Farmplan, a leading agricultural software specialist, has released a new update for its Gatekeeper programme to deliver improved integration with Claas machines, with wireless data transfer.
“This development reflects the importance of integration between our respective systems,” said Ben Hatton, head of sales at Farmplan. “Claas has been a longstanding partner and we are delighted to bring the benefits of this relationship to our mutual customers.”
The new update will let users wirelessly transmit data sets between Claas and Gatekeeper at the touch of a button, without the need for USB sticks or additional steps.
“Previously, farmers may have been downloading their collected field data onto USB storage or downloading data from the Telematics website,” said Andrew Wolff, product manager at Farmplan. “This update completely removes the need for all those extra steps, freeing up time on the farm while ensuring all your data is immediately accessible, preserved, and secure.
“In many ways, farming has become more disparate,” he continued. “For example, if there’s a lot of contracting taking place, a farmer might not have their usual immediate insight into what’s going on with each field. This update removes that barrier. The closer level of integration lets you know the exact situation on your farm at any time.”
The new update will also provide greater support for precision farming, allowing users to instantly upload their Gatekeeper boundaries to the Claas Telematics system. This feature is said to be vital for the UK market, where boundaries can change year on year in line with stewardship schemes and other circumstances.
“Essentially, we allow your data to move along a two-way street,” said Mr Wolff. “Every year, you can upload your crop area boundaries and the data is adjusted accordingly. This upgrade brings those two silos of data into one.”
The update is available now from the Farmplan website.