A John Deere Publication

View over farmer's shoulder in John Deere harvester cab looking at AutoTrac Turn Automation guidance system

Increased machine automation allows the operator to focus their attention on the quality of the job.

Agriculture, Farm Operation January 01, 2024

Tech@Work

John Deere's advanced automation features—a game changer in small grains.

Farming has its challenges everywhere. But farming in southwestern Saskatchewan where the season can be extremely short makes the timing aspect even more critical.

Blaine Habrich farms 22,000 acres of durum wheat, canola, lentils, barley, and chickpeas. They usually can't start planting until the end of April and are harvesting by August. So inner row seeding and seeding direction are very important to the success of their operation.

The use of AutoTrac™ Turn Automation and AutoTrac Implement Guidance have had a positive impact on his inner row seeding operation by allowing precision seed placement that wasn't possible driving manually, especially when it came to consistency exiting the headland. "In my mind it's a game changer for seeding between the rows," says Blaine.

AutoTrac Turn Automation provides a complete solution for accurate and repeatable end-of-pass turns. It automatically completes accurate turns and carries out end-of-pass functions at appropriate times during the turn, reducing both strain on the operator and input costs.

"It's a short season. You don't have much time to prepare, and you don't have much time to get the crop in the ground," says Blaine. "The ability to create work plans in the winter to execute on the machines in the spring, where the tractor can literally pull into the field and accept that work order I created during my downtime, is where we need to be to maximize our operation. I think we will get there in the future with Deere technology," says Blaine.

For more information on AutoTrac Turn Automation and AutoTrac Implement Guidance, visit your local John Deere Dealer. ‡