A farm from Poland has experienced for itself the advantages of a John Deere 7R 350. The 270ha farm of the Boćkowski family, which is run by Henryk and his two sons Daniel and Patryk, is located in Chmielewo in north-eastern Poland. In addition to managing their own agricultural business, they also work as contractors.
They bought their first John Deere machine over 20 years ago when they started offering agricultural services. It was a forage harvester. After that, they invested in newer JD machines. A forage harvester model 8300i is currently in use on the farm. The next is to be a model from the 9000 series with a 12-row header to meet the needs of the family’s growing number of customers. The Boćkowskis also own a John Deere T670i combine and an M962i sprayer with a 30m wide boom.
A tractor for field work and transportation
The Boćkowskis bought their first John Deere tractor – a 7R 250 – less than four years ago and another one at the beginning of this year. Henryk likes the practical solution of the EZ Ballast System on the 7R 350.
The EZ weight weighs 1,700kg and can be mounted and dismounted within a few seconds at the push of a button from the cab without leaving the seat. This allows the farmer to easily switch between field work and road transport, saving a lot of time and fuel.
The Boćkowskis believe that the John Deere 7R 350 is more stable and safer to operate thanks to the reactive steering system. This is particularly true at high speeds. The driving experience is comparable to driving a car – very comfortable. The 7R 250 without the modernised steering system, which the company also uses, offers a direct comparison.
There is a noticeable difference in the driving behaviour: The 7R 250 reacts to small steering movements, while the driver no longer has to worry about keeping in lane when taking a bend with the new 7R 350. “The operator can even let go of the steering wheel and the automatic reactive steering reset allows the tractor to easily exit the curve almost like a car,” says Patryk. “If this option had been available earlier, we would have chosen the reactive guidance system for the older 7R 250 as well.”
Henryk talks about a customer’s experience with the 7R 350. He suggested that the farmer take the tractor to his field himself via a public road. When Henryk asked him about his operating experience, the farmer hadn’t even noticed that the tractor had driven out of the bend by itself. He was taken by surprise when he let go of the steering wheel in the next bend and it automatically returned to the centre position.
Thanks to the reactive steering, the tractor drives out of the bend almost like a car.
Patryk Boćkowski
Long hours of work in a tractor should be done under optimal conditions. To meet this requirement, a number of solutions have been incorporated into the 7R to increase driving comfort. Henryk particularly appreciates the leather upholstery, the massage function in the seat, the electronic controls, a 65° seat rotation and vibration damping.
Patryk emphasizes that, in addition to a leather steering wheel, an air-conditioning system and a first-class sound system, a spacious refrigerator with a wide cooling area is also indispensable – and he emphasises how important the cab’s sound insulation is to him.
About the company

About a third of the farm area has good soil, while the rest is of medium quality. The farmers grow maize, wheat, rye, triticale and rapeseed. Everything they harvest from their fields is sold, even though they could use it as animal feed. However, for a number of reasons, they have decided to purchase ready-mixed feeds from recognised manufacturers instead.
Another focus is pig farming. The farm has 500 sows, and the piglets are fattened. However, as there are not enough rearing places, surplus piglets are sold. The family plan to expand their facilities to enable a completely closed system in future.
In addition to managing their own business, the Boćkowskis also offer transportation and agricultural services. The agricultural contract work involves soil tillage for conventional and no-till farming, drilling and harvesting of grain, as well as grass and maize silage harvesting. They also spread fertiliser, carry out spraying work and bale straw and hay. Last year, they were able to cultivate 1,530ha with just one drill, and using their John Deere 8300i forage harvester with a 10-row Kemper header, they cut 1,070ha of maize silage.
They can only achieve such a high area output by working almost around the clock during the season and by assigning two operators to each machine. They only take breaks when absolutely necessary for service, maintenance and cleaning work.
For the transportation of goods, they have two trucks, which they use to make trips abroad, as well as two tipping trailers which are used for contract work in the country. During the harvest season, all vehicles are used on-site to transport the harvested crops. Instead of the usual semi-trailers with a superstructure, simple platforms are used to transport straw and hay.
Smart Farming
Today, Henrik’s main task is to operate the machines in the field, while his sons have divided the farm management and tasks in the barn between them. Nevertheless, they also work as machine operators – and are committed to precision technology.
Henrik no longer wants to do without the tractor’s navigation system, because it makes his work in the fields much easier. The Boćkowskis also use smart farming solutions like JDLink, a telemetry system which transmits the machines’ performance data in real time. This means they can display a particular machine in the Operations Centre app and immediately know where the machine is, whether it is working or moving. Thanks to the app on their smartphones, they can also view the operating parameters of the machine and receive error alerts. If necessary, they can view the machine’s operating monitor and connect with the driver or a service partner.

The field boundaries were measured using the real-time kinematic positioning (RTK) signal and are stored in the Operations Centre. For field work, the team use the satellite-assisted guidance system to avoid overlaps. In addition, the implements are equipped with section control, so that there is no overlap when drilling, spraying or fertiliser spreading.
This year, they are also working with variable rate applications for the first time. To do this, they had their John Deere dealer create soil maps which can then be used to inform the rate of input required.