CNH Revises Agreements:Users Own Their Agronomic Data

Although such companies as Deere & Co. and Monsanto’s Climate Corp. insist they have a right to all data collected as combines, tractors and other equipment work fields across the country, CNH Industrial this month updated its user agreements to explicitly state that farmers own their agronomic data, Reuters reported.

The American Farm Bureau Federation in January adopted an official policy calling for more transparency and farmer control. Farm Bureau officials met with several data companies this spring to drive home the point.

Company responses have varied. Climate Corp. rewrote its privacy policy, retaining the right to use farm data, but promising not to use it to speculate on commodities prices. Deere’s contracts for telematics service now limit how it can use data, but a separate document claims it can use the data it collects, however it sees fit, minus personally identifiable information.