In late August, Trimble announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bilberry, a startup focused on using artificial intelligence for spot spraying.
The Bilberry technology has been developed as a retrofit system for sprayers to provide both green-on-green and green-on-brown applications. Its case studies have shown the system can reduce the use of herbicides by more than 80%.
Bilberry was started in France in 2016 and was privately held.
“Our planned acquisition of Bilberry builds out Trimble’s crop protection portfolio by adding green-on-green selective spraying capabilities and supports our development of autonomous solutions,” Jim Chambers, vice president of Trimble Agriculture said in a news release. “The Bilberry solution is brand agnostic and compatible with a broad range of spraying equipment manufacturers, which is ideal for mixed fleet operations. This capability, together with existing Trimble competencies, will enable us to expand our role in the growing market for precision agriculture solutions that can reduce input costs, create efficiencies for our customers and drive sustainability in farming.”
The addition of Bilberry’s AI technology and extensive worldwide weed database will extend Trimble’s crop protection portfolio, which currently includes WeedSeeker.
“Trimble is a leading provider of precision agriculture solutions, and we are excited about the opportunity to take our business to the next level. As customer demand continues to grow for selective spraying technology, we will be able to leverage relationships with Trimble’s worldwide distribution channel,” said Guillaume Jourdain, co-founder and CEO of Bilberry. “Our technology will offer farmers the ability to gain even more efficiencies out of their existing or new equipment with innovative spraying solutions that have a positive impact on the environment.”
