Specialty Crops

Where Could Farmers Spend Bridge Assistance Payment Dollars?

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 20:18:57 GMT

With USDA’s and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ Dec. 31 announcement detailing rates for Farmer Bridge Assistance Program payments , set to be distributed by Feb. 28, there’s the matter of how farmers will spend the funds.

“If we look at it as a share of revenue, it looks around 5% to 20% for different farms. So, it’s meaningful, it’s something, but it might not necessarily change the picture for all of the farmers,” says Wes Davis, chief ag economist at Meridian Agribusiness Advisors.

Davis estimates the payment rate per acre for corn is about $0.25 per bushel and $0.62 per bushel for soybeans.

Per the Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer earlier this fall, when asked how they’d spend potential government payments, 53% of farmers said they would use the money to pay down debt.

(Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture)

“Farmers are getting that debt off their books and concentrating on reducing their payment rates,” Davis says.

This, he adds, is supported by data from the Kansas City Federal Reserve indicating a growing segment of farmers selling mid-to-long-term assets to improve working capital or pay down debt.

(KC Federal Reserve Bank)

One-quarter said the money would go toward improving working capital.

“So, farmers may have more funding available to spend on inputs as the spring buying season starts,” Davis says.

From Farm Journal research, 75% to 80% of farmers have input decisions made by the end of February, when farmers expect to receive bridge program payments. Davis says this means the program won’t have substantial changes in seed or fertilizer purchases but will most likely have an effect on crop protection purchases.

From the Purdue research 12% and 11% of farmers, respectively, said it could be used to invest in machinery and cover family expenses.

Respondents in the latest Farm Journal Ag Economist Monthly Monitor warn the payments may help with short-term cash flow, but could delay market adjustments.

“Payments will prolong high input costs and land values,” one respondent said.

When economists in the Farm Journal Monitor were asked if they expect the Farmer Bridge Payments to sufficiently cover financial losses experienced by farmers in 2025:

54% said the payments are “partially suﬃcient , the aid will cover some but not all losses.”
38% said, “The aid will be insuﬃcient to cover losses.”

When followed-up with, “What impact, if any, do you expect the bridge payments to have,” economists said:

May help pay down current operating loans for some and for others, help get a start on 2026 inputs
All players in the farm supply chain know about the payments and will know the exact payment rates. The payments will prolong high input costs and land values/rental rates. Any adjustments that should occur from an economic perspective are delayed because of the cash influx.
Support cash rent and land values
The payments will help producers with short-run cash flow issues. They will not help encourage needed adjustments in rental rates and other production expenses.
They will help pay down debt for most producers, providing a much needed boost the the agricultural lending sector.
It will help the younger producers that don’t have the capacity to roll operating loans, but many of the dollars will flow-through to input suppliers. That delays what should be a downside correction in input prices.

“A lot of this money — half of it — is just going to be a simple pass-through,” Davis says. “So, farmers have already spent it on that debt; they’re going to use it to pay down those balances. It might actually reduce the amount of interest payments that farmers have over the next season, but for it to pass through and increase the spending on some of their inputs or equipment or potentially land, that’s not really showing up in the data that we’re seeing, and farmers are not telling us that’s what they’re going to go and use the funding for.”

The bridge program is an economic assistance program, not a tariff relief program.

Seth Meyer, the former USDA chief economist and now director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri. explains the intent behind the $11 billion in farmer bridge payments that were announced late in 2025: they weren’t designed to offset trade losses, but to bridge producers to the point where long-standing safety nets take effect.

“These were calculated based on shortfalls in cost of production, not trade impacts,” he tells Farm Journal. “If this is going to be a bridge payment, it needs to be quick. That’s why an ECAP-style approach made sense, it could be administered fast.”

Davis says is an important distinction.

“If you look at the last trade war that we had, there were payments, and they were directly tied to the price impact and the actual damage that was done to farm prices,” he says. “Potentially, it leaves some options open for the administration to add funding that does supplement those prices. We’ve heard chatter over time that there may be another round of payments or funding available over the next year. I think that leaves the window open for trade relief if this is positioned as economic relief, with inputs staying well above the level that they were even five years ago.”

One big question remains.

It’s how the program will support specialty growers. USDA announced an additional $1 billion for specialty crop growers, but further details on timing and eligibility have not been released.

“Analysis from the American Farm Bureau showed almost every single major specialty crop is in the red by 1x to 2x what they have been historically,” Davis says. “Figuring out how that payment will be distributed to those growers will be really important.”

AFBF notes specialty crops account for more than one-third of U.S. crop sales: $75 billion.

Meyer also acknowledges a smaller $1 billion pool for specialty crops and sugar poses challenges: “With the diversity in specialty crop areas, it’s much more complicated to implement, how do you cover all of that efficiently?”

$12B Farm Aid Package Leaves Out Specialty Crops

Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:40:04 GMT

The USDA announced Monday that it will make $12 billion available in one-time bridge payments to American farmers in response to “temporary trade market disruptions and increased production costs.”

Of the $12 billion provided, up to $11 billion will be used for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, which provides broad relief to U.S. row crop farmers, according to a news release.

USDA says the remaining $1 billion of the $12 billion in bridge payments will be reserved for commodities not covered in the FBA Program, “such as specialty crops and sugar, for example, though details including timelines for those payments are still under development and require additional understanding of market impacts and economic needs.”

In response, the co-chairs of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance issued the following statement:

“We are disappointed that specialty crop growers were not included in today’s announcement. As we wrote to the President on October 6, 2025 , family farms that produce safe and nutritious fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts, as well as cultivate the trees, flowers, and plants that play a vital role in the nation’s health and wellbeing, continue to face unprecedented economic challenges.

“We stand ready to work with the administration and Congress to advance a meaningful assistance package to support specialty crop growers during this difficult period.”

A national coalition of more than 150 organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants and other products, the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance was established to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crop agriculture and improve the health of Americans by broadening the scope of U.S. agricultural public policy.

The SCFBA is co-chaired by Cathy Burns, CEO of the International Fresh Produce Association; Mike Joyner, president of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association; Dave Puglia, president and CEO of Western Growers; and Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council.

John Deere Layoffs Continue Amid Sales Downturn, 142 Iowa Employees Notified

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 15:57:38 GMT

Farm equipment giant John Deere has confirmed it is laying off 101 employees at its Waterloo Operations (last day on October 17) and 41 employees at the Des Moines Works (October 31) plant, according to an official statement emailed to Farm Journal.

It is a little over a month since the last round of layoffs , which affected over 200 employees across factories located in the Quad Cities region of western Illinois and eastern Iowa.

Deere says in the statement: “Production schedules at each John Deere factory vary to align with seasonal farming needs. When fewer orders come in, each factory adjusts accordingly.”

Despite the layoffs and an overall tough farm economy that some think will stretch well into 2026, Deere still intends on moving forward with its $20 billion investment strategy here in the U.S., according to the statement.

During John Deere’s earnings call in August, the company issued a warning that tariff costs could total $600 million for fiscal year 2025. The company’s share price dipped 6% immediately following that call. Deere’s net income for Q3 also sank 26%, and its total net sales decreased by 9% compared to Q3 in 2024.

At the beginning of August, John Deere addressed long-standing Right To Repair concerns with a new digital diagnosis and repair product for John Deere machines and Hagie STS high-clearance sprayers. That tool costs $195 per tractor for farmers and $5,995 per year for independent service technicians.

And in May, Deere acquired Minneapolis-based drone and sensor provider Sentera . Financial terms for that deal have not been disclosed.

John Deere also just dropped a new commercial featuring injured San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Iowa State Cyclone Brock Purdy cooking meals for farmers with tractor influencer @JustAJacksonThing. You can check that out below.

