Five Technology Patents from John Deere and What They Might Mean for the Future of Precision Agriculture
Introducing Upstream Ag Insights Patent Analysis: Uncovering the Innovations Shaping Agribusiness
At Upstream Ag Insights, we’re launching a new series designed to peel back the curtain on the innovation driving agribusinesses forward: their patent portfolios.
We’ll analyze what each patent represents—breaking down how these innovations could impact farmers, reshape agribusiness strategies, and shift the industry’s trajectory.
But that’s not all. As this series unfolds, we’ll connect the dots:
Highlighting collaboration opportunities between companies,
Spotting shared innovation themes across competitors and industry segments
And uncovering the bigger picture behind individual patents.
To kick things off, we’re diving deep into the patents of Deere & Company, one of the most influential players in agriculture.
If you want to dig even deeper, the full patent documents are attached to this article.
This new series promises insights you won’t find anywhere else, helping you think strategically about the future of agribusiness.
Never miss a patent breakdown:
Index:
Overview
Field of Bots: John Deere’s Robot Patent
Robotic Evolution: John Deere’s Multi-Legged Design for Smarter Farming
Precision Unleashed: John Deere's Vision for Smarter Soil Testing
Real-Time Soil Intelligence: John Deere’s Soil Prediction Maps
The Next Evolution of See & Spray: Targeted Plant Spray Application
Final Thoughts
Overview
Deere & Company was founded on innovation and solving problems.
John Deere, a blacksmith, set up a blacksmith shop in Grand Detour, Illinois and began working on tools and equipment for the local farming community — pitchforks, shovels etc.
What he noticed of his customers were their struggles with the sticky, heavy Midwestern prairie soil, which clung to the wooden and cast-iron plows designed for the sandy soils of the East. After each pass, farmers had to stop and scrape off the soil by hand, making plowing slow and even more labor-intensive.
Deere’s breakthrough came in 1837, when he made a plow out of a broken saw blade. He shaped and polished the steel blade, giving it a curved design that allowed the soil to slide off easily. This "self-scouring" plow proved to be revolutionary. It significantly reduced the effort required to prepare the land for planting and became an instant success among local farmers.
That was nearly two centuries ago, and the company has introduced technologies that empower farmers to increase efficiency, enhance precision, and tackle modern challenges— whether through engineering, software, artificial intelligence, new services (eg: John Deere Financial) or business model innovation. These innovations not only help individual farmers optimize their operations but also drive progress across the broader agricultural industry, addressing issues like labor shortages, sustainability, and climate resilience.
One telling indicator of how a company envisions the future is its patent portfolio.
Patents can offer a window into the innovation and strategic priorities and emerging technologies a company is investing in to evolve its products and services. While many may never come to fruition in a commercial state, and sometimes the patents are defensive in nature, it gives a view into what the company is thinking about.
For John Deere, these patents showcase their commitment to advancing precision agriculture, robotics, and the role of soil in crop production.
By examining notable patents, we can gain insight into the innovative tools and systems being developed to address farmers' needs and push the boundaries of farming.
Here are five of their most recent granted patents that stood out to me when digging into their patent portfolio.
1. Field of Bots: John Deere’s Multi-Field Robots Patent
There has been frequent talks over the last decade about swarms of robots, while the commercialization of machines by Deere & Co has unquestionably been “bigger and bigger.”
That doesn’t mean they don’t see the potential for smaller, more dexterous machines in a field though.
The linked patent highlights that John Deere has considered a system to manage a fleet of semi-autonomous robots that can perform a variety of tasks with minimal need for human intervention.
The idea is to let the robots handle as much work as possible, such as harvesting, pruning, weeding, or applying chemicals. A human operator steps in only when a robot encounters a task it can’t effectively complete on its own. The approach allows a single person or a small team to manage many robots.
According to the patent, the process would begin with “scout robots” that use cameras and sensors to gather data from the field. These robots analyze plant conditions and identify tasks that need to be done, such as eradicating weeds, spraying a fungicide, or as stated in the patent, releasing beneficial insects.
The data collected can even pinpoint specific parts of plants that need attention.
“Parts of the plant” is a theme in John Deere’s patent portfolio (more later), they aren’t stopping at just the plant itself, but getting into plant segments:
This might sound unnecessary, but becomes compelling when thinking about an evolution towards See & Spray for insects, for example.
Deere goes on to state that once tasks are identified, this information is used to assign jobs to “worker robots.” The human operator can use a computer or tablet interface to guide the robot for such tasks: