WA farmer George Gibson was part of a cohort of emerging grains industry leaders who visited John Deere as part of Innovation Generation. Photo: John Deere

SOME of the grain industry’s brightest emerging leaders have been the first cohort of farmers and agriculture professionals to see John Deere’s new S7 Series combine harvester and C-Series air cart on Australian soil.

Visiting the company’s Australia and New Zealand headquarters in Crestmead, Ql, as part of GrainGrowers’ Innovation Generation Conference 2024, the group of 29 took part in an interactive experience featuring the equipment, and workshops on the value of technology in grains production.

John Deere precision ag marketing manager Max Cusack said representatives from the major
grain-producing states in the nation were in attendance.

“The new iteration of the iconic S7 Series Combine Harvester and the C-Series Air Cart were
two huge announcements for us made earlier this year and we were delighted to share the first
glimpse of these machines with those who are going to shape Australian grains production into
the future,” Mr Cusack said.

“Working collaboratively with industry, including with younger farmers and professionals, to
understand their needs – and then meeting these needs with the innovation and tech we are
developing or already have in-built in our equipment – is at the heart of what we do to help
make our customers the most productive and sustainable in the world.

“Innovation Generation is a wonderful event, and one that I have been part of a number of times
since first attending eight years ago as a John Deere graduate.

“Connecting with the event, and with the delegates from across the country who travel to be part of it, is a wonderful way for us to not only support industry but to listen and learn.”

AI and automation hot topics

For many of the Innovation Generation visitors, it was technology and artificial intelligence they
were most keen to discuss with the John Deere team.

George Gibson, who manages a farm near Arthur River in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, said
achieving optimal operational efficiency was top of mind in all decision making.

Innovation Generation delegates inspect the new S Series combine harvester at John Deere’s Australian headquarters at Crestmead. Photo: John Deere

“For example, the new boom spray we have seen today, with cameras and See & Spray Select, is something that makes me very excited about the technology that is coming into the country,” Mr Gibson said.

“Operational efficiency is a massive thing for us within our group, so having that technology available and seeing John Deere innovate makes us innovate as well.”

For Ryan Greaves, a fourth-generation farmer also from WA’s Wheatbelt, it was automation, and what that means for his workforce requirements, that captured his attention.

“Being able to hire people that don’t really have a background in agriculture and put them in a
machine that is worth a lot of money, and then trust them because the machine is doing a lot of
the work – that’s what excites me,” Mr Greaves said.

Cootamundra, NSW, agronomist Angus Malmo said it was discovering the “one-percenter” ways to grow efficiency and comparing notes with peers he was keen to focus on.

“Being an agronomist, I am really trying to think about what is happening with artificial intelligence and where that puts me in the future,” Mr Malmo said.

“The networking, and meeting people from right across the country, is also pretty exciting. Our
production is probably same-same, but also completely different.”

Source: John Deere