Additional Information

Deere shares the following bullet points regarding compensation benefits available to laid off employees:

Affected employees are eligible to be recalled to their home factory for a period equal to their length of service. Those laid off are automatically placed in seniority order for openings they are qualified to perform at the factory.
Weekly supplemental unemployment benefit (SUB pay), dependent on number of years of continuous employment.
Transitional Assistance Benefit (TAB) pay, which may cover up to 50% of their average weekly earnings for up to 52 weeks. 
Profit sharing, calculated based on hours worked, average earnings and the company’s profit margin.

Healthcare benefits employees can receive during a layoff include: 

Employees can keep healthcare coverage for at least six months, or as long as they are eligible for SUB pay.
Weekly Indemnity (WI): Employees who become disabled while on layoff can get WI benefits for the same duration as their SUB pay.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Employees and their household members can access EAP services for the duration of their recall rights. EAP provides up to eight sessions of in-person or virtual therapy per year.

Other benefits laid-off employees may receive include: 

Life insurance
Legal assistance
Tuition reimbursement and job-placement assistance.

Your next read: Why a Farmer on the Brink of Suicide Chose to Keep Going

Spray Drone Season Hits Full Throttle: 3 Service Providers Flying Acres and Boosting Yields

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 19:22:38 GMT

Nebraska native Andy Kreikemeier’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing all week, and it won’t go silent anytime soon.

That’s because his former hobby and volunteer side hustle, flying drones for the county emergency response team, transformed into a full-time gig as a spray drone operator. Kreikemeier is one-third of a team of spray drone pilots with business partners Brett Scheiding and Brad Eisenhauer. Together, the three local volunteer firefighters started Infinity Precision Ag, a custom drone application service provider in southeast Nebraska.

The Infinity team is in the crunch of the summer plant health application season, and farmers without access to a Hagie high-clearance sprayer or an aerial application service need the timely sprays these certified drone pilots provide to get their crop across the finish line and in good shape for fall harvest.

The trio is in their sophomore season offering per-acre spray drone application services to farmers, and the group learned “a ton” from last year’s rookie campaign.

“Spray drones are definitely a good tool because they can do a lot of specialized things, and it’s fun to see the old farmers come out and watch these things. They’ll tell me ‘Never in my day would I have thought this was something I’d be using’,” Kreikemeier says. “It’s a fun change, and it works. You can get more precise with your applications, and you get the stuff where you want it at all times.”

The team at Infinity exclusively flies Hylio spray drones, which are manufactured in Texas. Hylio was among the first U.S. service providers – Iowa-based Rantizo being one of the others – to receive FAA approval to swarm , or operate in concert, multiple spray drones in one flight mission. Swarming is exactly how Kreikemeier and his team prefer to operate the mostly automated quadcopters. By operating multiple spray drones together in a fleet, Infinity can cover more acres per hour.

Related: Trump Issues Executive Order Making Ag Drones More Efficient

Kreikemeier says the service requests from farmers this summer are “about 50-50” fungicide on corn applications and insecticide or foliar-applied biological sprays. There hasn’t been a lot of Tar Spot disease pressure in his area yet, but Gray Leaf Spot in corn is something farmers need to proactively spray for.

(Lindsey Pound)

While he won’t go as far as saying the drones are a superior application tool to a large ground rig or aerial application plane, he does see some advantages to using the technology.

“The drones can definitely get the products deeper into the plant canopy — at least that’s what I’m seeing right now,” Kreikemeier says, adding he’s also seeing improved application quality on end-rows and sensitive areas near buffers, streams and rural housing developments. An aerial applicator would usually have to pull up and gain altitude to avoid those obstacles, potentially leaving some spray to drift off-target. But an unmanned drone can stay low and keep blasting active ingredients directly into the canopy.

“Guys are definitely telling me they can see a difference between what the drones have done and what the planes have done,” he says.

From Photographer to Pilot-In-Charge

Drone shots of a drone spraying fungicide on corn field sprayer spray - By Lindsey Pound

(Lindsey Pound)

Over on the East Coast, Joshua Berry got his start in the drone world along the same lines as many early adopters: he built up a custom photography and videography business for years before making the decision to integrate aerial photography to stay relevant.

The first drone he purchased is widely considered one of the “OGs” in the drone world: DJI’s Phantom 1. Berry recalls his aerial photography service didn’t take off right away, but he always knew ag was an industry he wanted to join. The realization came fast and hard that he was facing an uphill battle to make that dream a reality, as his family didn’t own land or have a legacy in farming.

Berry’s big breakthrough came when he started using drones equipped with thermal cameras to help deer hunters locate fallen prey deep in the woods. The service gave him a foot in the door with local farmers – many of whom are avid hunters or at the very least friends with hunters – along Maryland’s specialty ag-rich Eastern Shore.

refilling drone spraying fungicide on corn field sprayer spray - By Lindsey Pound

(Lindsey Pound)

“A guy out in Ohio saw what I was doing and wanted to get into the deer recovery stuff, so he befriended me, and I helped teach him a couple things,” Berry says. “One day he calls me up and he’s like, ‘Yo, have you seen these agricultural drones?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I have my eye on it.’ And he tells me it’s going to be the next big thing.”

Berry started doing research and soon enough he agreed with his buddy in Ohio that spray drones would be his ticket to a career in farming. He ordered a pair of DJI Agras T-40 models and started working on getting licensed to legally apply chemicals.

That took him a few months (today the FAA licensing process has been streamlined), and he was able to start flying and applying midway through the 2024 growing season.

“I did a lot of research and networking before I flew a single acre, so I felt like I set myself up for success (early on),” Berry says. “Even though it was a dry year – dry and hot means there’s not a lot of pressure on farmers to spray – I ended the season with between 2,500 and 3,000 acres. For a guy in his first half of a season, I was happy with that.

Related: How Spray Drones Revolutionize Corn Farming, Make Farmers More Efficient and Sustainable

This year, Berry’s acreage will double to about 6,000-7,000. That’s an impressive figure, considering how fields are laid out on the East Coast. This isn’t Iowa, Berry says, where a drone operator can park at an intersection and knock out 300 acres of flat, continuous fields without having to move the truck and tender trailer.

As far as the job mix this summer, he is putting on a lot of single pass fungicide-insecticide-liquid fertilizer applications across a diverse mix of crops. Berry is also hearing some farmers in his area are buying drones themselves and skipping the whole FAA licensing process to spray their crops themselves.

“That’s going to hurt us as an industry, big time. And also, it’s going to hurt the farmers eventually. Even though the enforcement wing of the FAA is almost nonexistent, there is enforcement out there,” he says. “They may not have the manpower (now), but if that changes, you’re going to see these unlicensed guys really start to get dinged.”

Tendering for Spray Drones

The Mitten State is a good proving ground for spray drone applications, says Leon Thelen, agricultural drone application specialist, On Point Application Group (Battle Creek, Mich.).

For one, there aren’t many options for custom aerial application services available to growers like there are in the western Corn Belt. And Michigan farms are often broken into collections of smaller, oddly shaped fields with power lines, tree stands and residential developments nearby. That makes plane applications dicey.

And finally, the state has a diverse crop mix that features a lot of high-value, specialty crops like cranberries, cherries, potatoes and sugar beets. There are a lot of farmers looking to make applications without running over expensive plants with a ground rig.

Related: 7 Expert Tips To Maximize Spray Drone Efficiency

Thelen says On Point Application Group is doing a lot of field border insecticide applications, spot spraying tough weed escapes like water hemp, and putting out full field broadcast applications of fungicides with its XAG P140 spray drones.

One critical aspect of the business Thelen and his team have sorted out over the past few months is tendering. He says the giant, bi-level prefab drone tender trailers you see around the Midwest are good for most operations, but a smaller footprint tender that can fit in the back of an extended pickup is ideal for the type of work he’s doing in Michigan.

