The world’s leading brewer AB InBev and Agrible, a company that develops software products and analytical tools for farming, announced a global partnership to improve barley production while minimizing environmental impact. Agrible, which was established in 2007 to collect and analyze field-specific data for better decision making in the agriculture industry, began a cooperation with AB InBev in 2016 on a project to forecast barley yield or production and quality factors through better crop modeling and predictive analytics for American farmers.
The relationship has developed beyond the United States into a major international expansion and will enable AB InBev farmers soon to have access to Agrible’s technology across multiple countries on a variety of crops, beginning with South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina.
Agrible will provide farmers with access to their proprietary software, Morning Farm Report. This software helps growers detect disease threats earlier, improve logistics planning, monitor crops on all fields, and improve quality and will enhance AB InBev’s existing SmartBarley program.
Smart Barley was launched in 2013 as an innovative platform and incubator which leverages data, technology, and insights to help farmers solve challenges and improve their productivity and environmental performance. Today, SmartBarley is present in 13 countries across 5 continents.
Agrible and AB InBev will also work together to develop sustainability insights and metrics in areas such as water use, land efficiency, and the carbon footprint from growing and sourcing ingredients.
“We are very excited to form this relationship with AB InBev to continue bringing world class software, predictive analytics, and expertise to farmers everywhere,” says Chris Harbourt, CEO of Agrible. “Our insights can truly change the face of agriculture across the globe and help companies of all sizes capture efficiencies and make their operations more sustainable.”
“Quality ingredients are the key to brewing our world class beers. Morning Farm Report from Agrible is an exciting addition to our ongoing work in agricultural development to help our farmers around the world produce the best barley possible while also ensuring we are living up to our promise of creating a better world,” says Katie Hoard, Global Director of Agricultural Innovation at AB InBev.
