The Toro Co., a provider of solutions for the outdoors, has announced a strategic minority equity investment in GreenSight Agronomics, a Boston-based provider of a drone intelligence platform for turfgrass and agricultural markets.
Toro and its family of brands provide care for golf courses, sports fields, public green spaces, commercial and residential properties, and agricultural operations. The company says the new investment will further its efforts in turf sensing technology to help golf course professionals improve turf and water management practices. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“As the golf industry expands its efforts to improve play and more efficiently use water, the application and advancement of technology will play a vital role,” says Philip Burkart, vice president of Toro’s irrigation and lighting businesses. “We are intrigued and see great potential to align with GreenSight Agronomics to apply their technologies and analytics with our water management expertise to further provide our customers with the best solutions. We look forward to working with the GreenSight team on ways to integrate their technologies into our Lynx Central Control system, with the intent of expanding the capabilities and access to timely course information so customers can address problems quickly and more precisely.”
GreenSight’s patent-pending system, which combines automated drones and sensors, provides thermal mapping and detection analytics to help golf course professionals improve turf health with less labor. The technology enables customers to identify issues before they become visible and achieve better outcomes with less water, fertilizer and pesticide use. The company recently received a Part 107 waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration for operating beyond the visual line of sight of the operator.
“GreenSight is redefining precision agriculture by packaging automated drones, custom sensors and machine learning into a turnkey service. We are excited to partner with The Toro Co. to deliver customers the ultimate in irrigation management technology for golf courses and beyond,” says James Peverill, CEO of GreenSight Agronomics.
