s ag sector
Brazilian farmers are still facing cellular and internet connectivity issues, making real-time communications difficult, executives pointed out. Only a third (33.9%) of Brazilian farmlands have 4G or 5G coverage, according to a report from Brazil nonprofit ConectarAGRO Association.
Earlier this year, John Deere released its satellite connectivity offering, JDLink Boost — made possible by a partnership with Elon Musk’s Starlink — to connect farmers with “little to no cellular coverage,” the OEM shared at the time. John Deere sold more than 4,000 of these services, according to data shared during the presentation.
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Connectivity between Brazilian farmers and John Deere is improving. The tractor maker connected 73,000 machines in the country in 2024, a 41% CAGR over the last four years, the company shared during the presentation. John Deere plans to “deliver 2.5 times the number of currently connected machines in Brazil by 2030,” Cristiano Correia, VP of production systems for Latin America, said.
“As more and more pieces of equipment get connected, our customers are expanding and enhancing the value per acre benefit they receive from precision technology. The progress that we are making in this area ... will continue to have a direct impact on Deere’s global Leap Ambitions,” Correia elaborated.
Brazil: An agriculture powerhouse thanks to tech, climate, government policy
The Indaiatuba facility — where the Brazil investor day took place — is symbolic of John Deere’s commitment to the region, opening late last year and marking the tractor maker’s first research and development center in the Southern Hemisphere.
John Deere has gradually ramped up its Brazilian-based innovation since entering the country more than 45 years ago, creating tractors and equipment designed especially for Brazil’s tropical climate.
Brazil’s agriculture benefits from double cropping — the ability to plant more than one crop in a year — requiring specific and tailor-made equipment, Isabela Aranovich, production system manager, strategy and innovation of Latam at John Deere, explained.
Brazil’s position close to the equator means that its temperatures are conducive to year-round growing, whereas US and Canadian farmers can only harvest once a year due to cold winters.
“As more and more pieces of equipment get connected, our customers are expanding and enhancing the value per acre benefit they receive from precision technology. The progress that we are making in this area ... will continue to have a direct impact on Deere’s global Leap Ambitions.”
Cristiano Correia, VP of production systems for Latin America
“After harvesting soybeans in January, in many cases, a planter follows closely behind the combine planting seeds at the same time the field is being harvested,” Aranovich elaborated.
Brazil became “one of the preeminent farming countries of the world,” including the number one producer of soybeans and sugar cane in the world, due to a combination of “technological productivity improvements, supportive government policy, improved infrastructure and rising global demand,” Correia explained.
“Brazil is truly an incredible and immensely diverse country that has established itself as a key player in the agricultural world. We are as excited as ever about the opportunities in front of us, and we are emboldened by what we, our dealers, and most importantly, our customers, have accomplished over the past 25 years. Importantly, we are confident in the differentiated value and sustainable growth we can deliver for our customers and Deere,” Josh Jepsen, SVP and CFO at John Deere, said.