JOHN Deere's smart technology inbuilt in its new machinery has foiled attempts by Russian looters to utilise farm equipment stolen in the conflict in Ukraine.
CNN has reported that Russian troops in Melitopol, in south-eastern Ukraine, an area currently experiencing heavy fighting, stole the farm machinery from a John Deere dealership and shipped it back to Russia for use on farms there.
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However, after freighting the equipment back over 1000 kilometres in the Chechnya region of Russia the thieves got a nasty surprise when they found the equipment had been remotely disabled and was unable to be used.
John Deere's new machinery features remote access which can be not only used for diagnostics and repairs but also in the case of theft.
The dealership theft is one of a growing number of reports of machinery theft in Ukraine.
Russia has a similar grains industry to Ukraine and much of the machinery is suited for use over the border, and it is believed there is an increasingly coordinated push to take the valuable equipment.
However, it is not just machinery being stolen, CNN also reports that along with general household looting, grain and even building materials have been taken.
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Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is Fairfax Ag Media's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his ten years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector. Away from work, he is a keen traveller, having spent his long service leave last year in Spain learning the language.
Gregor Heard is Fairfax Ag Media's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his ten years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector. Away from work, he is a keen traveller, having spent his long service leave last year in Spain learning the language.
