Getting connected at CR Down Farming

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Our FarmSight team have been working closely with CR Down Farming (Crealy Farms), spending time getting their new John Deere fleet and team, connected and ready for a new way of working!

Dan from our FarmSight team went to visit Jerry Trump, Farm Manager on their 1000 acre farm last week to update us on how they are getting on.

 

Jerry Trump & Dan Wood

Photo: Jerry Trump (Farm Manager at CR Down Farming) and Dan Wood (FarmSight Specialist at Masons Kings)

 

CR Down Farming

The farm is mainly arable cropping of cereals and maize with some going into their AD plant and the rest feeding their own heard of pigs. The farm land is located across multiple sites in East Devon with their contracting services taking them further afield. This means there is plenty of transporting and travelling between sites and customers.

Jerry and his team have recently upgraded their fleet from a mixed John Deere and Fendt line up to now completely John Deere. They are all fully connected with John Deere’s connectivity solutions, supported by Masons Kings FarmSight services. A major driver to change from a mixed fleet was the connectivity and back up offered by John Deere and Masons Kings.

 

John Deere line up

Photo: New John Deere fleet line up

 

Connectivity through JD Link

Jerry explained “the connectivity is extremely beneficial as we can see real time data and tracking. This makes planning, analysing and reviewing more efficient and effective on the farm.”

One of the key tools used by Jerry and his team is JD Link. All their fields have been mapped, clearly named and uploaded onto the system so all the drivers and operators have the same consistent information. Jerry uses this as a daily management tool so he can track that the operators are in the correct field, how far along the job they are and when they are likely to finish which makes planning a lot easier as it is available in real time.

Jerry added “this particularly helps on the contracting side of the business to help with billing our customers as we know the exact time the job was started and finished, as well as the jobs which were completed. Our customers appreciate the level of detail we are now able to provide.”

“JD Link has also helped with health & safety for my team. I can accesses the app anywhere using my phone so can check my team are where I expect them to be. This is particularly beneficial if they are lone working or working late at night.”

Also using telematics, Jerry and the team have been able to monitor telematics including fuel consumption. This allows the operators to compare their use of fuel on like for like applications, during transportation and in comparison to other operators to see how they are performing.

Jerry shared an example…

 

Example

 

John Deere Operations Centre

Jerry is also using Operations Centre to record and analyse field work and applications in real time. After spending time mapping and naming all their own land and contracted land with support from Dan our FarmSight Specialist, this data was able to be uploaded to the whole John Deere fleet.

Operations Centre is using wireless data transfer to see real time field data so Jerry and his team can make changes as and when required to field applications. It is also supporting record keeping with all fertiliser applications and field work recorded.

The field data is also able to be shared with third parties, Jerry plans to look into sharing select data with partner businesses, customers and agronomists to improve visibility and the inter-change of data for everyone.

The team also use Operations Centre to record field applications for compliance. The main one being fertiliser spreading which is extremely beneficial if you have a problem. If you have all the data, you have total control of what you have done, without having to rely on paper records. “Operations Centre mapping is great for compliance so we can show in real life where spreading has and hasn’t happened”, Jerry added.

Operations Centre gives you real evidence that the tractors was there on a certain date at a certain time performing a specific application and where this was performed which is perfect for compliance purposes.

Operator Benefits

Masons Kings FarmSight team have further assisted, setting up all operators with staff MyJohnDeere accounts.

Jerry explained “We wanted to give the operators visibility of each others location which is ideal when working in teams. We also have field names consistently set up across the whole team so they can record their workings to the correct field and see previous applications. This allows them to make changes accordingly and learn from what has happened previously in the field.”

“One major advantage for new or contracting staff is I can show them the field on the app, the boundaries and size of the field. Then with one click give them directions to the entrance of the field with no more need for paper maps. It really does reduce down time or time wasted getting lost which is all a cost saving for us as a business.”

Staff accounts allow Jerry to select relevant access levels for the operators and make sure they get the right data at the right time which is relevant to them and their work. Jerry added “it takes the pressure off our operators too. MyJohnDeere allows us to easily access start and finish times which helps with time sheet accuracy when completing work for multiple customers in one day.”

 

Operators

Photo: Jerry (Farm Manager) and the team at CR Down Farming

 

Drivers Club

Jerry and his team are now members of Masons Kings Drivers Club which is building a community between our customers.

The driver’s club provides a platform for us to continue to support not only our customers but the drivers and operators who work for them.

 

CR Down Farming TeamPhoto: CR Down Farming team wearing their Driver’s Club kit with Dan Wood (FarmSight Specialist at Masons Kings)

 


The FarmSight team and all at Masons Kings would like to say a big thank you to Jerry and the team at CR Down Farming for their time to put this together.