“Being that I’ve backed a trailer into a lot of fields, I like lightweight equipment that’s nimble,” he says. “We’ve got a trailer with 1,000 gallons of water and a mix tank that we can leave at the field edge and unhook. Then we have this 200-gallon hot tank with our charging equipment , batteries and everything we can take into the field. This setup works well when you’re working off (irrigation) pivot lanes or back in behind the woods. I like to be close to the field.”

Your Next Read: Yes, Corn Sweat is Real, But Here’s Why the Humidity is So Thick This Year

Can Pulse Crops Double Acreage by 2030? The Push to Include More Pulses in the MAHA Movement

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 19:16:28 GMT

You’ve probably eaten a pulse crop and not even realized it. Whether it’s hummus, made from chickpeas, or lentils in soups or salads, the edible legumes might be small in size, but are packed with powerful nutrients. And there’s now a push to include more pulses in the Trump administration’s movement to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA).

Pulse crops are grown on just over 4 million acres today, but growers hope they could be the future of healthier diets.

“We consume so little of these crops in the United States, it’s between 11 lb. and 12 lb. per person,” says Tim McGreevy, a farmer and CEO of USA Pulses. “We have to bump that up.”

From dry beans, to lentils to chickpeas, pulse crops are the dry, edible seeds of legume plants. They are harvested for their dried seeds, but according to McGreevy, it’s these crops that are a valuable source of protein and fiber as well as a way for farmers to improve soil health.

“Farmers can raise these crops all over the country,” McGreevy says. “Our issue is we’ve got to raise demand. And if we’re going to be serious about feeding our school kids and reducing obesity and their chronic diseases that are cropping up, we have to feed them healthy foods like pulses or at least increase their consumption of these really terrific foods.”

Last week during the USA Pulses Summit in Spokane, Wash., the group set a lofty goal: to double production and demand by the year 2030.

“And frankly, it’s a needed goal,” McGreevy says. “I mean, we have to turn things around. When over 70% of our population has a chronic disease or is facing obesity, I’m telling you, we have a problem. So we are all in with the Make America Healthy Again movement, because if we can do that, and lower chronic diseases, we feel pretty confident that we’re going to increase consumption of pulses because they have high dietary fiber. They have resistant starch, they’re good for your gut health. These crops are a huge solution to making America healthy again and actually lowering chronic diseases in this country.”

These crops are mainly grown in the northern Plains, as well as the pacific Northwest today. But McGreevy says the crops can be grown across the country. And with prices for crops like corn, soybeans and wheat so low today, pulse crops could be a good option for farmers searching to try something new.

What does McGreevy want traditional row crop farmers to know? He says prices for pulse crops are surprisingly good. If farmers across the Midwest who are struggling with low corn, soybean and wheat prices are looking for a crop to add to their rotation, pulse crops may be worth a try.

“You don’t have to grow a 100% of your acres, but whether it’s peas or lentils or chickpeas or beans on your acreage, you should try a little bit,” he says. “It should be part of your cropping system. And that’s really what our aim is when we increase consumption, we know acreage is going to follow.”

He says their newest member of USA Pulses is actually from Nebraska, and is a farmer who’s traditionally grown mostly corn and soybeans.

“But there are a lot of farmers that are trying it, the acreage is small in Nebraska, but they’re growing and they’re seeing that the crop diversity that they have on their farms is really important. And pulses are entering into that.”

Ross Chastain's Win in the Coca Cola 600 is a Big Win for Agriculture and the Florida Watermelon Industry

Mon, 19 May 2025 20:18:44 GMT

In a remarkable story of resilience, NASCAR driver Ross Chastain won his first race of the season on Sunday, marking his sixth win of his career.

What made the win at the Coca Cola 600 so impressive is he actually started the race in last position after a crash during practice on Saturday meant he was unable to set a lap time in qualifying. But what makes the win even more remarkable is he was in a backup car.

The first win of the season meant he also got to smash a watermelon in victory lane to celebrate, which is a tradition he started to toast to his farming ties. Chastain, who’s known as The Watermelon Man, because of his family’s background in watermelon farming.

“This thing is fresh from Florida,” Chastain said with a laugh after his win. “It just came up from our family farm. Man, for the Florida watermelon industry, that’s your watermelons you’re getting right now, so y’all better go buy a dang watermelon to celebrate. I want to see videos of smashed watermelons flood the socials. I want to see it. Florida watermelons are in season.”

As a Kid, Chastain Just Wanted to Farm

Behind the wheel of this No. 1 Chevrolet ZL1 race car is exactly where you’ll find Ross Chastain today, but growing up on a farm in southern Florida, NASCAR wasn’t his original dream. As a kid, all Chastain wanted to do was farm.

“I wanted to be like my dad and like my granddaddy and my uncle and be like those guys that told me stories of our ancestors and generations before us growing up in south Georgia during the hard times, but seeing we were living through good times,” says Chastain.

Chastain’s father, a seventh-generation watermelon farmer, raced as a hobby. Chastain and his brother, Chad, are the eighth generation. His family got their start in south Georgia before moving to southern Florida in the 1950s. It’s a place his brother and the rest of his family still farm today.

“Even as I started in NASCAR I thought it was just still a hobby, and I going to school, even started college to get a business education to try to be a little better well versed in what the farm was going to be tasked with in the next couple decades,” says Chastain. “But I never went back. I moved to North Carolina in 2012 and decided to make this a career.”

How He Got His Start in Racing

While his dad raced as a hobby, Chastain is a first-generation NASCAR driver. With a natural love to be behind the wheel, Chastain says he was infatuated with driving anything he could as a kid.

“I just remember driving stuff,” he says. “My dad would have me drive things on the farm as a kid. And then when I first raced, it was late 2005, and my dad asked if I wanted to try driving a race truck. So, he let me drive it around our packing house first. We had a metal building that we packed the watermelons in. It had a shell with dirt driveway around it, and he let me drive until I got going too fast.”

After a couple of laps, his dad stopped him and said, “Let’s go to the track.”

“So, we packed up that Friday night, went over to the track I remember the first time on the track, then that Saturday night racing,” Chastain says. “I crashed, but I fell in love with it. And it didn’t scare me. It was something I liked. I wasn’t good at it by any means, but I fell in love early on.”

Chastain says he was hooked, not only to the adrenaline rush of racing, but also hooked to the wrecker after he crashed.

“But they pulled the bumper bar back out, my dad did, it was still hooked to the wrecker,” he says. “He hooked the chain to the four-wheeler and jerked the bumper out and sent me back out. He asked, ‘Do you want to go back out?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I want to finish the race.’”

Chastain Wants to Share the Story of Agriculture

The Ross Chastain on the track is a fierce competitor whose goal is to win, but off the track he wants to share the story of ag.

“A lot of what I want to do now is tell the stories,” says Chastain. “I want to tell our family’s story. I think I’ve done a decent job of that, but also other farmers.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Like a Farmer (@likeafarmerpodcast)

Through a series called “Ag to Asphalt,” Chastain is shining a light on agriculture and bringing those stories to a national stage.

“To grow our food here in the us is only getting harder, and there are less people and less families involved all the time,” he says. “I like hanging out with farmers. So, if i get to go and hang out with them for the afternoon, see their operation, let them tell their story, show off their family, let him brag a little, and then sit around on the tailgate when we’re all done and have a Busch Light. I mean, I am the Busch Light guy, I’m a beer drinker, and we get to sit around and then just, once the cameras are off, just hang out and actually get to know them. One, selfishly, that’s cool. I like that, and i have this unique platform to share it.”

My family farm, and family farms all across our country are harvesting, farming, or planting watermelons.

