Land O’Lakes Inc. and Microsoft have renewed their multi-year partnership to develop new artificial intelligence tools for farmers and agronomists. The agreement builds on five years of collaboration and focuses on practical technology that improves on-farm decision-making and operational efficiency.
A key part of this new phase is “Oz,” an AI-powered assistant created with Microsoft’s Azure AI platform. The tool uses decades of Land O’Lakes agronomic data to give quick, clear answers to crop and management questions. Agronomists can use Oz on mobile devices to support farmers throughout the growing season. The beta version is already in use, and a wider rollout is planned for next year.
Helping Farmers Make Decisions Faster
Producers continue to face high costs, lower margins, and unpredictable markets. Because of this, many operations are looking for tools that simplify decisions and reduce risk. Land O’Lakes and Microsoft say the goal of Oz is to bring trusted agronomic information directly to the people who need it, in real time.
Oz draws on the long-standing Land O’Lakes Crop Protection Guide and millions of related data points. This gives retail agronomists quick access to information they would normally need to search through manually.
A Broader Digital Shift
The partnership reflects a larger technology transition within Land O’Lakes. The company has moved most of its IT system to Microsoft Azure and has begun using customized Microsoft Copilot tools across the business. These internal copilots use agriculture-specific data to improve accuracy and speed for employees and retail advisors.
In addition, the companies highlighted several digital projects already supporting U.S. farmers, including:
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A Digital Ag Platform that helps farmers improve soil health and monitor field performance.
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A Digital Dairy solution that tracks production data, even in areas with poor connectivity, and uses AI to predict consumer demand.
Together, these tools show how data and AI can support both crop and livestock operations.
More Tools on the Way
Land O’Lakes and Microsoft say Oz is the first of several new AI tools they plan to develop. Future projects will focus on efficiency, sustainability, input management, and integrated decision support.
Both companies describe the renewed partnership as a way to bring modern technology to farms in a practical and usable format. Their shared aim is to help producers adapt to economic pressure and changing market needs.
