Dealership staff flock to Southern Queensland for John Deere ‘boot camp’

Nearly 200 John Deere staff from dealerships across Australia and New Zealand have made the pilgrimage to Toowoomba in Southern Queensland to complete a “technology boot camp”. The group descended on a cropping operation near the historic regional centre, where they familiarised themselves with the company’s latest equipment and technology. Run in rotations over five weeks, the boot camp was developed to give dealer leadership and sales staff a “ride-and-drive” experience of the new machines released earlier this year at the Commodity Classic showcase in Houston, Texas. The intensive program also focused on new technology and automation within the John Deere harvest line-up, which the company claims will help transform the efficiency and productivity of customers’ farming operations. John Deere marketing director Ben Kelly said it was an opportunity to bring together staff and dealers, to “drill down” into how the new equipment and tech could 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,” he 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.” Mr Kelly said John Deere was focused on supporting farmers in adopting new tech as well as using that which was already in-built in the 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,” he said. Attendees rotated between stations mirroring each element of the grains production system — seeding, application and harvest — and sessions focusing on the pathway to autonomy and management of data. About 20 pieces of machinery were brought to Toowoomba, including two S7 900 Combine Harvesters and one X9 1000 Combine Harvester, each equipped with new harvest automation technology; a 616R Self-Propelled Sprayer with See & Spray; an 8R370 Tractor, and a C650 Air Cart. Hutcheon and Pearce sales and marketing manager Andrew Watt said supporting customers to take advantage of the tech on their machines was a priority for the John Deere dealer. “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.” Brandt sales director — precision agriculture Siobhan Lynch said: “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.” “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,” Ms Lynch said.