Big equipment covering big acres can mean small changes add up quickly, but without proper monitoring and measuring, it’s difficult to know how much downtime could be avoided or how to save on fuel, for example.
The CLAAS Connect system is an on-board and off-board solution to do just that, explains Thijs Verploegen with CLAAS. At the very basic level, operators have access to manuals and dealer contact information, but the system expands to include full telemetry data, prescription maps and automatic documentation of field passes.
Filmed at Agritechnica, Verploegen swipes through all the capabilities of the cross-brand system, and explains how data being collected can be used to encourage teamwork and offer incentives to save fuel and time.
“It can be put as a negative, but in a positive way, we also see the examples that they say, ‘Well, guys, let’s improve and I’ll throw you a real good Christmas party.’ If you can reduce fuel consumption by so much percent, we use the 5,000 euros we save, or something like that,” he says.
There are also features that benefit both experienced and low-hour employees with automatic work entry capabilities, based on previously entered field boundaries and you can set it up with pre-planned driving routes for the less experienced. The key, he says, is that it can be a farm manager or owner that inputs all the data — it doesn’t have to be the driver.
RealAgriculture’s coverage of Agritechnica 2023 is brought to you by Optimum GLY, new canola trait technology from Corteva Agriscience!
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