🍉 Fact! You need 3️⃣ things to grow watermelon ➡️ ☀️ 🐝 💧 #MelonPartner #WatermelonEveryday pic.twitter.com/4X27vquUyY
— Ross Chastain (@RossChastain) May 8, 2025

Social Media Amplifies His Love for Ag

With nearly 140,000 followers on Instagram and 130,000 followers on X , Chastain is making an impact both on and off the track

“I have a social media platform, and I have the NASCAR platform to amplify it,” says Chastain. “The main job is to go race on Sundays, but if on a Thursday afternoon I can travel in early to a race weekend like here and go out to a farm, that’s cool for me, and I like that. No one is making me do it, but I like it, and it’s rewarding to see these operations and see how they’re adapting, what the new technology is and how they are continuing to survive .. and it can be scary at times to think about American ag and agriculture in general, but there’s families out here doing it.

At just 32 years old, Chastain hopes he gets to continue his dream of racing for years to come. But what does he want his legacy to be? Well, it’s twofold.

“Winning on Sundays is the ultimate goal, and then agriculture gets to come along with that; all the extra stuff gets to come along with that, but my life’s goal is to win more in Cup,” he says.

Chastain’s main sponsor partners include Busch Light, Kubota, Chevrolet, Trackhouse and more, but he is also sponsored by several agricultural companies, including New Leaf Symbiotics.

Watch the U.S. Farm Report segment featuring Ross Chastain’s journey to NASCAR and life on the farm.

Machinery and Tech News: Updates From Ag Leader, John Deere, Kinze, Rantizo, Unverferth, Yamaha and More

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 17:36:18 GMT

Ag Leader announces RightPath implement guidance
Trailed implements are known for drifting even when using autosteer, resulting in imprecise placement of inputs and inconsistent guess rows. Ag Leader is introducing RightPath, a passive implement steering solution, to alleviate these problems.

In many cases, an implement can drift off its guidance line up to 10 inches or more, even on flat ground. Ag Leader says RightPath keeps implements centered on the guidance line via passive implement guidance, which the company says enables farmers to:

Place the implement – and therefore rows and inputs – in the right place.
Plant seed accurately relative to a previous operation.
Achieve consistent guess rows in all conditions.
Re-use the same guidance line in the next field.
Reduce stress and fatigue.

Both the tractor and implement require Ag Leader’s GPS 7500 to utilize RightPath, and the tractor needs to be equipped with TerraStar-C, TerraStar-X, or RTK. It is designed to operate through Ag Leader’s InCommand Go displays. RightPath is compatible with both SteerCommand Z2 and SteadySteer.

RightPath will be available in late fall 2025 through a single purchase unlock, and there will be no recurring subscription fee.

Learn more at AgLeader.com.

Greeneye Precision Spraying system available for cotton
Greeneye Technology announces the expansion of its retrofit, selective smart spraying system to include cotton for 2025.

(Greeneye)

Greeneye’s AI-enabled system addresses the numerous weed management challenges facing cotton farmers today by precisely targeting herbicide application to weeds using real-time, sub-millimeter precision. The company says its technology significantly reduces herbicide usage, lowers input costs, and enhances weed control efficacy while providing flexibility for both pre- and post-emergence applications.

The retrofit solution is engineered to integrate with any commercial sprayer, regardless of brand, model, or size, according to the company.

Greeneye has already secured multiple sales with cotton farmers in the U.S., who will begin using the system at the start of the 2025 growing season.

Learn more at Greeneye.ag.

John Deere adds electric seed meters to Precision Upgrades lineup
John Deere is releasing two new planter retrofit kits to supplement its Ultimate Planter Upgrade program. Now, farmers can either replace individual seed metering row units as they wish, or they can opt-in to the full planter upgrade program.

(Nate Luke/John Deere)

For farmers that just want to upgrade to new seed meters, the MaxEmerge 5e and ExactEmerge electric drive seed Meter Upgrade kits are available for model year 2015 and newer planters. Deere says the seed meters optimize planting productivity and help farmers plant faster with pinpoint population and spacing accuracy.

Deere’s Ultimate Planter Upgrade program is a complete factory row replacement for 2005 and newer planters that include the following features:

ExactEmerge or MaxEmerge 5e electric meters.
IRHD and active pneumatic downforce.
Standard or spoked gauge wheels.
SeedStar 5 monitoring.
One year factory warranty.

Additional options for the Ultimate Planter Upgrade include ExactRate or ExactShot liquid fertilizer systems, ExactChem granular insecticide, easy-adjust pneumatic row cleaners or pneumatic closing wheels.

Learn more at deere.com.

Kinze announces model year 2026 releases
Kinze Manufacturing is introducing the following innovations as part of its model year updates for next year:

A new dual product fertilizer system on all configurations of its popular 5900 front fold planter. The new system features row-by-row section control, and fertilizer products can be applied at two different rates and are fully controlled by the Blue Vantage display.
Two new configurations and an additional seed meter for the recently released 5670 pivot-fold, split-row planter. Now a 12-row 30" and a 16-row 30" will be available for next season. And all configurations can be ordered with the True Speed electric high speed seed meter to plant at 3 to 12 mph. The 5670 fertilizer system will also be available with rear fertilizer drop tubes.
Several new alerts, counters, and reports have been added to enhance its Blue Vantage displays, along with the ability to replant over a skipped area. In addition, both the John Deere Operations Center and Ag Leader AgFiniti have been linked to Blue Vantage so data can be easily uploaded through a Wi-Fi connection.
Harvest Commander Grain Cart models will offer the Scale-Tec POINT scale indicator for scale monitoring and data collection. The scale indicator is Bluetooth enabled and ISOBUS compatible, and provides scale readout information to mobile devices up to 1,000 ft. away and on an externally mounted readout on the cart.
New Offset-Pivot Hydraulic Doors will be available in 40' to 120' widths and heights up to 30'. The door options have been built for production facilities, machine sheds, and aircraft hangars.

For additional information, farmers can visit Kinze.com or contact their local Kinze dealer.

Manitou Group announces new MLT 850 telehandler
Manitou is launching an all-new agricultural telehandler to the North American market: the MLT 850.

The new model features heavy-duty parts and components similar to its existing MLT 961 while retaining a relatively smaller footprint more similar to its MLT 841.

(Manitou Group, Inc.)

The machine features a max lift height of 24 feet, 11 inches and a maximum lifting capacity of 11,021 pounds (4,410 pounds capacity at maximum lift height). The ability to easily change between dozens of attachments offers versatility for tasks including loading bulk into a trailer, loading silage and manure, loading a feed mixer wagon, stacking straw and hay bales, handling and filling bags, and loading compost and wood chips.

MLT 850 also features a double U-shaped boom built for ground engaging work and to have comparable strength and performance to front-end loaders.

Learn more about the Manitou MLT 850 here.

RELATED: Read up on more machinery news that you might’ve missed: https://www.agweb.com/news/machinery/machinery-news-new-john-deere-retrofit-kit-grain-bag-baler-telehandler-line-alfalf

Morton Building’s 3D Studio tool helps farmers design the new barn of their dreams
Morton Buildings is introducing its new 3D Studio online tool that enables users to design their own Morton building.

When working in the 3D Studio, farmers can zoom in and move around the building to fully engage in the design. They can save their building color choices and finished product with the “save” button, digitally share with others and print out the selections.

(Morton Buildings)

A unique feature of the 3D Studio allows farmers to determine the ideal dimensions for their buildings based on the specific size of the machinery, vehicles and equipment they plan to store.

To try out the new tool, visit mortonbuildings.com/3d-studio.

Rantizo, Climate FieldView now connected via new API
Iowa-based spray drone service provider Rantizo says its proprietary AcreConnect software is now connected with Climate FieldView, Bayer’s digital farming platform.

Rantizo’s AcreConnect software can share application maps with Climate FieldView accounts.

(Rantizo)

The owner of the largest spray drone network in the U.S. says this connection allows retail agronomists and growers that use these digital platforms to have a more comprehensive view of operations by including spray drone application records and maps.

