Partnering with industry for ag innovation
AMES, Iowa – The Digital Ag Innovation Lab’s “north star” is to be the premier thought leader and partner in agricultural innovation.
Led by Matt Darr, professor in agricultural and biosystems engineering, Digital Ag has emerged as a global leader both in its approach to cultivating unique industry partnerships and through impactful farmer outreach efforts in partnership with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
The lab, which employs more than 65 full-time staff, graduate and undergraduate students, is located at the Iowa State University Research Park in the Alliant Energy Ag Innovation Lab. Everything they do is guided by the lab’s three mission areas: innovate, outreach and educate.
“We’re focused on creating value for farmers, and our work is centered on creating partnerships with industry to solve difficult problems that integrate technology and efficiency into machines and agronomic systems,” Darr says.
Companies of all sizes engage with Digital Ag for its expertise in advanced sensing and algorithms, controls and automation, digital agronomy, and testing, development, deployment and refinement of products aligned with the team’s core expertise.
John Deere has been a key partner for more than a decade. Jahmy Hindman, senior vice president and chief technology officer with John Deere, leads efforts to improve John Deere’s technology solutions. Working alongside Digital Ag’s engineers and researchers, the company has enhanced its control systems on products in customer hands, like self-propelled sprayers and row crop planters.
“We want to make producers better at what they do,” Hindman says. “The Digital Ag team has allowed us to do that and has been a true partner. Our relationship with them is unique among our work across academic institutions in how tightly integrated they are in our product development.”
Three years ago, Bayer began its first field trial with the Digital Ag team. Now, the company has expanded that to 12 research studies to improve seed quality and modify equipment to be more efficient, which can lead to higher yields for farmers.
Shannon Hauf, senior vice president and head of North America, Australia and New Zealand product supply with Bayer, says it has been great to have a team of experts to turn to for solutions.
“The Digital Ag team moves quickly, and they’re highly collaborative,” Hauf says. “We think of their team as an extension of ours.”
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Originally published by Iowa State University in August 2026.