MyDealer:
JDLink, John Deere’s inbuilt telematics system, is now available on John Deere machinery at no cost, ensuring farmers and contractors have agronomic and machine data right at their fingertips.
John Deere is the first manufacturer in the Australian farm machinery sector to take this step, saving customers $450 a year, while also providing greater insight into their machinery and their business.
Vanderfield customer Ben Harris operates AB Contract Farming out of Rowena in Northern NSW, and his fleet of John Deere equipment, from speed tillers to planters and spray rigs, is an essential part of his operation.
JDLink, with the support of Vanderfield’s precision ag division, VNET, means Ben can keep an eye across his business no matter where he is working on that day, with easy access to his data to help with business decision making.
“JDLink has been a gamechanger for running my business. It helps me organise my machines and know which one I need to send to which job, which machines need to be filled up with fuel, fertiliser, spray, how many acres they’ve covered, which machines I’ve used on different jobs, and it also stores all the data history as well as tracking weather conditions. With all that data I can then plan ahead for the next day of work, and see how the conditions might impact the jobs we’ve got planned,” Ben says.
As a contract farmer, it’s even more important that Ben knows how his machines are functioning, where they are working, and if they are facing any issues that need to be attended to.
“The responsibility doesn’t just lie with my business; I have staff and other farms I’m looking after, so I need my data to be accurate and easy to access when I need it. I could be working with 30-50 customers one season. That’s a lot of data and information to be across, and I can’t be in more than one place at once. The data needs to be exact to ensure I’m getting the job done right, on time, and on budget. JDLink helps me do that.
“Without JDLink, all of my data would just be on paper, and would take hours for me to fill out and note down, and would make it really difficult to manage all my jobs, and give it the attention to detail it needs to be delivered on time. Having it all stored in an app on my phone, right at my fingertips, is a lifesaver,” Ben says.
“And when there are any issues or machine faults, it’s easy for me or the VNET team to access and address quickly, as it’s all stored the John Deere Operations Centre. I can alert the team that I might be having a problem, and they can quickly jump in and resolve, or let me know what to do, instead of driving out to meet me. It’s quick and easy support from both JDLink and VNET.”
VNET supports Vanderfield customers with advice and support on how to best utilise precision agriculture, whether it’s equipment optimisation, data collection, data analysis or the implementation of practices such as land forming or variable rate. The VNET team has years of experience to help customers get the most value from their fleet.
Customers who have recently gained access to JDLink and are interested to know how to best use it in their farming operations can contact VNET on 1300 698 822 or email vnet@rdo-vanderfield.com.au.
