Precision farming has revolutionised agriculture in recent years. But with so much technology and technical advice available, navigating this digital revolution can be a daunting task.
Showcasing cutting-edge developments to drive efficiency, the Cereals Event will have everything from digital agronomy software to precision slurry systems on display. Here’s a preview of what four exhibitors have to offer.
John Deere sees the future of faming in connectivity. Its latest FarmSight services and support packages make the most of machine, field, and agronomist data in the decision-making process.
The technology is designed to increase productivity and reduce cost, especially when paired with other precision farming systems such as AutoTrac automatic steering and Section Control for sprayers and spreaders.
With the JDLink telematics system, remote display access (RDA), wireless data transfer (WDT) and mobile data transfer (MDT) are available to connect all makes of machine and ISOBUS implements to the customer’s personalised Operations Centre in the MyJohnDeere.com website portal.
WDT allows two-way exchange of set-up files, prescription maps and documentation data between the office and the machine in the field. It automates data transfer and reduces the risk of losing information. MDT delivers similar basic features, but mainly targets older John Deere machines and equipment of other makes that are not enabled for CANbus data collection with JDLink.
Efficiency in the office is as crucial to farming as precision in the field. Geofolia from Landmark is an easy to use program that consolidates crop recording, stock records, costings, and mapping all in one place.
Keith Morris, Landmark’s Sales Manager, said: “We were being asked by farmers to provide crop recording to cover Crop Assurance, stock records, costings and mapping all in one place, avoiding the need for multiple spreadsheets, and also with a cloud and mobile app option to aid manager and operator alike”. New features for CEREALS include Invoice Import from KEYPrime Accounts, Agronomist’s Import and extended reporting to include traceability and costing.
User Stephen Eales explained economic benefits he is seeing since becoming an early adopter of Geofolia. His Sussex business, J.G. Eales & Sons, is a 1200 acre arable test site and from the start he was impressed by the time saving in the program. “Duplicate jobs are reduced by easy ‘copy activity’ features and measuring costs, by crop or by hectare is simple. The backdrop map and range of crops have been improved for 2018 making screens cleaner, tidier and even more relevant to the environmental scheme options available in the UK.”
See Vaderstad’s latest high-speed planter at Cereals 2018, a precision drill with row spacing down to 500mm, ideal for planting crops such as oilseed rape and sugar beet, and an iPad-based control system that wirelessly delivers data about each seed.
The new Tempo L 18 precision drill will be available with row spacing down to 500mm, making it ideal for planting crops such as oilseed rape and sugar beet. It has 18 row units and is available with 500mm or 508mm row spacing.
