Telematics for Agriculture and Farming Industry
Telematics for Agriculture and Farming Industry
Intro
Challenge
World’s human population keeps growing about 83 million each year. To imagine the scale of the process, consider this – it has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.8 billion in 2020, so the agriculture industry is essential to our existence, and it has to find the way to performing in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort.
There are many issues affecting farming – weather and climate change, economic, environmental, political factors, demand and supply concerns. One of the major challenges in large scale farming – agricultural types of machinery, such as soil cultivation, planting, harvesting/post-harvest and any industry-specific equipment or accessories attached for a certain purpose – efficient management and tracking automation. Traditional paper notes and/or printed maps they used for many years neither practical nor meet present-day farming requirements and practices.
Furthermore, if farmers have a bad year because of agriculture issues that led to a poor harvest and significant financial losses, it affects many people in the country or region and that effect may even last for years to come. Did you know, according to the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report, food loss and waste reached over 15% in North America and Europe, and over 20% in Central and South Asia in 2019? That being said, how can contemporary farm owners get this efficient machinery tracking and management challenge sorted once and for all with a minimum effort and maximum results?
Solution
Thanks to the fast-developing IoT technologies, agriculture-specific equipment, farming implements, and/or accessories tracking and management can be successfully achieved by combining GPS devices, CAN Bus data adaptors, and Bluetooth Low Energy 4.X (BLE) ID beacons. The ultimate choice for this matter – GPS tracker FMB140 with built-in CAN data reading feature and advanced software version supporting agriculture type vehicles (aka ALL-CAN300 option).
ID beacons are small radio transmitters that broadcast their unique identifier signal utilising wireless Bluetooth connectivity which has proven to have low cost, high energy efficiency, accuracy, and low interference. Beacons are easy to install, deploy, integrate into the existing ecosystem and swiftly replaceable if broken or stolen. They can be configured to exact customer needs, signal strength and data transmitting intervals can be easily integrated into virtually any size and form environment. Here to say, GPS trackers support up to 100 beacons at a time and each of them will continuously work, depending on the model, around 5 to 20 years on a single battery transmitting signal up to 500 m range.
Here is how it works – BLE ID beacons had to be attached to various non-motorised farming implements, agricultural machinery, attachments, and accessories to be monitored and accounted for. Thanks to the wireless communication principal, the installation process is effortless, fast, and low-cost.
At the same time, FMB140 trackers should be mounted on agricultural vehicles such as tractors, harvesters, loaders, round balers, farm utility and all-terrain vehicles, etc. Each ID beacon transmits unique signal and GPS devices read and identify all of them. Afterwards, FMB140 sends this data, combined with its GNSS location details, to a server for analysis.
Dedicated software determines all beacons (thus, tagged farming assets) location based on proximity to the closest tracker mounted on an agricultural vehicle. Conveniently, there is no need to login, authenticate or do any other action – all tracking procedures and records are made automatically in real-time and accessible to farmers 24/7/365 via any modern device with internet access.
As a result, they know exactly what works were done in what fields and can plan their further actions accordingly what makes it a comprehensive and indispensable choice. No more the old-fashioned ‘pen and paper’ methods whatsoever which known to be inconvenient, impractical, and error-prone. To bring even more value and benefits to farming businesses, Bluetooth ID beacons usage can be successfully extended to many indoor tracking solutions in warehouses, farming houses, barns, mills, dairy buildings, etc.
FMB140 model, as any GPS tracking device, offers multiple additional functions that are just as useful as live tracking such as Green Driving, Jamming detection, Excessive Idling detection, Immobilizer, Unplug detection, Towing detection, Crash detection, Auto/Manual Geofence, Trip, trackers configuration and firmware remote update via FOTA WEB tool.
Topology

Benefits
- Smart farming and outstanding efficiency – 100 per cent accountability of everything important to the farming business: agricultural equipment, valuable assets, processes, patterns are being tracked, monitored and optimised. Maximum results with a minimum effort and no more messy paper notes or printed maps.
- Low-cost Bluetooth ID beacons set up – adding wireless identification functionality to agricultural types of machinery is a simple and fast procedure for the current users of our telematics solutions. If broken or stolen, they can be swiftly replaced.
- Customisable solutions for every business needs – to get the maximum value out of it, ID beacons signal strength and data transmitting intervals can be configured to exact needs and used in any form and size farming fields and sites.
- Efficient fleet maintenance, safety, and timely service – fleet owners can be sure that agricultural vehicles are being kept in perfect condition, secure, and fully operational. Tracking vehicle maintenance scheduling becomes a hassle-free automated process saving precious time and recourses.
- Extensive GPS tracker FMB140 functionality to serve farming needs – built-in CAN Bus data reading feature, flexible configuration, multiple usage scenarios, and plentiful benefits to optimise fleet management, lower its running cost, and improve ROI.
Why Skytrack
Skytrack Telematics, offers comprehensive solutions to meet even the most demanding farming needs utilising comprehensive GPS tracking and wireless Bluetooth connectivity benefits. Skytrack is the right place to get all you need to succeed – an impressive variety of trackers, accessories, and solutions, bringing value for businesses and society.
Featured Product: FMB140