Now spray drone operators can easily share those application maps with agronomists and growers directly via their FieldView account. This ensures that spray records are included with other application information and field data, giving farmers and retailers a comprehensive view of their field operations.

To learn more about AcreConnect, visit Rantizo.com/AcreConnect.

Unverferth unveils new Parker Seed tender model
The Parker Seed Chariot seed tender lineup is adding a new model, the 3620R, that offers a longer 21’ conveyor for filling central-fill planters and drills. The split compartment tank can haul multiple seed varieties and has a combined capacity of 360 seed units.

(Unverferth)

All 3620R Parker Seed Chariot tenders feature an 8” tubular style conveyor powered by an industrial-grade gasoline engine with electric start. All controls are housed in a weather-tight compartment located on the driver’s side.

For transport the 3620R features a tri-axle undercarriage with 7,000 lb. capacity torsion axles and new 235/85 x 16 highway-rated tires with electric braking on all axles.

You can learn more about Parker 3620R Seed Chariot tender by visiting the nearest Parker Seed Chariot dealer, or parkerequip.com.

Yamaha Motor Co. launches Yamaha Agriculture, a precision ag and autonomy spinoff
Yamaha Motor Co., the Japanese company that launched the first unmanned aerial application vehicles for agriculture over 40 years ago, is launching Yamaha Agriculture, a new company that will focus on delivering autonomous equipment and AI-powered digital solutions for the specialty crop market.

The new venture is being formed through strategic acquisitions of Robotics Plus and The Yield, according to a press release from the company.

Robotics Plus’ robot Prospr spraying in a New Zealand vineyard.

(Robotics Plus)

Robotics Plus provides an autonomous hybrid vehicle capable of multiple activities including spraying and weed control, while The Yield brings AI-powered yield modeling and data analytics.

Yamaha Agriculture plans to provide robotics solutions for spraying, weeding and other field operations for growers of wine grapes, apples and other specialty crops in key markets like North America and Australia.

You can learn more at yamaha-agriculture.com.

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BREAKING: FTC Files Right to Repair Lawsuit, John Deere Issues Statement

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 18:37:23 GMT

It is bone-chillingly cold throughout the Midwest, yet the Right to Repair issue is heating up once again.

Farm Journal Washington correspondent Jim Wiesemeyer learned early Wednesday morning that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is filing a lawsuit against Deere & Co. for allegedly violating U.S. competition laws.

The lawsuit was filed on Jan. 15, 2025, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Western Division. You can review the redacted filing by clicking here.

Update (6:31 pm CST): John Deere has released a statement vowing to fight the lawsuit, characterizing the FTC’s claims as “baseless” and “meritless.” It can be viewed here.

Wiesemeyer shared the following summary of key points from Deere’s response:

Commitment to repair access: John Deere emphasized its long-standing dedication to customer self-repair, noting its history of publishing manuals, selling parts directly, and providing digital tools like Customer Service ADVISOR.
Defense of innovation: The company stated that the lawsuit “punishes innovation and pro-competitive product design.”
Settlement efforts: John Deere disclosed ongoing settlement negotiations with the FTC prior to the lawsuit and criticized the agency for relying on “inaccurate information and assumptions.”
Recent initiatives: Highlights included the launch of Equipment Mobile in 2023, upcoming upgrades to the John Deere Operations Center, and a pilot program to enhance farmer’s repair options.

RELATED: What Does Right to Repair Really Mean?

What happens next?
According to a post at FTC.gov, once the agency files a lawsuit the respondent – in this case, John Deere – has the right to contest the charges. FTC may then issue a final order, which can be appealed to the courts. The agency may also seek civil (i.e. financial) damages or request an injunction against Deere.

According to the Jan. 15 filing, Plaintiff’s counsel has asked for an injunction against John Deere. The lawsuit requests “a permanent injunction and other equitable relief against Deere to prevent its unlawful conduct in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act” along with several state statutes in Illinois and Minnesota.

Farm Journal has reached out to its contacts in the ag law realm to find out what the implications are if an injunction is granted against Deere in Illinois and Minnesota, and what that would mean for Deere customers in those states. We’ll update with more information as soon as we have it.

Why is FTC filing against Deere?
Reuters and other news sources confirm the agency has been actively investigating John Deere since 2021 .

Weisemeyer has been following the situation closely. He has learned the agency claims Deere’s equipment design often necessitates proprietary software available only to authorized dealers, which in turn limits farmers and independent repair shop’s ability to perform repairs.

Deere had previously agreed in January 2023, through an accord with the American Farm Bureau Federation, to expand access to its repair tools, but according to Weisemeyer and reporting from Bloomberg, concerns over compliance with that agreement persist.

According to reporting from online publication Agriculture Dive, a court last year ruled against the heavy equipment giant’s bid to dismiss a similar lawsuit from a group of farmers.

In yet another twist in this ongoing saga, FTC Commissioner Andrew N. Ferguson has issued a dissenting opinion, which is cosigned by FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak. President Trump announced on Dec. 10 that Ferguson will serve as the new Chair of the FTC under his administration.

You can review that dissenting opinion here.

Deere’s news release on expanding self-repair solutions
On Jan., 14, 2025, John Deere issued a news release outlining its commitment to expanding access to various digital tools and resources to help independent repair technicians and farmers diagnose equipment and make repairs.

The full statement is posted to Deere’s online newsroom.

The statement details what Deere calls its “Commitment to Repairability” and includes a list of tools that are available today to “support customers throughout their machine ownership and repair journey.”

Deere also writes that a “latest addition to Deere’s suite of digital solutions will further empower customers and independent repair technicians by, among other things, enabling them to reprogram Deere-manufactured electronic controllers.” The new capabilities are being integrated into the John Deere Operation’s Center, Deere adds, and will “offer more comprehensive solutions for diagnosing and repairing equipment while ensuring machine reliability, safety, and compliance.”

The manufacturer also says it will have additional announcements regarding a “customer and independent repair technician pilot” which is due to launch in the U.S. and Canada by the second half of 2025.

The news release directs interested parties to visit Deere.com/repair for more information.

Your Next Read: 5 Tech Companies Embracing Electrification, Autonomy

5 Tech Companies Embracing Electrification, Autonomy

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 22:02:42 GMT

Tractors and robots powered by electrification and autonomously tasked using Artificial Intelligence were without a doubt the main points of emphasis among the handful of farm tech companies exhibiting at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Here’s a brief rundown of what some ag tech and ag tech adjacent companies showed off:

John Deere – After wowing attendees last year with a remotely operated tractor exhibit where users stopped and started a large 8RX tractor doing tillage work thousands of miles away at Deere’s Austin, Texas, test farm, the manufacturer extended its autonomous capabilities across a wider breadth of its machine portfolio to include lower horsepower tractors and autonomous spraying technologies for tree, fruit, and nut growers , as well as an autonomous lawn mower for commercial landscapers and a massive articulated yellow-and-black dump truck for construction firms. Deere also debuted a 130 hp, fully electric battery powered, autonomous-ready concept tractor at the show.

RELATED: John Deere Introducing Next Generation Perception Autonomy Kits

Behold, the hustle and bustle of John Deere’s CES booth:
Kubota – the Japanese firm captured a CES Innovation Award for its KATR robot (video clip below), a four-wheeled all terrain, multi-functional field robot that maintains a level deck across rugged terrain and operates autonomously and in “follow me” mode to help specialty crop producers get more done in a day. However the stars of the show at the Kubota booth, in this author’s humble opinion, were Flash, a plant health imagery solution that uses AI for analysis, and the Smart Plant Imager that bolts onto the top of the KATR robot and enables acquisition of hyperspectral plant health data in real-time. Both products spit back management recommendations to help high value crop growers know where to focus management and labor efforts to make the biggest impacts on yield and quality. Also new this year: the Agri Concept 2.0 autonomous tractor that debuted last year at CES has been outfitted with an operator cab, giving farmers the choice between direct oversight or autonomous tasking.

