It took a recent visit to Cambridgeshire-based Case IH dealer Collings Brothers of Abbotsley, for its annual open day, for me to fully understand some of the changes that have been going on in the world of precision farming here in the UK.
    Prior to the Lamma Show, New Holland announced it would be distributing Trimble systems through its dealer network and same is also true for Case IH.
    Essentially, CNH has become an authorised dealer for Trimble in the UK. It is selling the US-based firm's complete range, as well as integrating its receivers and GPS controllers into New Holland's Precision Land Management (PLM) and Case IH's Advanced Farming Systems (AFS) precision farming equipment.
    The move coincided with a change in the trading area for Trimble dealer AS Communications, which now covers the whole of England, but the firm now finds itself competing, on similar trading terms, against the whole CNH dealer network.
    AS Communications has years of experience in precision farming systems and it appears that some of that expertise is already being lost to New Holland and Case IH customers as the dealerships are reluctant to ask for help when problems arise because the organisations are competing for the same business.
    CNH had 25% of the market for its tractor brands in 2008, so AS Communications has plenty of other manufacturers to work with, but I can't help thinking that as precision farming systems become standard equipment on more and more tractors - the whole Case IH Puma range can now be bought AFS ready - more deals along the lines of CNH/Trimble tie-up will be announced as the tractor manufacturers work to secure deals for plug-in and play GPS antennas and controllers for their customers.
       
Graeme Kirk
Managing editor