John Deere Enters Joint Venture with SurePoint Ag Systems

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) has entered into a joint venture with SureFire Ag Systems and its subsidiary, SureFire Electronics, a leader in planter fertilizer and sprayer mixing systems based in Atwood, Kansas. The joint venture will operate under the brand names SurePoint Ag Systems and SurePoint Electronics.

SurePoint designs and manufactures liquid fertilizer application and spray tendering systems, and anhydrous and irrigation injection equipment. The company excels at building customized kits to upgrade fertilizer application technology on planters, with instructions and teams that can help dealers install kits for customers. SurePoint works across brands, providing producers with increased options for planter fertilizer systems and access to new technology. Through the joint venture, SurePoint will have access to select Deere technologies to enhance productivity across a wide range of products.

SurePoint was founded in 2007 as SureFire Ag Systems by Josh and Lisa Wolters, Blaine and Erin Ginther, and Matt Wolters, who saw an opportunity to help producers better apply fertilizer, chemicals, and other crop inputs. In 2012, SureFire Electronics was created to address the need for electrical components to support precision. Together, the companies have over 80 full-time employees.

"Producers are continually looking for opportunities to upgrade existing equipment with new technology to enhance productivity, sustainability, and reduce costs," said Miles Keaton, Director, Performance Upgrades at John Deere. "We appreciate SurePoint's focus on providing modern technology for existing equipment with the customization needed to easily install valuable solutions."

"The SurePoint team remains committed to helping customers across all brands of equipment and is excited to be able to work with more producers to adopt and utilize more leading technology," said Josh Wolters, Chief Executive Officer at SurePoint Ag Systems. "Growing this business continues to be important to us. We look forward to growing further with a market leader."

SurePoint will retain its employees and sales channels and will continue to operate from its current location. Employees, customers, and business partners should notice little change in daily operations. Financial terms of the agreement are not being made public.