John Deere’s plan to bring thousands of growers to precision agriculture

John Deere creates a business unit to update used machinery with technological kits. - Photo: John Deere

John Deere created a new business unit in the Americas with the mission of including thousands of producers in agriculture 4.0, also called precision agriculture.

Precision Upgrade Business will make available a wide range of products, including hardware and software, to upgrade agricultural machinery that does not have JD´s latest technologies in its original configuration.

Amongst other tools, the portfolio includes modems, signal receivers for connectivity and monitors to the ultimate technology such as autonomy, sensors and intelligent application, harvesting, spraying and seeding systems.

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“The big opportunity we are bringing is productivity, profitability and sustainability for our customers, initially in North America and South America.”, explains Jackson Schneider, unit leader in America Latin. - Photo: Daniel Azevedo

Big market

To give you an idea, the approximately 1.6 million pieces of machinery currently in operation in Brazil have, on average, been used for 10 to 15 years and, therefore, do not have the range of innovations presented in the last decade. In other words, that is a big market.

The company creates a business unit to update used machinery with technological kits

“The big opportunity we are bringing is productivity, profitability and sustainability for our customers, initially in North America and South America. We are acting proactively to bring this opportunity to thousands of farmers”, explains Jackson Schneider, unit leader in America Latin.

All brands

The Precision Upgrade kits will have versions for all types of machinery, from tractors, sprayers, planters and harvesters, and not just from John Deere, but from all brands.

“Our vision is to grow this business unit a lot by 2030. We want farmers to have access to the most up-to-date technology possible, just with upgrades to the agricultural machinery they already have”, he reinforces.

The company will even offer consultancy so that producers can make the best choices between the different tools, with even a calculator on the return on investment.

“This opens up opportunities to producers that are not able to afford new machines currently. They will also be able to take advantage of the latest technologies with much smaller investments and knowing the return he will get”, he explains.

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There is a wide range of intermediate possibilities in the solution of John Deere depending on the type of machinery. - Photo: John Deere

Upgrade

The variety of products and services is proportional to John Deere’s portfolio, one of the largest in the agricultural machinery and technology market on the global market.

Examples include modems for remote communication with the Operation Center and monitors that provide the machinery with features such as GPS-guided operation, as well as weather, consumption, equipment status and other indicators. Such systems have an estimated price starting at US$ 7,000.

Intermediate possibilities

More sophisticated and robust equipment, such as spray bars with independent nozzles and sensors, including See & Spray (one of the brand’s most recent technologies), can cost US$ 120,000.

However, there is a wide range of intermediate possibilities depending on the type of machinery. For example, they are electric clutches, electronic seed dozers, kits for autonomous operation at different levels and even modems for connectivity.

“We are being disruptive, but always prioritizing our client’s results. It is a new business model within John Deere, including Solution as a Service”, concludes Jackson.