AEF (Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation)

The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) assists our members as they develop the hardware and electronic communication protocols to allow and confirm reliable communications between several related machines or implements, even though they are made by different manufacturers.

The North American ISOBUS Implementation Task Force (NAIITF) no longer exists as an independent organization. AEF is the successor organization and has a broader mandate to coordinate international efforts across all agriculture electronics.

The overall objective of the Ag Industry Equipment Foundation (AEF) is to develop harmonized technology enabling equipment, components and software manufactured anywhere and by anyone to operate seamlessly together. In the meantime, a conformance test and database allows manufacturers, dealers and ultimately customers to learn whether various equipment is compatible. AEM and German Engineering Federation (VDMA), formed the group in 2008. Since that time, the group has:

  • Created a conformance test tool for equipment and electronic components.
  • Developed a database of non-compatible and compatible equipment and electronic components.
  • Grown its membership to more than 140 OEMs, suppliers and software companies worldwide.
AEF PlugFest North America

The Agricultural Industry Electronics Foundation (AEF) is a global standardization initiative formed by agricultural technology companies including AGCO, CLAAS, CNH, Grimme, John Deere, Kverneland Group, Poettinger, Same Deutz-Fahr, as well as AEM and VDMA. AEM supports the foundation with staff secretary for the Steering Committee.

Every year, AEF sponsors two Plugfest events -- one in North America and the other in Europe. The spring Plugfest events have been held in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA, and is hosted by the National Tractor Test Laboratory. Plugfest started in 2002 with 15 participants and has grown to over 150 participants from 12 countries. Plugfest provides the industry with the opportunity to test their own ISOBUS product developments in combination with those from other manufacturers using the test protocol defined in the standards.