This is a YouTube video titled "Swires Farm's Success with John Deere Precision Ag Technology" featuring a discussion between two speakers about their dairy farm operations in North Yorkshire and the use of John Deere precision agriculture technology to improve efficiency, sustainability, and crop management. The content focuses on practical applications of GPS, section control, and data collection tools in modern farming practices. The speakers share advice for adopting new technologies and emphasize the importance of training and dealer support.
We farm 900 acres on the outskirts of Harrogate, North Yorkshire. We are predominantly a dairy farm, 420 cows, all the followers in total 1100 cattle… …but we try and do all the work ourselves… …we try not to get outside contractors in. We do a lot of grass silage, maize and whole crop.
We use precision technology on this farm because it helps with efficiencies when we're working in the fields. It means there's no overlap. It also helps the operator. If you're working long hours, it means the operator is tired, they can relax slightly and it just helps the general day -to -day running when you're doing field work. Moving on from GPS, I would look towards section control technology as you can put it into applications with the first spreading, the spraying, even drilling now, which saves fertilizer, spray, seed and that is massive cost saving in any business. It's very simple to get into once you have the basic technology there to implement it onto.
We currently use Autotrack, Section Control, TIA and the two harvest labs we use for the collection of data on the forager for crop yield and nutrients. We also have one on the dribble bar where we can manage whichever component we want to put on the most or most accurately and we use the section control and the fertilizer spreader to give us precise nutrient applications which in sustainable farming is where things are going.
The operation centre benefits us in a massive range of ways, whether we're going into depth of what a machine has done over the lifetime of it or whether you're wanting to know where a machine is. Find it very simple to use. Anyone can get on it and be trained on it in minutes. All the information goes onto there. You know which field you've been in, which day you've been in it, what you've applied in the field or what you've taken off the field. It's even on your phone, on an app, but a lot of the information, whether it's the fields, whether it's the machines, there's any warnings, the servicing, the fuel levels, everything's on there, right at the clicky finger. Another thing I use operation centre for is whilst I'm building the clamp and compacting it, I look on my iPad on the operation centre and I know exactly what is coming out of the spout at any given moment. That helps me put the crop in the clamp where we want it, whether it's the Emmy, the dry matter, anything, the sugars, everything, I know exactly what's coming out and when they can then utilise that in winter for feeding. When it comes to technology, the dealer plays a key role in supplying it and training of how to use it. It's all having all the technology, but if you don't know how to get the most out of it, there's no point having it.
For anybody thinking about using the new technologies going forwards, it's really important. You try and embrace it and go for it if you can't. Just if I'm getting it on your own farm, look for contractors who actually can provide the service of harvesting the information and giving you good advice and saving money in the longer term.
If I was giving any advice to anyone regarding John Day technology, it would be definitely to do it. Start small, start with a receiver and then start using GPS for a start. It just helps everything. It saves a lot of time, but you don't even realise it's saving you. It also creates a lot of better working environment for you to assign a tractor all day.
