The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) announced today that its annual North American 2022 Plugfest will take place during the Commodity Classic in New Orleans, March 9th -11th at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The Plugfest will provide an opportunity for ag equipment software engineers from all over the world to test the compatibility of their ISOBUS products, putting aside competition and working together for the good of the agricultural industry.

ISOBUS is a communication protocol meant to standardize the communication systems on ag equipment from different manufacturers. However, due to its complexity, the ISO 11783 standard has been interpreted by each manufacturer slightly differently.  AEF Plugfests began in 2001 to help engineers test products under development, and ensure that manufacturers of tractors, implements and components were interpreting the standard in a compatible way.

The 2022 Plugfest will allow engineers to connect their ISOBUS products together, checking to see if their products can communicate with each other. At the end of the event, all attendees will have new data and a deep understanding of how to improve their products.

“The Plugfest is a bit like ECU speed dating,”

said Andrew Olliver, Vice Chairman, AEF.

“You get a whole bunch of engineers in the room sitting at dozens of tables, and every half an hour, the buzzer goes and a new ISO partner from another company sits down to connect their ISOBUS products to see if they ‘speak the same language.’ It’s a great opportunity for anybody developing an ISOBUS product to see if their product is compatible with the majority of ISOBUS products on the market.”

The partnership between the AEF and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) facilitated the opportunity for the Plugfest to be held in conjunction with the progressive Commodity Classic agriculture trade show, providing an opportunity for dealers, farmers and manufacturers to see the cooperation that occurs in solving core technology problems affecting the ag industry today, and how working together is the key to creating better solutions.

“The spirit of communication and collaboration that you see at a Plugfest from competitors is really quite extraordinary,”

said Olliver.

“It’s not about sharing company secrets, but about agreeing on a common language, a common standard, a common software so that when our competitive pieces of equipment are plugged together in the field, they deliver what the customer truly wants.”

“Most folks would be surprised to know that competing equipment manufacturers come together year-round to work towards brand compatibility so that their farmer customers’ operations can run more smoothly and efficiently,”

said Anita Sennett, AEF Secretary and AEM Senior Director of Agriculture.

“Plugfest is the culmination of those efforts, and AEM is pleased to help provide the opportunity for farmers and dealers to see the manufacturers in action and have a dialogue with some of the engineers while at Commodity Classic.”

The Plugfest is a biannual event held in the United States and Europe to test the protocol defined in the ISO 11783 standard. The event attracts hundreds of attendees and participants. AEF member companies typically attending Plugfest include AGCO, Case IH, CLAAS, John Deere, New Holland and SAME DEUTZ-FAHR, among others.

Dealers, farmers and other show attendees may peek behind the curtain to see the industry’s cooperative spirit at work finding solutions to solve their biggest tech problems. For a tour of the New Orleans Plugfest, please contact america@aef-online.org for available dates and times.

For more information about AEF, please visit: www.aef-online.org.

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