Data harvesting to boost crop performance

As the largest ‘grower-owned’ supplier of Welsh produce grown, picked and packed in Wales, Puffin Produce Ltd is always looking at ways to improve efficiency throughout its grower network. Currently, some of its growers are utilising the very latest John Deere AMS technology supplied and installed by Tallis Amos Group with a view to helping them monitor and benchmark their production practices.

The App - known as MyJobConnect is downloadable via a typical smart phone and accessible anywhere there is an internet connection. Data is fed from the machine in the field that has John Deere GreenStar AMS installed and collects information such as GPS position, implement width, forward speed, fuel consumption, seed rate etc. This data is analysed and from it, relevant usable management data can be recorded and acted upon.

Puffin Produce Agronomist, Stephen Mathias commented, “The project is in the early stages of development at the moment but the John Deere technology makes it very simple to collect the data which assists our growers with their management decisions. We are setting up a benchmark system to benefit our growers that takes the data from the field and then enables comparisons by grower and variety of every aspect of the cultivation, planting, and harvesting process - plus of course the management of inputs. This allows growers to focus on the efficiency of their production, it highlights cost of production measurements that are different and what can be done to redress the balance.”

MyJobConnect can be utilised to gather every single element of production from every drop of fuel burned, every second of time taken, right through to every tonne of potatoes harvested - costs, time, margins and profitability.

TAG has a team of Integrated Solutions specialists who are fully certified and qualified to install and support a wide range of specific software, hardware and apps from John Deere. These apps are designed specifically for a wide range of agricultural functions and can be used for total project management, costings and efficiency measurement. For more information on any John Deere Integrated solutions, contact your local TAG branch