John Deere Launches 2027 X9 and S7 Combines with Advanced Harvest Automation
John Deere has announced a range of updates and enhancements to its model year 2027 X9 and S7 combines and header equipment.
John Deere's new AutoSetup system will enable farmers and contractors to manage and store all their tractor and implement settings in the cloud.
In operation, users can retrieve their preferred settings when they enter a paddock. This removes the need for lengthy machine set-ups, and field-specific settings only need to be inputted once.
Typically, complete tractor and implement combination set-ups can be time-consuming and need skilled operators. For example, complex planting machinery may require up to 60 display clicks to build an operating sequence, which can mean a loss of productive working time.
The John Deere AutoSetup allows the operator to activate all settings with one click once the complete the machine’s profiles are stored. The pre-planned job then appears automatically on the cab display when the machine enters a field, and the operator need only confirm the details.
AutoSetup supports tractor settings such as PTO speed, hitch and hydraulic valves. It also does implement settings such as sprayer boom height and nozzle selection or slurry tanker tyre pressures. It handles agronomic data such as field boundaries, guidance lines and application maps (ISO-XML is supported via the John Deere Operations Centre), and documentation data such as fertiliser and crop protection applications.
AutoSetup also supports farm and fleet managers by allowing them to organise all jobs in advance. This covers things such as application rates, maps and all tractor and implement settings. If required, the operator in the field can change settings and adapt them to working conditions.
Due to the open system architecture and cloud database, all ISOBUS-compatible implements can also be connected to AutoSetup. The system currently supports Kotte slurry tankers and John Deere trailed sprayers but other implements can easily be adapted.
All data is also available in the John Deere Operations Centre web portal, and so can be used for an entire machinery fleet. The data is stored in a cloud-based system, which is a new feature in the agricultural industry.
AutoSetup will be available on selected John Deere tractors in the second half of 2020 and can be retrofitted to models equipped with the latest Generation 4 display. Both the software update required for the retrofit system and reference to the John Deere Operations Centre are free.
Some of New Zealand’s best-loved food brands have been quick to sign up for a new campaign which reinforces their home-grown status.
New research is helping farmers better understand and manage fertility, with clearer tools and measures to support more robust, productive herds.
Southland crop farmer Mark Dillon took out his fifth New Zealand conventional ploughing title at the NZ Ploughing Championships held over the weekend at Methven.
Ensure your insurance is fully comprehensive and up to date because as a rural contractor you don’t know what’s around the corner.
Waikato farmer Walt Cavendish has stepped down as the spokesman for a controversial farming lobby seeking greater protection for New Zealand farmers against inferior imports.
A verbal stoush has broken out between Federated Farmers and a new group that claims to be fighting against cheaper imports that undermine NZ farmers.

OPINION: If you ask this old mutt, the choice at the next election isn't shaping up as a contest of…
OPINION: A mate of yours says we're long overdue for a reckoning on what value farmers really get for the…