In September 2017, Blue River was acquired by John Deere. Blue River Technology is developing ways to make large-scale agricultural farming more sustainable through the use of computer vision and robotics. The firm is developing an alternative to chemical-intensive agriculture using computer vision to identify weeds in organic crop fields before selectively eliminating them with a very hot organic oil substance. Blue River has developed a farm robotics technology using computer vision that can see, diagnose, and execute actions such as deciding to spray a weed with herbicide â avoiding the crop â or to thin the crop. IWith is âSee & Sprayâ weed control machine offered in 2016, the company claims it can reduce agrochemical use by 90% with this technology. The firm's product is tractor mountable and is an alternative to chemical fertilizers, which organic farmers can't use. Blue River Technologyâs equipment is significantly more efficient than traditional methods of weed elimination and automated solution is particularly well-suited to organic agriculture and for fields with chemical-resistant weeds. The firm developed the LettuceBot, a precision thinning system that uses cutting-edge robotics and machine learning algorithms to allow plant-by-plant decisions that increase yield - ultimately earning more value from the exact same acre. The company was invited to the Davos Word Economic Forum
