AEF secretary Mark Benishek retired end of last year and was succeeded by Anita Sennett representing the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) located in Milwaukee, WI in the US.
Mark joined the AEF in 2011 as Secretary in the meetings in Atlanta in the US where he took over from Ken Edwards. Soon after in the fall of 2012, he was also formally elected as Secretary in the General Assembly meeting of that year.

As announced during the virtual AEF General Assembly in October 2020 by Peter Hieronymus, a dedicated team of seasoned AEF members was tasked with looking at the AEF organisational structure and identifying possible improvements. In short, their mission was to find an organisational structure that increased efficiency and quality, while reducing the running time of projects. This proposal also must ensure compatibility in the field, as well as support further technology trends and requests for solutions for OEMs.

AEF announces plans are underway for the next Plugfest in Stuttgart, Germany. The dates are set for September 20 to 24, 2021. We are excited at the possibility of meeting again and plan for a large turn out. Registration information and further details will be prepared in May.

FederUnacoma, the Italian Association of Ag. Machine Manufacturers, has always taken an active role in supporting the AEF through the years. Although 2020 was a difficult year for everyone, FederUnacoma has taken the time to reflect on the industry’s  future needs and decided to push harder on the throttle of innovations in agriculture.

Exactly 20 years ago at Agritechnica 2001 the first ISOBUS systems were demonstrated with the Universal Terminal application (even though the first International Standard release of ISO 11783 part 6 was not published until 2004). This demonstration was only possible due to some multi-day meetings throughout 2001 where engineers from different companies got together, connected their ECUS and displays together, and tested.

During 2020 the AEF Communications and Marketing North American Sub Group worked on a group of sponsored articles that ran on the Precision Farming Dealer digital forum with the first appearing in the PFD Summer print edition. 
Here is a summary of all eight articles and their relevant links:

With so many different manufacturers creating a wide scope of agricultural products available on the market today, this is a fairly common problem for the North American farmer. However, when products all share the same “nerve system,” more commonly referred to as the CANbus, they communicate seamlessly. The AEF developed a new, highly automated, “AEF ISOBUS Conformance Test” for the certification of ISOBUS products.

The Conformance Test confirms that the ISOBUS product being tested complies with the ISOBUS standard and complies with the AEF Functionality Guidelines. In other words, the Conformance Test is an indication of ISOBUS compatibility. Products that pass the test are referred to as “AEF ISOBUS Certified.”

Whether you are a salesperson or service tech, the ISOBUS Database will become an essential part of your toolbox. It provides important ISOBUS compatibility information right at your fingertips.  The AEF ISOBUS Database has been developed as an online resource for dealers, manufacturers and the public to help understand the compatibility of agricultural products currently on the market. Only products that have passed the AEF ISOBUS Conformance Test can be listed in the AEF ISOBUS Database.

In a market offering so many different tractors and implements, how can you make the right choice? Now more than ever, when considering the precision farming functions, it can be a critical part of the buying decision.  Fortunately, the Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) offers a free resource that anyone can access to pair the available machinery choices with the most compatible precision-agriculture functions.

The AEF ISOBUS functionalities shown in the database can help pair up any certified ISOBUS compatible machinery for the most desired tractor/implement combined functionalities. Some of these functionalities are taken for granted today, however any functionality needs the AEF ISOBUS certification to guarantee compatibility.

Every day, farm tractors and implements are connected together and the electrical connectors are engaged. In the cab, the terminal comes alive with information about all the connected systems. Very interesting technology, but how does it all happen? And when the tractor and implement are different colors, how are systems coordinated to work together? An organization created out of the Ag industry has been instrumental in improving these communication systems. The organization is the Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF).

How do you get a group of ag software engineers excited? Most engineers have similar traits. They want to provide new and better designs, and the best possible products. So you put them in a room together, and let them connect their software and hardware to check if they function as intended. The Agricultural Electronics Foundation (AEF) came up with a way to make that happen. The event is called Plugfest, and it provides a chance for friends and competitors alike to come from around the globe to put aside that competition to work together for the good of their employers and customers.

Tractor Implement Management, or what we call “TIM,” is a cross-product and cross-manufacturer ISOBUS solution where the implement controls certain tractor functions and optimizes the working process. In other words, this new system will remove some of the repeted tasks that an operator performs over and over again during field operation.

M2M, also known as “Machine-to-Machine Communication,” is exactly what it sounds like. It stands for two machines “communicating” together. The term is broadly used to describe the technology that enables network devices to work together. The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) is an independent organization funded by international agricultural machinery manufacturers and is very involved in making brand interoperability, through M2M, better for farmers around the world.

So, what is under the ISOBUS Hood:

• The full benefits of ISOBUS can only be realized when products are compatible, i.e. they work together
• The AEF was formed to address the initial ISOBUS compatibility issues and has developed an ISOBUS Conformance Test
• Certified products can be found in the AEF ISOBUS Database which is a resource open to farmers, dealers and OEMS

We hope you will join us at an upcoming Plugfest, or take a look at the AEF ISOBUS Database. You can review more information about ISOBUS and the AEF by visiting

AEF is very happy to present the new Security Team Lead: Bradley Nielsen from CNH Industrial, based in Burr Ridge, Illinois, agreed to take over the tasks of John Potter (John Deere) who retired last year. Brad holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and has been  working for CNH Industrial for 32 years on various topics such as vehicle electronic controls development, CAN communications standardization, diagnostic tool development and standardization.

AEF is happy to present the new WIC Deputy Team Lead: Tobias Nothdurft from AGCO, based in Marktoberdorf, Germany, agreed to take over the tasks from Manuel Gorius, who left John Deere last year. Tobias holds a PhD in engineering, where he became a DARPA Urban Challenge finalist, and is working now for AGCO since 8 years.

AgGateway and the Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on initiatives to increase the seamless exchange of information in farm operations, supporting the goals of growers in managing and using farm data. The agreement allows the two global, non-profit organizations to share information as needed to pursue agreed-upon projects, and to share the rights for resources they develop together.

Materna is a full service provider in the premium segment successfully implementing IT projects for the industry sector, business customers and the public sector. Materna delivers process and technology consulting services, develops and implements IT solutions and provides maintenance, operations and training services.

Junkkari Oy is a family owned company located in Finland, established over 60 years ago and is part of the MSK Group Oy. Junkkari is a supplier of agricultural and forestry manchines that designs, markets and manufacturers machines for sowing, transportation and forestry. Our main products are seed drills, wood chippers and acid applicators. 

We have decided to join AEF to get  our seed drill ECU AEF certified and uploaded to AEF ISOBUS Database.