Vancouver, Canada – Semios, the leading precision-farming platform for permanent crops, announced today it has acquired Altrac, developers of an agriculture automation platform enabling farmers to monitor and control important agricultural systems required to produce high-value crops from their computer or mobile device.
“Semios’ success is founded in helping farmers manage their risk and optimize yields through data, AI-driven insights and technology,” said Dr. Michael Gilbert, CEO of Semios. “Partnerships are a fundamental part of our strategy and last year we partnered with Altrac to combine the power of our per-acre, in-canopy climate sensors with Altrac's industry-leading frost fan automation devices to manage the potentially devastating impacts of frost on crops. Our customers were really excited about the results, which motivated us to make this investment in Altrac. We look forward to unlocking more opportunities together.”
Farmers have long struggled to keep up with the growing number of precision agriculture tools available to address critical issues threatening crops. The acquisition of Altrac is a pivotal first step in Semios’ ambitious strategy to consolidate crop management solutions into one, easy-to-use platform. Bringing independent applications into one dashboard with a single login makes them more accessible and beneficial to farmers.
“Semios has been a fantastic partner, and we are excited to further our collaboration to allow Altrac to accelerate the geographic reach and adoption of our wind machine and irrigation control solutions across North America,” said Neil Schultz, General Manager and co-founder of Altrac. “We know there are additional problems facing farmers that have yet to be solved, and we look forward to tackling them together as a combined solution.”
Through the integration of separate, complimentary solutions into one dashboard, Semios is simplifying the grower’s experience, saving customers time and money while providing the same installation, training, in-field service and remote support farmers have come to appreciate – and that the company is known for.
“Every phase of crop development is interconnected. Critical crop management decisions need the right data, at the right time, in order to achieve the right outcomes. Semios helps growers get the most accurate overview of their crop’s development as it happens, leading to informed decision making and ultimately better crop outcomes,” adds Gilbert.
With planned announcements of additional acquisitions and strategic partnerships on the horizon, Semios is taking big steps to simplify the experience for growers while helping them leverage technology to produce more food, more sustainably.
Lindsay Chan
lchan@national.ca
Founded in 2010, Vancouver-based Semios offers precision agriculture as a service that includes real-time crop data and pest management tools for growers of tree fruit, nuts and other permanent crops. The Semios analytics engine draws on diverse sources of data including a robust, wireless network of in-canopy IoT sensors on each customer farm measuring climate, soil moisture, insect and disease activity. Semios has been named to the Global Cleantech 100, an annual list of the 100 most innovative cleantech companies globally, and the Thrive Top 50, list of the 50 leading global AgTech companies. Semios continues to grow its crop management platform by partnering with other leading decision-aid farming solutions. www.semios.com
Altrac, based in San Francisco, CA is a leading developer of cellular control technology for agricultural equipment, including wind machines, pumps, and valves. Their equipment can be purchased through Semios, Agri-Valley Irrigation, Gar Bennett, Exeter Irrigation, Streamline Irrigation, Hydratec, and Western Ag & Turf, Wenatchee Wind, Amarillo Wind, and Chinook Wind Machines. Altrac.io