Smart Farming: precision farming and cost savings with digital solutions
Smart machines and devices have the potential to make farms cost-effective and future-proof. With digital connectivity, automatic documentation and virtual precision farming tools, you're ideally equipped to make your farm fit for the Smart Farming revolution.
What is Smart Farming?
Ok, so Smart Farming might sound a bit vague. And you're probably already running your farm intelligently without digital assistants. But they are designed to further simplify, automate and improve your day-to-day tasks. Smart Farming means that your machines, implements, work processes and farm management system are digitally connected to one another. Using the machine and farm data available, Smart Farming applications can help you plan and document work processes so you can make informed decisions.
Step 1: Precision farming with optimised machines
Take the first step in Smart Farming with electronic on-board systems designed to optimise your machines. These assistance systems, such as CEMOS from CLAAS, help you find the best possible settings for your farm machines. You – or the operator – define whether you want to prioritise maximum efficiency or maximum performance for your machine. Based on the data you enter, the system automatically determines the best settings for your tractor, combine harvester or forage harvester. For example, during tillage work it calculates the correct values for ballasting, tyre pressure or engine droop. During harvesting, the system can automatically set up the machine without the operator having to spend time making decisions. So assistance systems designed to optimise your machines also optimise the harvesting process.
With an integrated GNNS-assisted steering system in your farm machines, such as GPS PILOT CEMIS 1200 from CLAAS, you can be sure of precise results on the field when tilling, drilling, fertiliser spreading, cultivating and harvesting. When you define the optimal track before starting work, the system sets the steering and route automatically, guaranteeing optimal results without inefficient overlaps.
Step 2: Connected machines
With progressive data management, you can get a complete picture of your entire farm machinery fleet at any time. That's essential for Smart Farming – because only by knowing when which machine has performed a certain task and what its current status is can you make decisions and plan the next tasks. With solutions like Machine connect from CLAAS, data such as the machine settings used, job status, fuel consumption and location are transmitted via the mobile phone network to your online portal, where they are available in real time. At the same time, the work carried out in each field is automatically entered in your documentation. So by intelligently connecting your machines, you can take the first step in documentation without lifting a finger and get a complete picture to help with future planning.
Step 3: Run the whole farm with one software program with farm management systems
Take the last step in Smart Farming by combining all the planning and documentation data for your farm in one farm management system. With software solutions such as 365FarmNet, you can minimise your admin workload and keep check of compliance requirements. A farm management system gives you an overview of everything that matters to you, from operational management and crop cultivation to precision farming data and fleet management. At the same time, you can plan future jobs on a sound basis, for example by creating application maps based on satellite images, planning tramlines and defining the next sequences.
Who is Smart Farming and precision farming geared towards?
The best thing about Smart Farming is that it's geared toward every type of farm. With various entry levels, you can upgrade one step at a time. If you're already well ahead on your digital journey, you can easily add other hard- and software solutions to your collection. And it doesn't depend on the size of your farm: large farms obviously benefit greatly from optimisation, but small-scale operations and family farms can operate more efficiently with Smart Farming and precision farming applications too.
Smart Farming: digital applications enable you to focus on what matters
Whether you decide to fully digitalise your farm or take small steps to start with: Smart Farming solutions enable you to you save costs and avoid losses. But above all, they enable you to focus on what matters – farming. As for all the other administrative and planning work that needs to be done, Smart Farming makes your life easier by automating it.
