John Deere Technology Acquisitions

In September 2017, John Deere invested $305 Million to fully acquire Blue River Technology.

Blue River technology are an innovative business, focusing on computerised vision and Robotic technology. They are currently creating a system designed to maximise crop yields, which targets chemicals towards weeds only where they are present, instead of blanket spraying the complete field which can damage crops and waste chemicals. This system is designed to increase productivity and reduce cost of operation for the end user. 

John Deere has vowed to run the business separately from other areas and remain based in Sunny Valley, California. The decision will help to keep the entrepreneurial elements flowing within the company.

In my opinion, this has been an exciting acquisition by John Deere and is a great addition to their current Smart AG products and services. It will be very interesting to see what new technology John Deere/Blue River Technology bring to the market over the coming years.

In March 2018, John Deere acquired Spanish carbon fibre manufacturer King Agro. 

this extends from a 2015 agreement between both businesses for King Agro to develop and distribute carbon sprayer booms for Deere, which can be found on some current John Deere sprayers. King Agro will retain its brand name as part of the agreement.

King Argo has 30 years experience working with carbon fibre products and now as part of the John Deere family will continue to offer innovative products to the market, which will offer customer increased production and reduced costs.

This seem to add to John Deere's strategy of acquiring innovative companies which aim to increase production in agriculture as the strive to remain as market leaders in precision AG.

John Deere has acquired sprayer and planter manufacturer PLA in July 2018. PLA has 450 employees and current markets products across 4 continents.

This acquisition again adds to John Deere's focus for increased productivity and reduced costs in agricultural operations.

The new 9000 series SPFH

Adding to a tremendous success John Deere has had with their 8000 series self propelled forage harvesters, that really has the competition in a state of disarray, they have introduced the even higher horsepower 9000 series to the market. This offers customers machines from 625HP to a ridiculous 970HP. 

John Deere state that the flagship 9000 series offers customers a 10% increase in productivity whilst reducing fuel consumption by 10%. With increased output and reduced fuel consumption , sounds like the factory have took the machine to the next level.

The new forager has undergone an awesome facelift, with the introduction of twin exhaust system on the top 3 models- 9700, 9800 and 9900. These models have been equipped with the whopping 24.2litre V12 Liebherr engine, which can bring the outrageous 970 horsepower to the field! The Liebherr power unit has been designed to operate efficiently at  low engine speed and load conditions - resulting in torque when required and excellent fuel consumption at lower engine revs.

The Liebherr V12 Beast

The Top Tech Features - 

• The HarvestLab 3000 NIR(near infrared sensor)-allows real time crop analysis.
• ActiveFill - Automatic trailer filling.
• Rowsense Guidance - Automatic row guidance in maize.
• AutoTrac - Automatic steering function.
• Full functionality on the MyJohnDeere web platform to display and analysis harvest data.

The John Deere 9000 series - what a Beauty!!!! - that helps you bring your A game! 

Command Pro Joystick - "The handle carved by Angels"

The CommandPro was launched by John Deere last year on 6230R and 6250R models. Now with all model year 2019 machines the joystick is available for all 6R models with Autopower transmission. 

The joystick control gives the operator full control of the tractor and implement functions in the one hand.

The key functons -

• Well positioned and Ergonomic design for ultimate operator comfort.
• 11 Reconfigurable buttons for tractor functions or ISOBUS implement controls.
• Unique creeping function for safe and easy implement mounting.
• Both full control by joystick or pedal mode active at the same time.
• Ability to preset 2 engine speeds and 3 different ground speeds.

My top 2 Features -

Forward/Reverse driving setup

The joystick offers great control to the operator whatever function the machine is being used for. The creeper speed function really works well to help a smooth attach process of rear or front implements.

The best feature in the driving setup is the 2 detent positions for full or zero speeds. this is great when turning on to the road from a field. With one slide of the handle forward (into detent) the tractor gradually increases speed to the maximum set forward speed.   

            

        Creeper Speed Function

                                                             

                                     Max to Zero Function                                             

                                                      Reconfigurability of buttons

The option of re-configuring 11 buttons on the handle, really brings it to life. This gives the user the option of customising the controls to what suits them. The programmable buttons can be setup and saved for different functions e.g different saved configurations for planting and ploughing. Once the setting have been saved the operator simply selects what job is going to be carried out, and the tractor configures the buttons to the pre-saved setup for that job.

Customer feedback so far for the CommandPro has been great, its ergonomic design and adaptable functions proven to be a big hit, with one customer stating "It truly is the handle carved by angels".

JDLINK - John Deere Telematics system

So what is JDLink?

JDLink is John Deere's mobile telematics system, which is available from factory or can be retro fitted by John Deere Dealers on to a wide range of John Deere equipment.

JDLink uses the local mobile network to transmit data from their products to the customers base and to their providing John Deere dealer.

The Key features and Benefits - 

• The dealer can use the data being sent to monitor machine performance and ensure the full machine performance is being utilised.

• Remote display access is a great feature built into the JDLink system. This allows dealer specialists to view the machine "in cab" monitor in real time from the dealership or via their mobile phone to help guide users with machine setup and carryout 1st stage basic diagnostics.

•  Service Advisor Remote allows technicians at the dealership to access machine systems from the office. Software updates can be sent to the machine remotely and mobile machine health checks can be carried out. More advanced machine diagnostics can be carried out using this feature, giving the dealer options of setting up triggered recording of machine issues. This reduces machine downtime and unnecessary visits to the machine

• Tracking Function - JDLink is also a tracking system for your John Deere equipment which allows customers full access to machine location and previous movements through the MyJohnDeere website. Also Geofence boundaries and machine curfew can be set, This will alert customers or dealer by email or SMS when machines are moving outwith the set area or has been started outwith standard working hours.

New addition to JDLink Platform

EXPERT ALERTS

Currently piloted at a selection of UK John Deere dealers, this system will be rolled out to all UK dealer over the next 18 months. This system uses historic data collected from John Deere equipment worldwide. The system recognises patterns which lead to part failure, then alerts the dealer that the failure is going to happen in the near future which allows the dealer to  rectify to issue proactively before the user experiences any downtime due to part failure. See video below for more details on expert alerts.