The world of big data shifted last week with an agreement between John Deere and Climate Corporation that enables nearly real-time data transfer between Deere equipment and the Climate FieldView platform.

The companies hailed the deal as the first, and only, near real-time in-cab wireless connection to John Deere equipment by a third party.

"To maximize the value of digital agriculture, farmers need solutions for simple and seamless collection of in-field agronomic data," said Mike Stern, president and chief operating officer for the...