Autonomous Options Available For Growers Now

Are you familiar with autonomous tillage?

If not, you soon will be.

Michael Porter Marketing Manager for Large Tractors and Tillage at John Deere says with autonomous tillage, tractors, the 8Rs and 9Rs for example, can be fitted with a camera system enabling a grower to pull into a field, get out of the tractor, and then they can use their phone to start that tractor and then walk away.  Porter said when the farmer returns to the field, it's been tilled, allowing them to  focus on other important jobs.

“How the tractor drives, how it's controlled and all that, is using existing technology that most growers already use," Porter said.  "Things like AutoTrac, or AutoPath, and then AutoTrac turn automation, and then on the tillage side, TrueSet that helps manage depth.  That controls all the machine functions, operations centers, how we get the work plan of the machine, and these are tools that customers have been familiar with for many years.  All of this camera system is doing is removing your eyes in the cab from a safety side.  It's not deciding where to drive or what to do.  It's purely making sure that it's safe to operate.”

More Than One Way To Measure The Savings

While the latest technology and toys can be fun, it’s all about business.  Porter said farmers see a variety of value from implementing autonomous tillage.

“The obvious ones for us is getting more done in the right operating windows," Porter noted.  "When we talk about Mother Nature, if they only give you one week to get that crop in the ground and you've only got maybe one or two people helping, this allows you to focus on the planter and keeping that planter full while this is staying in front of it and keeping it tilled and ready to go.  Some of the other ones are running 24 hours a day when there is weather coming and getting things done like that.  And then there's ones that are really hard to quantify, but work-life balance, having dinner with your family, going to a football game, some of those things as well."

Porter stressed farmers that have autonomous tillage choose when they want to use it, and when they don’t.

Click Here to learn more about autonomous options at John Deere.

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