As the first examples of Teejet’s new Matrix GPS guidance unit go out on farms, it looks like this novel unit may have quietly gained a technological lead on its rivals.

It’s the first GPS unit on the market to show the guidance lines over a live video feed from a camera on top of the cab and there’s nothing else on the market like it.

One of the first users is Leicestershire farmers and contractors Shaun and Adam Taylor, who run the mainly arable business with father Paul from their base at Shepshed. They farm a total of 2200ha (5500 acres), some of it their own land but mostly as whole-farm contracts for other people. With the farmed area stretching 37 miles from end to end, they and two full-time staff have a busy time of it.

They weren’t slow to grasp the GPS nettle, either, with the first guide bar system arriving six years ago and all three front-line Challenger tractors now equipped with full autosteer and running an Omnistar XP correction signal.

Two years ago they fitted auto-boom shut-off to the sprayers for the first time and reckon it gives a return that’s probably not far off the 5% saving in chemical that many farmers and contractors say they get.

When the time came to change their 2000-litre Kellands Agribuggy this spring, they opted for a new Kellands Multidrive 6195 with 24m aluminium booms and 4000 litre tank. There’s seven-section auto shut-off with the new Teejet Matrix providing guidance and auto-boom shut-off.

As well as spraying 20-25,000ha (50-60,000 acres) a year, the sprayer will also apply some 1400cu m of liquid fertiliser.

The first thing that’s different from other GPS guidance units is the small camera on the roof of the cab, with a ring of infra-red LEDs that gives surprisingly good night vision. In the cab, the Matrix looks pretty much like other guidance units until you activate the camera, then the background behind the guidance lines changes from the usual games-console grey to a real-time image of the field itself.

It sounds novel, admits Shaun Taylor, but you get used to it very quickly. In fact seeing the field and the guidance lines on the same screen makes the navigation altogether more natural, he says.

“Often, when you use GPS, you’ll still use a particular tree or house in the distance as a visual guide. This way you have the landmarks on the screen too, so you don’t have to keep making that transition between what your eyes see and what the screen shows. They’re both there on the screen.”

He also likes the small icon that tells you which way to turn the steering wheel (and how much to move it) to get back on track.

Mr Taylor opted for the standard £1500 5.7in screen, but there’s also a bigger £2000 8.4in version as well. That version is particularly aimed at farmers who want to take advantage of the Matrix’s ability to show split-screen images of more than one camera.

Typically this would be a reversing camera and one for checking the nozzles are all OK from the cab. Mr Taylor isn’t using this facility now but it’s certainly one he’d consider for the future.