TECHNICAL: Telematics – where are we now: Joined up thinking. The ‘big four’ have been hyping up what telematics can bring to the farm management party. So, what is the state of play right now? We find out why this is much more than sharing application rates and autosteer setting.

A move towards increased automation of machinery, and for some sectors the use of autonomous machines, has focused manufacturers’ developments on communication to and from equipment. The ‘big four’ have been working on telematics for some time, mainly targeted at streamlining servicing for increasingly complex and demanding kit and allowing farm managers of large fleets to track and analyse their machines.

Customers also have access to increasing amounts of data from a range of sources with the potential to make operations more productive and efficient, while meeting increasingly stringent environmental requirements, and need to make it work with the machines in their fleet.

Here we’re taking a look at what’s on offer and what’s new and getting a glimpse into the future. Telematics is defined as ‘a technology system that leverages telecommunication components, vehicular sensors, wireless networking, and data dashboards to enable the long-distance transmission of data from moving transportation devices’.

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