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Bonifiche Ferraresi and John Deere, a powerful partnership

The delivery of the first machines seals the partnership between the largest Italian farm and one of the largest global agricultural machinery manufacturers. The order is one of the most significant investments in Europe made by a farm for the renewal of its fleet

by the editorial staff
May - June 2016 | Back

On May 6, during a special event in Jolanda di Savoia (Fe), 20 John Deere agricultural machines  were delivered to Bonifiche Ferraresi, the largest Italian farming company, with about 5,500 hectares of exploited agricultural area.

Some of the attendees at the delivery were Maurizio Martina, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Federico Vecchioni, CEO of Bonifiche Ferraresi SpA, James F. Orr, Marzio Devalle, and Fabio Garavelli, respectively vice president of John Deere, CEO of John Deere Italiana, and Sales manager AG John Deere Italiana, as well as Simona Caselli, commissioner for agriculture, hunting and fishing of the Emilia-Romagna Region.

In particular, the supply includes four 5085GN specialized tractors for vineyards and orchards, five 6110RC compact tractors, two 6120R tractors, two 6145R tractors with H360 front loaders, a 6215R tractor, two 7310R tractors, and two 8370RT crawler tractors; alongside these, a specimen of the innovative harvester S680, an L1534 giant square baler, and three XUV 855 4x4 Gator utility vehicles. The main characteristic of this important supply is the adoption of the most sophisticated solutions for precision agriculture.

First among these, the integrated AutoTrac satellite guidance system, providing an exceptional level of precision with a margin of error of less than 2 cm, which helps minimize the overlap between passages, manage effectively straights and curves, and work with maximum efficiency in any condition of visibility.

The accuracy of the system reduces production costs in terms of labour, seed, fertilizer, and fuel, with a significant improvement in operating efficiency and, above all, productivity per hectare.

All the machines are equipped with the John Deere JDLink electronic system, a solution that allows the remote connection with the farm’s office and the mobile devices.

To best take advantage of these advanced technologies, the arrival of the new equipment was preceded by Bonifiche Ferraresi completing a georeferencing phase of all 5500 hectares of agricultural land, a process that had never before been done in Italy on such a large area.

The georeferencing of land is a preliminary activity to the implementation of so-called agriculture 4.0, including the insertion at three different depths of underground sensors to constantly analyse the soil characteristics, communicate with dedicated satellite systems that will send information to the new John Deere machines, allowing for a more efficient use of all necessary resources, such as water, seeds, fertilizers, and any required treatments. With its recent capital increase, Bonifiche Ferraresi has planned a major investment of 32 million euros, aimed at making the company the leading Italian player in the agri-food sector, and one of the European market leaders.

 

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