Equipment Roundup

In this Equipment Roundup, DTN/Progressive Farmer looks at AGCO launching its new FarmerCore initiative to put its farmer-customers in closer contact with their dealerships' service capabilities; Trimble subscribers gaining access to the company's new Automatic Stream Switching service for the first time this planting season; and Woods Equipment bringing its new 15-series Batwing flex-wing rotary cutter line to the National Farm Equipment Show, among other industry news.

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AGCO LAUNCHING FARMERCORE

AGCO describes its new FarmerCore initiative as a new end-to-end distribution model that puts its farmer-customers in closer contact with their dealerships' service capabilities and AGCO.

The idea, in short, is to enhance AGCO's and its dealers' abilities to push service and repair work as close to the farmer-customer as possible. The goal, AGCO said, is to offer an ownership experience that revolves around the farmer and not a brick-and-mortar outlet.

"(FarmerCore) is anchored to the farmer," said John Rahiya, director of customer-connected distribution at AGCO. FarmerCore has three pillars: smart network coverage; mobile and on-farm solutions; and customer-facing digital tools. These will largely be led by the dealer and supplemented by AGCO with offerings such as 24/7 digital services (online parts purchasing, dealer digital storefronts).

FarmerCore envisions new physical infrastructure -- parts-only service centers and smaller footprint stores and service centers, all in closer proximity to the farmer.

"(Dealers) are anchoring more physical outlets deeper into their territories. And there will be more mobile service capability, pushing the boundaries of how much we can do on the farm," said Rahiya, adding that might mean, for example, additional dealer-operated service trucks. "In general, across our entire network, we want to increase the depth of our service trucks. Not for every dealer, perhaps.

"But we want to focus on on-farm service. To do that, we have to have the right number of trucks in place."

FarmerCore launches globally this year in select North and South American dealer organizations with continued expansion throughout 2024. AGCO brands include Challenger, Fendt, GSI, Massey Ferguson and Valtra.

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TRIMBLE TO OFFER STREAM SWITCHING TO SUBSCRIBERS

This will be the first planting season that Trimble subscribers will have access to its new Automatic Stream Switching service. This feature allows farmers to automatically and seamlessly stream Trimble CenterPoint RTX, RangePoint RTX and ViewPoint RTX over an internet/cellular connection or from geostationary satellites.

"The biggest challenge farmers have with any correction service or guidance is uptime," said Alex Ngu, with Trimble's corrections marketing team. "When (farmers) are in a crunch and they've lost line-of-site to a satellite or their cellular is cut off, that's when farmers get upset -- and rightfully so."

Stream switching is a solution to cellular dead spots. It is a marriage of two communication realms. One communication system is over IP--Wi-Fi, cellular, and the other direct satellite delivery. In areas prone to satellite cutoffs due to elevation changes or canopy, the signal switches to an internet/cellular connection. For regions with bad cellular connection, the streaming automatically switches to satellite.

Trimble's stream-switching service does not require farmers to come to a complete stop in the field to switch from one correcting source to another. "This functionality allows you to maintain your course while switching between whatever is best and available," Ngu said. "This limits stops because of communications interruptions. It maximizes the value of uptime."

Stream switching is available to farmers who have an active modem and a current Trimble RTX subscription by updating their NAV-900 or NAV-500 receiver to the latest firmware. There is no additional cost other than the addition of a cellular component.

RTX stands for "Real Time eXtended." It is the technology that powers Trimble RTX correction services in a range of accuracies from better than 2 centimeters to submeter performance. Trimble RTX corrections are used in agriculture, automotive, forestry, utilities, land survey, construction, mining, cadastral mapping, and oil and gas.

For more information, visit https://go.trimble.com/….

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BATWING GOES TO FARM EQUIPMENT SHOW

Woods Equipment is bringing its new 15-series Batwing flex-wing rotary cutter line to the National Farm Equipment Show next week (Feb. 14-17), Booth 8226.

The 15-foot Batwing is available in two models: BW15.52 for 45- to 200-horsepower tractors and BW15.72 for 65- to 300-horsepower tractors.

Features include:

-- Level Lock Technology. Keeps the wings level across rugged terrain and doesn't require releveling while a 13-inch cutting deck with high-lift blades gives a cleaner cut.

-- Shimless EZ-Change blade system. Allows blade changes with only a 3/4-inch wrench.

-- SmartLift. This system does the heavy lifting by holding the 80-pound driveline while users are attaching to the tractor PTO shaft.

For more information, visit www.woodsequipment.com.

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AGCO REPORTS FOURTH-QUARTER RESULTS

AGCO reports net sales of $3.8 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease of 2.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Reported net income was $4.53 per share for the fourth quarter of 2023 and adjusted net income was $3.78 per share. These results compare to reported net income of $4.29 per share and adjusted net income of $4.47 per share for the fourth quarter of 2022.

Net sales for the full year of 2023 were approximately $14.4 billion, up 13.9% compared to 2022.

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MIZZOU LAUNCHES DIGITAL AG RESEARCH AND EXTENSION CENTER

The University of Missouri has launched the Digital Agriculture Research and Extension Center (DAREC). The center aims to help farmers and other agricultural producers move toward a future of sustainable agriculture by leveraging emerging digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).

The center will explore key areas such as crop production, soil health, precision livestock farming and engineering innovations. The center includes a field demonstration site located at MU's South Farm called the MU Digital Farm.

Dan Miller can be reached at dan.miller@dtn.com.

Follow him on X @DMillerPF.

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