.png)
Modern agriculture is characterized by a continuous quest toward efficiency, which brings with it environmental, economic and managerial sustainability.
One of the themes that is emerging to achieve these goals is digital agriculture, that is, the use of technological tools and services that can store and use data collected in the field.
SDF is one of the world's leading manufacturers of tractors, diesel engines and harvesting machines, active in the world of agriculture under the SAME, DEUTZ-FAHR, Lamborghini Tractors, Hürlimann and Grégoire brands.
xFarm is an innovative startup that aims to digitize agriculture by providing innovative tools that can support agricultural entrepreneurs and agribusiness chain players in managing their farms.
The collaboration between these two entities has resulted in an Open Innovation journey in which the vision of future agromechanics meets the vision of modern business management, creating a digital ecosystem in which tractors, farm and farmer are finally connected.
Until a few years ago, IT tools were stand-alone, closed solutions with little standardization: the satellite guidance system was stand-alone but difficult to integrate with third-party machinery, business management was customized but very cumbersome, and environmental sensors were expensive and difficult to consult.
The Internet of Things revolution, that is, the use of networks to connect different environments and devices, is coming to agriculture, and since 2017 xFarm has been producing solutions that can make third-party services communicate with each other and integrate. In this way, data collected in different areas of the farm are saved on the cloud, accessed on different devices and used for advanced functionality.
For example, environmental data can be used by predictive models to give advice to the farmer on crop defense, avoiding the distribution of plant protection products when it is not necessary and increasing the quality of production. Field activity data can also be used by the system to automatically compile documents and report expenses, increasing farm budget knowledge and simplifying bureaucracy.
However, there remained one key element of the farm not yet connected to this network: the tractor. Through this partnership, SDF and xFarm worked closely together to develop a new device that can collect data from tractors and send it to the cloud xFarm, where it will be processed and made available inapp SDF Farm Management.
SDF Farm Management is an application that comprehensively encompasses the needs of a modern farm, offering a rich variety difunctions ranging from business planning to bureaucracy and from agronomy to fleet management.
Special attention has been given to the two founding values of xFarm, also conveyed in this software product: simplicity and integration. The user interface appears simple, with a flow of use designed specifically to accommodate farming habits and at the same time with a professional, minimalist graphic look.
In addition to this, the application shows a marked integration between the various functionalities, so as to allow for complete circularity of information, simplifying the user experience and preventing the farmer from having to enter the same information multiple times, which is thus enhanced.
The system can be used from both mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) and computers: the mobile application has been published in both the Play Store, for Android users, and theApp Store, for iOS users; the webapp, on the other hand, can be reached at https://farm.sdfgroup.com.
This duality allows maximum flexibility in service use, giving the ability to use SDF Farm Management both in the field and in the corporate office, quickly and synchronized instantly.
Much emphasis has also been placed on collaboration among farm stakeholders: the application allows access to the farm account by all users who can benefit from the tool. In fact, it is possible to provide all employees with personal access toapp to follow up on activities to be carried out, involve the trusted agronomic technician to share information, as well as overall control by the farmer.
The partnership between xFarm and SDF gave birth to InCab, a new feature integrated into SDF Farm Management that uses tractor telemetry data to provide an onboard terminal directly integrated into the farmer's smartphone and tablet.
The system consists of four main components:
It is an inexpensive and simple solution that allows the farmer to view all vehicle parameters in real time, including those that would not normally be visible on the dashboard, in a customizable and intuitive way.
In addition to the numerous counters, it is possible to display the location of the vehicle superimposed on satellite maps to easily and graphically identify where you are, what route you have traveled, and how the parameters have changed during processing. InCab is also equipped with GeoFencing, which is a feature that limits operator errors if they are operating outside the intended zones or in an abnormal manner.
The data displayed in real time in the cabin is then sent to the cloud xFarm, which will analyze it to make it available in the form of reports, graphs and by pre-filling the activity log.
One of the key words of the new decade is definitely Open Innovation, that is, the ability of large established companies to involve other partners, such as research institutes and startups, in the research and development process to speed up the innovation process and design products with new points of view.
This is the case of a fruitful collaboration between a large agromechanics company and a startup specializing in agricultural technology. Thanks to this partnership, the experience and strength of an established brand can be combined with the speed and flexibility of a young company.
"I think this project is a great example of how startups like xFarm can meet the needs of big players in the agribusiness world to bring to life new and extremely innovative solutions, meeting stringent deadlines and using an agile development mindset. At the same time, for us this was a way to get in touch with a new market and a new distribution model, which definitely allows us to differentiate our offer," commented Matteo Vanotti, farmer and founder of xFarm.
"The recent exponential growth of digitization in all production sectors has not found us unprepared; SDF has been active in this area for several years and is offering its customers technologically advanced and ready means to deal with data management," stressed Andrea Oliva, SDF Italy commercial manager. "Collaborations with young startups are further confirmation of the firm awareness that it is necessary to combine consolidated production know-how with the ingenuity of young people who are well acquainted with the needs of interconnectivity in order to respond effectively to the new demands coming from the market."
.svg)
