John Deere Unveils a New Autonomous Tractor
One of the biggest themes at this past week’s CES tech show was electric and autonomous transportation—cars, trucks, bikes, boats. And, it turns out, tractors.
Farm-equipment giant Deere unveiled a new autonomous tractor with an attached tillage implement at CES. For those not familiar with farm life, Julian Sanchez, Deere’s director of emerging technologies, told Barron’s that tillage is a vital, time-consuming, and tedious process of preparing the soil for next season’s planting. If you don’t do it fast, the ground could freeze. And ineffective tilling means some seeds won’t take and yield will drop.
While automatic steering has been on tractors for several years, Deere’s autonomous tractor can operate without a driver in the cab. The tractor can detect obstacles that might damage the attached tiller. And, he says, it can run around the clock, saving time and labor, and improving productivity by as much as 20%.
