Quad Cities-based Deere & Company is spending millions to buy a Silicone Valley-based company.

Deere will pay $305 million this month for Blue River Technology, a Sunnyvale, California, ag technology firm. Blue River has 60 employees and will remain in Sunnyvale.

John May is president of Deere’s Agricultural Solutions. He says the Blue River team has designed technology that helps farmers reduce the use of herbicides by spraying only where weeds are present.

Ag technology includes the use of drones and robotics to efficiently grow crops. Deere is Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer.

(By Phil Roberts, Davenport)