John Deere launches its new low-upfront-cost retrofit Precision Ag kit

At a press event in Germany, John Deere launched what it is branding as a “Precision Ag Essentials Package”, which it says offers a cost-effective pathway for every type of farm to use John Deere’s latest Precision Ag Technology.

The package is priced at €2,990 plus VAT, and includes the essential hardware components and a choice of two time-based feature licences.

The hardware package features a G5 Plus universal display with a 32.5 cm touchscreen and full IsoBus compatibility, a StarFire 7500 universal receiver with SF1 correction signal for accuracy within +/-15cm and a JD-Link modem with JD-Link connectivity service.

These hardware components serve as the foundation for smart farming practices and can be retrofitted to all machines and brands.

To use the hardware on machinery, farmers must choose between two time-based feature licences.

The first is the guidance licences which is priced at €1,490 plus VAT per year. This offers full IsoBus compatibility and includes features, like AutoTrac Guidance and AutoTrac Row Sense.

The second is the Precision Ag licences which is priced at €2,990 plus VAT per year. It offers additional functionalities such as Section Control, SF-RTK signal with +/-2.5 cm accuracy, and AutoPath (essentially automatically generates AB lines once boundary is recorded).

Is it good value?

Yes and no. If you were to walk into a John Deere dealer and buy these three components individually, they would cost you around €9,100 plus VAT.

But once that fee is paid, you will be able to use them with AutoTrac automatic steering to an accuracy of +/-15cm without having to pay any yearly fees. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this package from John Deere will suit some users more than others.

At the press conference, John Deere said that there is still a large share of the market who are yet to start using precision ag equipment, and it wanted to offer its precision package to this cohort, at a lower initial investment cost.

Dr Natalia Pauge of John Deere said, “Low upfront costs and the annual licences model allow maximum flexibility as users can continue, pause or terminate their precision ag application after one year, so they only pay for what their farm needs.”