Spoiler Alert: Those peach baskets don’t fall off or spill. Good job, KATR:
Kioti – the South Korean midsize equipment innovator displayed a multi-functional, modular field robot it is calling the AI Agri Robot RT 100 (pictured top of page). Electrically driven and featuring three driving modes – manual, follow me, and fully autonomous, the helper robot can be outfitted with an orchard spray kit to apply pesticides into the plant canopy as it travels between permanent crop rows. Kioti also showed off a fully electric RX 7340 smart tractor (video clip below) that features integrated soil sensing technology that measures soil moisture, organic matter, and other soil health metrics and sends that data up through the AWS cloud for processing and then back to the grower’s preferred FMIS solution, helping provide the farmer with greater insight into soil conditions in real-time.

That’s an eye-catching small utility tractor, I must say. And it’s “Smart” - beauty and brains:
Caterpillar – The heavy equipment manufacturer kicked off its 100-year anniversary at CES. Like its ag industry brethren, Cat debuted solutions around electrification and autonomy, starting with the center piece of its booth: a gigantic, electrified 55,000-pound Cat 972 Wheel Loader (pictured top of page). Cat also featured its Cat Command autonomous live remote operation capability (video clip below) by having CES attendees sit in a pilot seat and take the controls of an excavator located on a job site in Tijuana Hills, Arizona.

Space-age technology coming soon to a rock quarry near you. Freddy Flintstone and Barney Rubble approved:
The future is here: you can finally put your lazy, do-nothing barn roof to work generating free power from the sun for your electrified machines! Very cool.
(Matthew J. Grassi )

Jackery – With all of the focus on electrification from the ag side at CES, it makes sense to look at what solutions are out there for portable, sustainable power generation and storage. Jackery made a big splash with its lightweight, portable solar generators and collapsible solar panels, and an even bigger hit its solar roof shingle technology (pictured inset). One can imagine a future where growers with electric machines decide to replace their barn roof with solar roof shingles to capture all of that energy from the sun and use it to power power electrified equipment around the farm. Something tells me that Jackery is going to be relevant in the ag world should the shift to electrification continue on at the farm gate.

Stay tuned to AgWeb.com for more ongoing coverage of what we saw and heard at CES 2025 in the days and weeks ahead!

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John Deere Introducing Next Generation Perception Autonomy Kits

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 20:46:44 GMT

John Deere is taking a step forward in autonomy and the technology retrofit market.

Chief Technology Officer Jahmy Hindman describes the effort as “real purpose, real autonomy”. He says the manufacturer is responding to the ongoing labor crunch that is causing headaches across the agriculture industry both domestically and abroad.

To help its users continue to farm with less reliance on human labor, John Deere has announced a suite of new retrofit autonomy kits for tractors and tillage implements, orchard sprayers, and even for the commercial landscape and construction equipment segments.

The kits feature redesigned camera arrays and rugged NVIDIA processing units paired with Blue River Technology’s machine learning algorithms, enabling John Deere machines to autonomously mimic how a human operator would react in the driver’s seat, without anyone actually sitting in the driver’s seat.

Let’s dive in and learn more about what John Deere is launching this week at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

What’s New for Tractors?
John Deere and its integrated Blue River Technologies team have re-architected what it is calling its Next Generation Perception System autonomy retrofit kits. The kits are made for model year 2022 and newer 9R and 9RX tractors, and model year 20.5 and newer 8R and 8RX tractors. Also coming from John Deere is autonomy on its 5ML Series tractors.

To go along with its autonomous tractor kits, there are retrofit kits that outfit select 2017 and newer John Deere tillage implements with additional lighting, a GPS receiver mast, and harnessing for fully autonomous tiling. These autonomy ready features are factory installed as a base package for select model year 2025 tillage tools. Today, the system is only compatible with John Deere tillage implements with the autonomy kits installed, but in the future Deere is working towards compatibility with third-party tillage tools.

The new autonomy kits are made for model year 2022 and newer 9R and 9RX tractors , and model year 20.5 and newer 8R and 8RX tractors, as well as select John Deere tillage tools.

(Photos courtesy of John Deere)

Both autonomy kits will be sold within John Deere’s Precision Upgrades product segment, which the company re-branded in 2023. So far, the kits have been field tested across thousands of acres of cropland. John Deere representatives anticipate the kits will one day be compatible with planting, harvesting, and broad acre application machines. But today, autonomous field tillage is the first domino to fall.

“This expands our autonomous capabilities dramatically,” says Willy Pell, CEO, Blue River Technologies. “Farmers should not have to buy a new tractor to experience autonomy.

Pell adds the kits were designed with ease of installation in mind, especially for tractors and implements that come autonomy ready from the factory.

Let’s dive deeper into some of the components that enable autonomous capabilities within the Next Generation Perception Kits.

Let’s start with the kit’s redesigned camera arrays, which are installed onto the top of a compatible tractor model’s cab and wired into the control module. Within that new camera array are 16 stereo cameras that shoot continuously at triple overlap, giving the system a 360-degree field of vision around the tractor with plenty of redundancy for sensing crops, obstacles, potential humans and other hazards in the field.

What those cameras “see” is processed on ruggedized NVIDIA Jetson GPUs that can withstand temperatures down to -40 degrees F. With the cameras operating as the eyes of the system, the Jetson units serve as the brains and connective tissue, using edge processing to read, react, and fire off commands to the machine just as a human operator would.

Farmers that experienced John Deere’s tractor autonomy kits in the past – this version represents the second evolution of the technology since John Deere introduced it in 2022 – told the company they wanted the driver-less machines to cover more acres in a day, or night. John Deere made that happen, increasing speeds 40% to 12 mph with this iteration, and lighting kits have been added on to allow around-the-clock field work.

“We want to meet customers where they’re at today; our customers across the Midwest want to customize their tillage setups with various tools of different sizes and configurations, and we want to make as many of those tools autonomy capable with one system as possible, and that’s what we’ve done with the Generation 2 Perception System,” says Aaron Wells, Engineering and AI Systems, Blue River Technologies. “This is real autonomy that I can set, forget, and run in the field or monitor using John Deere Operations Center Mobile.”

Local John Deere dealers will have a limited number of kits available for 2025 with a full launch tabbed for 2026.

Orchard tractors and sprayers
The Next Generation Perception System kit has been slightly tweaked for permanent orchard crop growers. Those growers generally use lower horsepower machines with narrower footprints to complete tasks between trellised rows of grapes, tree nuts, and other orchard crops like apples.

In California’s massive specialty crop industry, John Deere says that over 50% of machine operator jobs posted by farming operations are going unfilled. John Deere believes its autonomy kits can lessen that reliance on seasonal labor and help farmers hit tight production windows in order to maximize yields.

The Next Generation Perception kit for orchard tractors and sprayers features fewer camera arrays than the row crop kit but adds an integrated LiDAR sensor to 3D image tree canopies and orchard trellising in real-time.

(Photos courtesy of John Deere)

Whether we’re talking about the large tractor autonomy kits or the orchard tractor-sprayer kit, the systems share many common components. Rather than needing 16 stereo cameras, the autonomous orchard tractor kit deploys seven cameras alongside three LiDAR sensors. The LiDAR sensors provide a real-time 3D image of vine and orchard crops as the tractor moves around the orchard, giving the machine the ability to tell the pull-behind sprayer implement where to apply and where not to apply.

The 5ML Specialty Tractor, along with the key Precision Essentials technology that will enable autonomy, JDLink Modem, StarFire Receiver, G5 Display, and John Deere Operations Center are all available today, with the autonomy kit being available in limited quantities in 2026.

“We’ve developed this incredible second-generation technology that allows us to scale across different crops and new industries,” says Igino Cafiero, CEO and founder, Bear Flag Robotics. John Deere acquired Bear Flag in 2021 for $250 million.

