John Deere's AutoTrac system is accurate within 10cms, making it ideal for use in wide tillage, air seeding and other field operations.

Matthew Neesham, with his father Gerald, farms at Bracebridge Heath near Lincoln. Together, they have the task of running 1600 in hand arable acres and a further 1600 acres under contract farming agreements. Early in 2006 the farm took delivery of a new John Deere 8530 330hp tractor, equipped with the AutoTrac assisted steering system. The decision to invest in Deere's AutoTrac system was not taken lightly - Matthew and Gerald are not in the habit of purchasing what they might consider to be unnecessary gadgets.

"We thought long and hard about it and eventually came to the conclusion that it was a system which could offer us some financial rewards," says Matthew.

The man behind the wheel of the 8530 is Richard Whittaker. "I programme the system to operate at a width of 4.8m, which allows for an overlap of about 20cm, or 8in," he explains. "Once set, I can go all day and get off the tractor and not feel over tired. I estimate I'm probably getting about 15 per cent greater output than I would without the AutoTrac system."

Richard also points out that he can operate just as efficiently in foggy or night time conditions - the GPS guided system continues to produce arrow-straight rows regardless of the amount of visibility there may or may not be.