For model year 2027, John Deere is shifting the focus of its combine harvester lineup from individual features to whole-machine efficiency. This new holistic approach to combine design considers every action from harvest planning to grain storage.
“We’ve taken a step back and said, ‘How do we add value to the entire harvest job?’” said Brady Alley, combine marketing manager for John Deere at a media release event in Austin, Texas. He said the latest machinery upgrades increase productivity while using less fuel and harvesting a better product.
These updates for certain machines include:
- new modular concaves that are easily serviced
- factory-installed remote concave covers
- remote separator grate covers
- hydraulic folding ladder
Model year 2027 John Deere combines have a 550-bushel grain tank and a 35-foot unload auger that’s designed for 40-foot controlled precision traffic farming operations.
Within the tech stack, engineers enhanced John Deere’s Predictive Ground Speed Automation software with the machine.
Six new crops — oats, lentils, sunflowers, triticale, rye and peas — have been added to the Harvest Settings Automation system. Throughput can now be set as a target within Predictive Ground Speed Automation to help with operation logistics, while improved green-crop detection can automatically adjust the vehicle’s speed with real-time sensing capability. Smart startup settings give the operator recommendations for header and combine settings based on the crop being harvested.
“It’s way easier to edit something that’s on paper than it is to create something from scratch,” Alley said. “Smart startup settings give our customers a recommendation of where to start based on crop type and geography.”
Complementing the updated combine lineup, John Deere announced a new 27-row CF 27 corn head for 20-inch row spacing. In addition to the new model, John Deere has also released new technology on their entire corn head portfolio.
Auto back-shaft speed will sync with combine ground speed to automatically adjust as the operator speeds up or slows down. Auto Deck Plate Adjustment will use cane sensors at the front of the corn head to measure stalk diameter and adjust deck plate spacing based on that input.
The new 27 row corn head is designed to pair with a 54-row 20 DB (Deere Bauer) planter models.
“We needed a corn head that paired well with the DB90 planter on 20-inch spacing. This corn head is perfect for that,” Alley said.