John Deere is going to build the Brazil Technology Development Center, its first development and testing center for tropical agriculture in the world. The company will invest around R$180 million (USD 37 million) in the project, with the aim of promoting synergy between the multiple R&D teams that are dedicated to designing and validating new products and technologies for the main production systems: grain, sugarcane, and special crops.
“Aware of the growing global demand for food and understanding the fundamental role that Brazil plays in this context, this Center will promote the development of everything that’s applicable to tropical agriculture. We’re going to be offering the Brazilian market a faster and better service than we do currently”, points out Jahmy Hindman, CTO for John Deere.
The new Center, which will cover an area of 500,000 m², will be located in Indaiatuba (SP). Construction started in November 2023 and the finished building is expected to be delivered by the end of 2024. Around 150 employees will work at the Center in the engineering and R&D areas.
“The center will allow products to be conceived and tested in Brazil considering all the variables: soil, climate, connectivity levels, etc. This will ensure that solutions are delivered to local customers more quickly so small, medium and large Brazilian producers can work in an even more productive, profitable and sustainable way”, says Antonio Carrere, Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Latin America.
Reducing development time
With the setting up of the new Brazil Technology Development Center, John Deere expects to reduce the development time for new solutions by up to 40%, depending on the type of project. The company has already launched products with a specific focus on the local market, such as its CH950 sugarcane harvester, a Brazilian project designed to meet the needs of the country’s sugarcane producers, and the S400 grain harvester, created for small and medium-size farms. This new Center will make it possible to speed up the delivery of solutions to the Brazilian market and considering its specific needs more and more.
The company’s Center for Precision Agriculture and Innovation (CAPI), which was set up in 2017 for research into and the development of the very latest trends in technological efficiency for farmers, with a focus on the use of hardware and software in precision agriculture, will now become an integral part of the new Center in Indaiatuba.
Expansion in Brazil
John Deere has been in Brazil since 1979, when it acquired part of the capital of Schneider Logemann & Cia (SLC), a plant located in Horizontina (RS) that was responsible for producing the first self-propelled harvester in the country, and its subsequent investments and expansion in the Brazilian market follow the history of agriculture in the country.
Among the units the company has inaugurated in Brazil, are the Parts Distribution Center for South America, the Training Center, and the Precision Agriculture and Innovation Center in Campinas (SP). It has also opened two Construction plants and the Regional Office for Latin America in Indaiatuba (SP), and expanded its plants in Catalão (GO), Horizontina (RS), Montenegro (RS) and Indaiatuba (SP) to manufacture more of its products locally.
John Deere has also acquired: Auteq Telemática, a software and on-board computer company; PLA, a manufacturer of sprayers; Unimil, which specializes in parts and after-sales service for sugarcane harvesters and Ciber, which is part of the Wirtgen Group, supplier of paving and road building solutions, which was acquired by John Deere in 2017.
Now with this new Center, the company is underlining the relevance of tropical agriculture as it continues investing in the country, both in product development and infrastructure. Its combined businesses in the country employ directly more than 9,000 people and produce equipment that is exported to more than 55 countries.
“We are extremely pleased to be announcing this investment, which is in line with our aim of further contributing to the development of the Brazilian market. Brazil has an important role to accomplish for the world and John Deere is proud to be part of this history”, concludes Carrere.
