How three farmers increased productivity using MF technology

Massey Ferguson’s suite of technology options on its tractors are now essential for many users when purchasing new tractors.

MF Guide, Wayline assist, MF section control with up to 96 sections, and MF Variable rate control capable of applying five products, can be added on tractors from the MF 5S up to the MF 9S.

To find out more, we spoke to three users to discuss exactly how these technology options work and why having these integrated from the factory has made daily operation easier than retrofitting alternative systems.

South Devon vegetable producers Jake and Leah Harris added MF Guide on their new MF 5S.145 and have seen increased accuracy and repeatability of work when cultivating and planting vegetable beds.

MF Guide works to 20mm accuracy and is now essential for vegetable work, along with manure spreading and grassland works, as Jake explains.

“By adopting MF Guide, the field work tasks are more efficient when cultivating and planting vegetables. All our beds are 3m wide, so a 150mm drift on each pass when driving by eye will result in two or three fewer beds at the end of a field.”

Jake continues: “MF Guide allows us more hours in the day as before we would have stopped as the light fades due to reduced accuracy, now we can get the last load of manure spread at dusk as we have the confidence in the technology.”

The MF Guide GPS package is fully integrated into the tractor, and everything is set up in the Datatronic 5 screen with the Multipad joystick engaging the steering from one button.

MF TaskDoc is also included and means the farm can map all the fields and work logs can be recorded to show fuel used and time taken to complete tasks.

“It may seem a luxury for a farm of our size to have a new tractor with factory fitted guidance, but when you put all the figures together, and factor in the increase in work efficiencies, it does make a lot of sense,” Jake concludes.

Will Basey-Fisher farms alongside his dad, George, near Norwich, running a mixed arable and beef farm.

The tractor fleet has various colours in it to suit the farm’s needs and operator preference, and one area Will likes on his MF 8S.265 Dyna E-Power is the straightforward Datatronic 5 and Fieldstar 5 screens.

© Massey Ferguson

“The Datatronic 5 screen is easy to use, and I have the separate Fieldstar 5 for the GPS settings to keep the information separate from the main screen.

“This makes changing settings quicker and spreads the displays over two screens to avoid flicking through run screens for what you need.” 

Settings in the Datatronic 5 screen allow Will to adjust acceleration sensitivity between three positions depending on the task. In low, the transmission will slow acceleration, which can be good for field work or working in tight spaces.

Medium or high are suited to road work where quicker acceleration is required for pulling out at junctions. Will says it does make a difference, and he usually switches between low and medium.

“I would argue that the 8S models are as comfortable as a similar sized Fendt, which shows how good the range is. The cab is huge, with great views all round and there is plenty of storage space for a long day,” says Will.

Staying with one brand and dealer has always offered great benefits for H G Bliss Farms Ltd, at Three Holes near Wisbech, and this extends to having a versatile fleet that every operator is familiar with, and the same MF Guide autosteering system on each machine.

© Massey Ferguson

Running the same brand of tractor has benefits throughout the year for operators switching between machines and sharing data, such as GPS waylines.

The farm has its own base station and runs the MF Guide for all tractor operations. Alex Clabon says learning one operating system minimises problems or mistakes.

“We have fulltime staff but also casuals when we are busy. Running the same brand of machine with identical interfaces means everyone is familiar with the operation and we can switch tractors easily.

“Using MF Guide across all machines is also straightforward, as we only learn one GPS system and become familiar with it.”