Something for your side hustle?
I have no data to back this up, but I would guess there might be some row crop farmers out there that might own commercial landscaping, construction, or excavation businesses in addition to farming full time.

For the commercial landscape segment, John Deere has extended its next Generation Perception kit to automate a new green and yellow autonomous battery electric zero-turn mower.

This autonomous battery powered commercial lawn mower remains in the concept stage today but John Deere anticipates it being available for landscape professionals in the future.

(Photos courtesy of John Deere)

While still in the concept stage of development, the commercial mower can be programmed to autonomously cut common professional landscaping patterns while its operator monitors the machine from nearby with what looks and feels like a beefed-up Xbox controller. There is also a rear standing deck that can be flipped down, with dedicated operator controls on the machine, in case the operator feels like hopping onboard and steering the mower.

And for the construction world, John Deere has applied the next Generation perception kit to create a driverless commercial dump truck. The truck can autonomously move material from Point A to Point B and even know exactly where it needs to dump its load. Site workers can use the John Deere Operations Center to define ideal routes and start, stop, and unload the giant diesel-powered machines from outside of the cab.

Again, like their row crop and specialty crop farming brethren, commercial landscape and construction firms are also feeling the squeeze of the labor shortage.

“There’s no better story, I think, than using technology for the benefit of humanity. It is our purpose and what pulls all of this together,” Hindman says. “Our number one mission in developing these kits is to help reduce the dependency on unskilled labor. We think autonomy is a significant answer to solving that dilemma for our customers.”

To learn more about the Next Generation Perception System head to Deere.com/autonomy

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Autonomy in Farming: What Manufacturers and Tech Companies Are Working On

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 13:28:11 GMT

A bold, new era marked by mass adoption of autonomous machines is nearing realization. Farmers are more interested than ever in the shift to full automation.

Ohio State University professor John Fulton points to the current farm economy as one catalyst driving interest. He believes challenges in recruiting skilled labor and an increasing comfort with technology will continue to advance buy-in from growers.

“You’re going to see more of it being embedded into machines, and we’re right on the cusp of seeing more autonomy adopted by farmers,” Fulton says.

Let’s dive in and explore what some companies developing autonomous solutions have been working on.

Retrofitting Robotics

Sabanto is developing retrofit kits to convert existing tractors into autonomous machines. The approach is grounded in founder and CEO Craig Rupp’s belief the next generation of highly capable, high horsepower tractors – what he deems the “Swiss Army Knives” of farming – are already in farmers’ machine sheds.

Rupp says rather than buying a new tractor with the latest autonomy features, farmers should first explore upgrading their current machines. Installation of Sabanto’s retrofit autonomous tractor kit is available today on John Deere’s 5E and 6E Series, as well as Kubota and Fendt models.

Sabanto is focusing on integrating farmer feedback into its autonomous tractor kits.

One potential low-hanging fruit is autonomous field-to-field traversal. This would shuttle the tractors autonomously between fields connected by a private drive, and someday do the same on public roads. Autonomous machines today are trailered from field to field.

In early summer 2024, Sabanto implemented the first virtual Field Operator (vFO) position.

(Sabantoag.com)

Sabanto is also forming a team of virtual field operators , made up of young people with experience in farming simulators, Rupp says. These operators will remotely oversee and control Sabanto machines across the country. After a farmer trailers a tractor to a field and unloads it, the virtual operators will manage tasks and oversee in-field operations in real time.

Rupp says Sabanto engineers are also improving in-field path planning and extending active hours with the goal of running robotic tractors around the clock.

From his viewpoint, the former electrical engineer turned ag entrepreneur is convinced autonomous farming will happen at a large-scale.

“We’ve gone beyond the when and if, and we’re at the stage where it comes down to how it is going to be done,” Rupp says.

2030 or Bust?

John Deere has released autonomy-ready packages for its tractors and tillage tools.

(John Deere/Bill Krzyzanowski)

John Deere’s transition from equipment manufacturer to data and ag tech innovator plows ahead at full steam. The manufacturers’ model year 2025 class of machines showcased more factory-installed autonomy features than any previous class in its long history.

A recent key development is the release of John Deere autonomy-ready packages for its tractors and tillage tools. The aftermarket kits include all of the necessary hardware and safety features for autonomous operations. To unlock full autonomy, farmers will only need to add a perception system, which consists of cameras and vision processing units.

In the future, Michael Porter, go-to-market manager – large tractors, says the perception system will be available alongside its retrofit precision ag technology kits through John Deere’s Precision Upgrades program.

“These elements are a key step in preparing farms for autonomous operations, and making those tools available [aftermarket] demonstrates the commitment we have to helping farmers at every phase along the autonomous journey,” Porter adds.

John Deere’s runway to bringing its machines to life without an operator at the helm is short: The company is in a race against the calendar, having pledged to delivering a fully autonomous fleet of machines in corn and soybeans by 2030.

The next opportunity to learn what John Deere is planning for its row-crop technology stack looks to be the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, in January 2025. Last year, the company showcased its 8R autonomous tractor and Furrow Vision seed furrow sensing technology.

Specialty Crop Starting Line

CNH-owned New Holland recently announced a tie up with ag robotics startup Bluewhite. The partnership will enable collaboration on distribution, manufacturing and integration of Bluewhite’s autonomous technology with New Holland tractors in North America.

According to Paul Welbig, director of precision technology, New Holland, the Bluewhite kits consist of many common components, such as front-facing LiDAR and various arrays of connected sensors around the tractor. Cursory mechanical drive components, as well as software to link everything up and make it all “talk”, or work in concert, are also included.

New Holland and Bluewhite will partner to deploy Bluewhite’s autonomous solutions for New Holland tractors used in orchards, vineyards, and other special crops.

(Photo courtesy of New Holland)

New Holland has also started building out its autonomy portfolio in row crops, starting with its driverless grain cart technology, Raven Cart Automation, that links up a grain cart (pulled by a tractor) and combine autonomously, removing the need for an additional driver during harvest.

“The practicality and return on investment [for that system] come in when you run more than one machine with only one operator,” Welbig explains. “That’s really how you start to see value; we can support multiple combine and tractor combinations – up to six machines total – today.”

Welbig and the New Holland executive team see autonomy as a five-step journey. The first step is auto guidance and GPS, and step two is ensuring all machines are connected and exchanging data. The highest level of autonomy, step five, represents a complete removal of both the driver and the farmer from the field altogether. At that level the farmer sits in a central location, managing and tasking multiple machines from a computer or tablet.

“Steps two, three and four in between, there’s still a lot of meat left on that bone,” Welbig admits. “As autonomous technology continues to evolve in the future, we’ll continue to evolve with it.”

Fully Cycle Autonomy

AGCO’s newest joint tech venture, PTx Trimble, is now solidly off the ground, and the company is advancing its autonomous grain cart tech heading into 2025.

The group’s vision of bringing autonomy to the full ag production cycle is also coming to life, although like its competitors, it’s going to take time for the full vision to come to fruition.

PTx Trimble’s automated grain cart system, OutRun.ag, will be available for purchase in 2025. For year one, single cart configuration is unlocked. The next evolution is enabling swarming of two autonomous grain carts around the same combine.

PTx Trimble also has an autonomous tillage system currently in development. The company figures many farmers will happily give up running a tillage tool across the field to a robot.

A clear differentiation point is PTx Trimble’s use of cellular connectivity and edge computing over low orbit satellite connectivity. This allows for operation in remote areas with sub-par connectivity.

RELATED: Planting A Flag: AGCO All-In On Mixed-Fleet Aftermarket Ag Tech

One limiting factor to adoption is farmer sentiment toward field work, and the types of tasks they’ll agree to give up to a machine. Ultimately, it will be up to the technology to fully prove its worth.

