New interface makes precision simple

TWO of the world’s leading companies in the fields of agricultural engineering and crop protection have teamed up to enable the easy exchange, analysis and use of precision agriculture data. Yield and machine operating data collected by the CLAAS TELEMATICS platform can now be transferred seamlessly to Bayer’s Climate FieldView platform via a specially-developed application programming interface.

CLAAS Harvest Centre General Manager – Product, Tim Needham, says precision farming relies on the easy transfer of data across different machinery and farm management programs. “Site-specific fertiliser, crop protection and planting and sowing strategies depend upon access to accurate information about site-specific yield differences from the previous crop,” he says.

“This new interface means all of the data collected by TELEMATICS can be automatically retrieved and sent to Climate FieldView to generate precise sowing or fertiliser prescriptions for the following season. This technology allows farmers to actively manage their productivity, reduce risk and save time by gathering data and conducting analysis all in one place. 

“In addition to yield data, the system can also document important machine data, such as fuel consumption, to develop a complete overview of the efficiency and profitability of farming operations in each field.”

Tim stressed that the account owner retained complete ownership of all data. “Each customer has to connect their two accounts and then select which files they’d like to sync,” he says. “This consent can be revoked by the user at any time to disable data exchange.”

CLAAS TELEMATICS continuously logs GPS location, crop yield and quality and machine settings on CLAAS combine harvesters, forage harvesters, large square balers, loader wagons and tractors. This data is transmitted via the mobile phone network from the machines to a server, which can be accessed via the TELEMATICS website using any PC, laptop or smartphone. Data can then be exported to most common farm management software programs.

Climate FieldView is an industry-leading digital platform developed by Bayer. It enables farmers to collect, combine, store and analyse precision and farm data on a single, easy-to-use platform in order to make more informed decisions.