John Deere marketing director Ben Kelly with the C550T C-Series air cart.
John Deere dealers from across Australia and New Zealand have descended on Toowoomba for the company’s ‘bootcamp’.
More than 190 John Deere staff and dealer personnel from across Australia and New Zealand descended on a cropping operation just outside Toowoomba in southern Queensland to experience the company’s latest offering of equipment and technology, including the all-new S7 Series combine harvester and C-Series air cart.
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Run in rotations over a five-week period, the “technology bootcamp” was developed by the John Deere team to give dealer leadership and sales staff a “ride and drive” experience of the new machines, released earlier this year at Commodity Classic in Houston, Texas.
The intensive program also honed-in on the John Deere technology, such as See & Spray TM Select, as well as new automation within the harvest line-up that will help transform the efficiency and productivity of customers’ farming operations.
John Deere marketing director Ben Kelly said the suite of new equipment and tech that had been announced in 2024 presented an ideal opportunity to bring together members of the John Deere team and network of dealers to drill down into how these can be used to support optimal economic and agronomic on-farm results.
“As a company, we are continually working on leading innovation that will deliver technologies that have real, tangible impacts on the success of farming operations,” Mr Kelly said.
“One of our most important pieces of work is collaborating with our dealers to share knowledge and expertise that can be taken directly back and shared with customers for use on-farm.
“What we’re particularly focused on is supporting farmers in not just adopting new tech, but also using that already in-built in their machinery which they may not be making the most of. These are tools which can genuinely have a transformative impact on operations and are already right there, ready to go.”
Throughout “bootcamp”, attendees rotated between stations mirroring each element of the grains production system — seeding, application and harvest — as well as sessions focusing on the pathway to autonomy and management of data to drive informed decision-making.
Almost 20 pieces of machinery were brought to Toowoomba for the interactive experience, including two S7 900 combine harvesters and one X9 1000 combine harvester, each with all-new harvest automation technology, a 616R self-propelled sprayer with See & Spray TM, an 8R370 tractor and a C650 air cart.
Hutcheon and Pearce sales and marketing manager Andrew Watt said supporting customers in using the tech on their machines was one of his greatest priorities.
“The big thing that has stood out is trying to make sure that the technology that is already integrated into our machines is being fully utilised by our customers,” Mr Watt said.
“We spend a lot of time getting uptake of our new technology through our customers, but as that speed of new technology increases we’ve got to make sure the adoption of that technology is keeping up with that.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Brandt precision agriculture sales director Siobhan Lynch.
“When we go back, we want to run training with our staff, but also go to our customers and offer information stations, customer clinics — whether it’s online or in person,” Ms Lynch said.
“We need to get that word out there, not let them sit behind the wheel of their machines and not use the technology they’ve got.”
John Deere precision ag marketing manager Max Cusack showcases the S7 900 combine harvester.
John Deere’s 8RX 370 was part of the interactive experience at John Deere’s bootcamp.
