Climate Corp., a California company that specializes in providing data analysis to agriculture, announced last week that farmers have enrolled more than 50,000 acres in its free web and mobile program during the nine months it’s been offered. The free program, called Climate Basic, offers farmers field by field weather information, crop progress updates and other data.

The company now plans to move aggressively to build acreage in its fee-based programs.

"We are un­­covering the value of data analysis for agriculture, and we think that farmers are ready for it," said David Friedberg, CEO of Climate Corp., during a press briefing at the Farm Progress Show in Boone. "You...