Monsanto Brings Agriculture Geodata to the Public

If you report on agriculture-related environmental issues, you may find useful a new geodata tool available free to the public online.

It's brought to you by Monsanto. Don't be scared off right away. Monsanto has bought The Climate Corporation, which compiles weather, soil, and crop data down to the field level. Withhold judgment for a while — even if the October 2013 purchase is part of a corporate effort to dominate agriculture.

You can quickly sign up for the free "Climate Basic" account — although the "Pro" version will cost you.

Tim McDonnell, who staffs the news collaboration Climate Desk, notes that this data can show how U.S. corn production has shifted some 200 miles northward as a result of climate change.

• Climate Basic (The Climate Corporation).
• "Monsanto Is Using Big Data To Take Over the World," Mother Jones, November 19, 2014, by Tim McDonnell.
• "Old McDonald Had a ...Database?" PublicSource, November 20, 2014, by Eric Holmberg.
• "Monsanto Buys Climate Corp. for $930 Million," San Francisco Chronicle, November 13, 2013, by Andrew S. Ross.