I'm a "hired hand" and have to show The Management how to use "my" tractor. The electronics, generally speaking are very usefull when they have been designed properly. There are some "features" on the Masseys that still leave me stratching my head and are in one or two case slower to use than the manual lever, but generally they are brilliant to use. There are some problems with dodgy sensors and odd error codes popping up now and again. The manufacturers need to make these things more reliable, that is not to say the levers were not without their problems. They rattled and needed adjustment. I cannot tear a old powershift tractor to pieces and don;t have the skills to fix on, so not having the tech skills or equipment to fix a digital problem on a tractor is no different. The problem with error codes is that you never know what they mean and or how important they are, you just know something is not right.

I'll bet your migrant labour can use the latest mobile phone, which will have many more features on it than even a new Fendt. The difference if that the software engineers for phones are better at making it intuitive to use than the people that write tractor softwear. The job is getting more techincal all of the time. It sounds to me like the people that complain about "hire help" are basically hiring people not qualified for the job and just want somneone to drive up and down a field making it brown. If they can't operate a modern tractor can they relay what is happening to the crop back to you?