Sponsored for the first time by John Deere, NAAC Contractor 2017 at the East of England Showground on Thursday 14th December is the UK’s only national event for the professional land-based contractor.
This combined conference and exhibition will address the important role that contractors play and examine how they may need to adapt to the changing needs of the farming industry post-Brexit. As well as an exhibition of contractor specific machinery and services, the day will feature high profile speakers at a morning conference, with additional transport-focused discussion and debate in the afternoon.
The speakers include NFU president Meurig Raymond, secretary and adviser to the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers Jeremy Moody, John Deere Limited managing director Jonathan Henry, NAAC member and chairman of the Agricultural Operations section Matt Redman, Waitrose agriculture manager Duncan Sinclair and agricultural supply consultant Cedric Porter of Supply Intelligence.
The John Deere stand, situated next to the NAAC seminar area, will include an interactive tractor optimisation feature using models to illustrate tractor ballasting, tyre pressure, axle loading and overall weight, based on using a front loader, trailer and both mounted and trailed implements. Visitors will be able to complete a simple worksheet to calculate the correct weight and ballast requirements.
The company will also be demonstrating aspects of John Deere Connected Support, which is designed to help improve machinery uptime. A free Connected Machine remote health check can be carried out on the stand for any customer’s machine working on the day with an active JDLink subscription, which just requires the vehicle’s serial number.
A John Deere survey conducted with a large target group of 243 contractors in the Netherlands in 2015 showed that investment in a connectivity package provided average savings of 56 per cent in administration costs, over 30 per cent faster work processes and earlier invoicing, and a 33 per cent lower risk of errors.
John Deere sees the future of farming in connectivity, making the most of machine, field and agronomist data in the decision making process. The company is pioneering the use of such data based around the personalised MyJohnDeere.com website portal and a range of connected machines and systems.
The Operations Centre in MyJohnDeere.com serves as the central online location for contractors, fleet operators and farmers to connect to their machines and their fields. It also allows a wide range of partners to provide additional support to customers, including implement manufacturers, agricultural input suppliers, software companies and agricultural service providers such as crop advisors and other specialist consultants.
The latest dedicated apps make it very easy to keep track of machinery, get advice on seed and fertiliser rates or spray requirements and monitor machine productivity by working together with, and being connected to, the dealer, farm adviser and other suppliers.
John Deere’s latest FarmSight services and support packages, including features such as Remote Display Access (RDA), Wireless Data Transfer (WDT) and Service Advisor Remote, are now widely available from John Deere dealer specialists. All of this technology is designed to increase productivity and reduce cost, especially when paired with other AMS (Agricultural Management Solutions) systems such as AutoTrac automatic steering and Section Control for sprayers and spreaders.
