AGCO Opens Acceleration Center at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Jan 30, 2018

The University of Illinois and AGCO announced today the opening of the AGCO Acceleration Center at University of Illinois Research Park. The Acceleration Center will advance technology innovation for AGCO’s grain, seed processing, swine and poultry production equipment brands, which include GSI, Cimbria, AP and Cumberland. At the Center, University of Illinois undergraduate and graduate students will be employed year-round to further the company’s capabilities in areas such as data science, web and mobile development, and machine learning.

The Center will focus on developing new-to-market solutions and advanced technologies to help farmers protect their harvest and their animals to feed a growing world population.

“With the global population projected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, the world’s future depends on food security. Ensuring we have sufficient food to meet the demand of a growing population while addressing resource and environmental limitations are a global challenge that we are committed to solving,” said Tom Welke, Senior Vice President, Global Grain & Protein, GSI.

“A global industry leader such as AGCO represents a significant addition to the blooming Ag Tech sector in the Research Park,” said University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert J. Jones. “This is a place that knows more about innovation and invention than any other, and does so at massive scale. AGCO’s interdisciplinary approach to innovation and finding solutions to feed the world aligns very closely with the university’s goals for its next 150 years.”

The Center opens with seven highly-skilled student interns and two full-time employees working to advance the use of mixed reality technology in the agriculture industry and bring next generation monitoring and management tools to market for grain and livestock producers.

“Not only will the Acceleration Center explore new ways to help farmers build smarter, stronger farms, but it also provides students with a valuable growth opportunity to work on real-life projects with a global agriculture company,” said Lena Swearingen-Head, AGCO Acceleration Center site director. AGCO will continue to recruit University talent and full-time staff as additional projects come to fruition.

The Acceleration Center extends AGCO’s presence in Central Illinois, where the global headquarters for its grain, swine and poultry divisions are also located.

Source : AGCO

Video: 2025 USDA December Crop Report a “Dud” + Trump $12 Billion U.S. Farm Aid

The USDA December crop report was friendly corn, neutral soybeans and bearish wheat. The USDA did surprise and increase the 25/26 U.S. corn export forecast to a new record high at 3.2 billion bushels now up 12% vs. last year vs. prior at +9% vs. the export pace to date up 30% the best in 10 years even higher than 20/21! The USDA left the 25/26 U.S. soybean export pace unchanged at 1.635 billion bushels. Higher global wheat supplies will remain a weight and headwind for wheat into year end and start of 2026.
Mexico is now the #1 buyer of U.S. corn, soybeans (usually China), wheat and pork!
USDA also released its long-term early projections but expect more changes by February of 2026.
Trump announces a $12 billion U.S. farmer aid package to be paid out by February 28, 2026. This helps no one but the ag banks, farm equipment companies, seed and fertilizer companies. It does prevent more farmer bushels from being sold near-term but is not bullish grain prices long-term. The Trump administration should focus on increasing U.S. domestic demand and propping up grain futures so farmers can cover their higher costs, up since COVID of 2020.
The China U.S. soybean purchase tracker now stands at 4.521 mmt or 38% of the 12 mmt promised by China at year end or is it end of February or the growing season? Why the discrepancy vs. the fact sheet. The optics are poor for the Trump administration.
After surging to contract highs U.S. natural gas futures plunged over 30+% in just 5-trading days!
Silver traded to new record highs as the debasement and de dollarization trade continued but technicals remain overbought near-term.
Soybean futures remained in correction mode after the funds went record long futures on Nov. 19 +233,000 contracts but the $10.80 support should hold into year end when the fund profit taking/liquidation comes to an end from the year end, end of month and end of quarter selling.
The U.S. Fed cut interest rates for the 3rd time by 25 basis points to a range of 3.50 – 3.75% and they will only cut one more time in 2026 and once in 20267/ but when Powell is gone next April the replacement is willing to cut more aggressively and we could see U.S. interest rates fall to 2.0% very bullish for ag and stocks as it could reignite inflation into 2027.
After 2 months of being drier than normal in Brazil the rains have finally arrived for the 1st half of December, and a record crop is still in the cards but if this pattern continues and verifies it could start to delay the harvest. Argentina after being too wet has turned dry but they are too small, compared top Brazil in the grand picture.
The Canadian dollar surged to $0.73 after better-than-expected employment data with 180,000 new jobs in the past 3-months and 3rd quarter GDP at +2.6% but this could be short-lived.
The latest CFTC report as of 11-19-2025 reported a record long fund position in soybeans at +233,000 contracts when 2026 March soybean futures peaked on 11-19-25 at $11.724/bu.