Virtual test drive of AFS Connect

Jan 25, 2021

Expert provides step-by-step walk through of Case IH’s farm management software

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to use Case IH’s AFS Connect?

The farm management software allows growers to monitor and manage its fleet, farm and data.

Kirk Wesley took attendees of the 2020 Farms.com Precision Agriculture Conference & Ag Technology Showcase on a virtual test drive of AFS Connect. Wesley is AFS Marketing Manager, Off-Board for Case IH North America.

At the farm level, AFS Connect allows farmers to organize fields and applications, gain agronomic insights and share relevant data with partners.

“Your data is yours,” adds Wesley. “We’re not sharing this with anyone else – you’ve got access to [the data] and you control who gets to visualize it.”

At the fleet level, AFS Connect allows farmers to easily “monitor equipment and logistics to achieve peak performance” and provides in-depth analysis of machine data.

Wesley also notes that Case IH recently rolled out a new feature allowing farmers to view its machinery fleet within the field portal.

After creating field boundaries, the software automatically (within the United States) generates a map showing all soil types within those set boundaries.

Under the Field View tab, farmers can view seeding populations, application rates and yield data from information gathered from monitors. This allows farmers to make data-driven agronomic decisions by overlaying yield data onto field maps.

So, what kind of data can be brought into AFS Connect?

CaseIH/NewHolland/Steyr (CN1)
John Deere (RCD/Gen4)
ISO 11783 (XML)
Trimble (AgGPS)
Field Boundaries (SHP zip)
3rd Party Data
Harvest Loads/Protein (CSV)
Gatekeeper (XML)

“One of the costliest parts of data management is just converting data from one format that you may have had in the past to the current format,” explains Wesley. “That’s one of the powerful tools that we have in [AFS Connect] is being able to utilize all of that information easily.”

The portal also has a reporting setting that automatically generates reports that can be shared with various partners of the organization.

The reports, using herbicide application as an example, includes the following information:

Rates of how it was spread across the field via map and graph
Summary of activities including when spraying started and when it ended, field size, acres applied, equipment and operator information, etc.
Tank mix information

To learn more about AFS Connect, watch the below step-by-step walk through with Wesley.

Photo: caseih.com

Video: Midwest Weather Shock: Flash Drought Turns Into Heavy Rain Threat This Week (2026 Forecast)

A rapidly changing Midwest weather pattern is unfolding in 2026 as areas that recently slipped into abnormal dryness and flash drought conditions are now facing the threat of heavy rain and repeated storm systems.

After a wet spring erased early drought conditions, regions across Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and northern Missouri have quickly dried out again since mid-to-late May. Soil moisture is dropping fast, and crops like corn and soybeans are beginning to feel the stress of rising temperatures and lack of consistent rainfall. Now, weather models show a major shift.

A developing system moving in from the Northern Plains is expected to bring multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms, with the potential for locally heavy rainfall across the Midwest. While some areas may miss out, others could finally see much-needed relief from the growing dryness. In this video, we break down:

Current drought conditions across the Midwest

Why a flash drought is developing quickly

Timing and path of incoming storm systems

Which states are most likely to see heavy rain

How long this wet pattern could last

Will this rain end the drought or create new flooding risks? Watch the full forecast to find out.