“As you automate you have the option of pulling the operator out [of the cab],” says Eric Hansotia, AGCO CEO. “But where is the farmer going to feel comfortable giving up that control? And can we find an autonomous solution there and build up farmer trust?”

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John Deere Dream Job: Brock Purdy Leads Chief Tractor Officer Search

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 20:33:09 GMT

If you’re heading across the country on I-80 anytime soon, keep an eye out for Americas’ favorite underdog QB in a John Deere 3 Series tractor.

After saving a Bay Area reporter and her pooch from a prowling coyote , the former Iowa State Cyclone signal caller and NFL Draft Mr. Irrelevant is helping John Deere launch a nationwide search for a new ag equipment influencer: the company’s first-ever Chief Tractor Officer (CTO). Purdy assured The Pat McAfee Show that the job is, indeed, a real job. With a real salary.

Purdy is no stranger to boots-on-the-ground agriculture: he famously returned to his in-laws’ farm in Iowa during the bye week of his rookie year to help get that seasons’ corn crop out of the ground. A couple months later, he was leading the San Francisco 49ers to the NFC Championship game, where an unfortunate first quarter injury knocked him from the game and the 49ers from the postseason. Purdy followed up that remarkable rookie campaign with an NFC Championship and Super Bowl appearance, eventually bowing out to the Taylor Swift-backed Kansas City Chiefs.

To apply, candidates must submit a short-form video with their pitch for the position, showing the creativity, humor, and passion they’d bring to the job. Candidates are also encouraged to publish their entries to TikTok and/or Instagram by tagging @JohnDeere.

“The role of the Chief Tractor Officer isn’t just about creating content, it’s about creating compelling stories about the people and industries supporting all of us,” says Jen Hartmann, global director of strategic public relations and enterprise social media.

Head on over to www.JohnDeereCTO.com to shoot your shot at scoring the best job ever...now through April 29, 2024.

Check out the video below, and good luck to all who apply for this unique and fun opportunity!

By Shifting from Row Crops to Ancient Grains, a Michigan Farm Family Creates a New Healthy Snack

When prices on row crops sagged 10 years ago, the Smith family made a major pivot on their seventh-generation Michigan farm. Instead of continuing to focus on growing corn and soybeans, they switched to ancient grains, particularly an Ethiopian grain called teff. Starting slowly, they planted just 33 acres to test it. The crop flourished. Which gave them another idea: what if they created a product using teff that they could package and sell?

Cue daughter Claire, who had left the farm to attend college and then worked in retail. She not only didn’t like farming, she was literally allergic to it. But when her parents asked her to come back and start a CPG brand using teff, she agreed. And the Smiths haven’t looked back.

“That blank page of possibility was super attractive to me,” Claire tells Davis Michaelsen on the latest episode of his Grow Getters podcast , which focuses on how ag producers can diversify their operations by creating a side business. With an inhaler in hand to combat her allergies, Claire returned to the farm, started building a company called Tenera Grains and created Teffola, a granola snack using the family’s teff and buckwheat harvest.

Now available in a variety of flavors, Teffola is regeneratively grown, non-GMO and gluten free, using no artificial flavors or sweeteners. Customers can order it online or find it at health food stores in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri. Not that the road to success has been without its share of obstacles.

“I’ve been through some rollercoaster hills and valleys,” she says. “Like any good business owner, you have no idea what you’re doing when you start it. But we’ve learned a couple of tricks of the trade.” Those tricks have led the family to expand beyond just teff. “We’re pivoting into the alternative grains space, specifically gluten-free grains, and we also clean and process grains.”

So a farm started in 1837 finds itself on the leading edge of alternative grains while continuing to create new versions of their original product, including Teffola Bites — for people who want a healthy snack while on the go.

To grow-getting farm folks thinking about starting a business to augment their ag operations, Claire says, “Feel the fear and do it anyway. Things will unfold. You might make a wrong decision but you’ll adjust and take a different path. There are just beautiful things that happen when you take a chance.”

Watch the full interview on Grow Getters

Visit the Teffola website: https://eatteffola.com/

Get a free Teffola snack pack with this special Grow Getters offer: https://eatteffola.com/pages/growgetters2024

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Future on Wheels: 3 Smart Farming Trends, 5 Coolest Vehicles at CES

If it’s futuristic and cutting edge, it’s being shown at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

This was my second time attending the all-things-tech-Super Bowl, where farm equipment companies like John Deere, Kubota, and others have set up shop to help educate consumers on all the cool and useful technologies that our nation’s farmers are using to help them harvest and put a healthy crop in the bin each year.

RELATED: 5 Farm Tech Companies That Wowed The Masses

You can see my coverage of what most of the manufacturers focused on ag unveiled at the show at the link above. There were also several underlying themes among what was shown on the farm tech side that I’ll discuss further below:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere and its becoming what Big Data was a decade ago: While the tail end of 2024 saw a growing trend of digital platforms that use Generative AI to help farmers get general agronomic advice faster than having to ring up a local agronomist – Taranis, Syngenta, and others dropped GenAI portals specifically for farmers – a lot of the talk at CES went beyond GenAI to look at the coming wave of AI Agents and Physical AI. And consumer facing companies like Samsung and LG were making the case for the democratization of AI across all walks of like.

For ag usage specifically, most of the talk focused around hyper-focused AI Agents that aggregate billions of data points that will soon be available on-demand to help farmers make informed management decisions. One example is a farmer relying on a specific AI Agent for soil health advice, and then having another one for tank mix recommendations, and then yet another agent that helps them with seed variety selection.

Physical AI refers to the use of AI in automated driving applications – like John Deere’s Next Generation Perception Kit that automates the function of a large 9RX tractor as it pulls new John Deere tillage implements – to give farmers the option of getting field work done without a dedicated operator in the cab. Physical AI is already here in agriculture in many forms and machines, and farmers will start to see more and more of it as equipment OEMs help them tackle the labor crunch with automated machines and robotics.

Aside from AI Agents that give advice and Physical AI to control and automate machines, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang shared during his keynote speech that everyone in the near future will need what he is calling “AI Supercomputers” and that of course includes farmers. Huang also talked about AI Agents, which you can read more about here.

Digital Twins of your farm could be your next plot trial testing ground: Ag companies at the show were also talking about the coming wave of digital twins, where farmers use AI-based software to create exact digital copies of their fields and farms. They can then run a multitude of simulations revealing how various products/technologies/management practices will affect yield and the farmer’s financial bottom line. The main benefit being that it’s all done in a digital environment before the farmer fully commits to spending money on products and devoting the time and expertise that it takes to setup real world field trials. It sounds almost like having a cheat code in older Nintendo games that allowed you to skip some of the less exciting levels and go right to the final boss.

Augmented vs. Full Autonomy: Farmers that are comfortable with technology and automation are more and more comfortable handing over machine controls for some of the less-technical field tasks, like tillage work or pulling the grain cart alongside the combine during fall harvest. And there’s also something to be said for autonomous technology that helps a new, less skilled operator complete field work to the spec the farmer requires. But talk with any farmer and they’ll tell you they still enjoy driving the tractor during spring planting, or driving the combine and seeing the yield monitor data come in.

Before farming reaches full autonomy – augmented autonomy, or autonomous machines that work alongside of the farmer and make his/her workflow more efficient, is where the companies creating autonomous machines in agriculture today are seeing the most farmer interest. That holds particularly true in high value crops like berries, nuts, and other fresh produce crops, as well as in regions where manual labor is expensive and not widely available like California or overseas in England and Australia. Small, multipurpose field work bots like Kubota’s KATR and Kioti’s AI Agri Robot RT 100 are just a small sample of how multipurpose, modular “helper robots” will be relevant in specialty crop farming.

Okay, now that we have those trends fleshed out, here’s what you really want to see: the 5 coolest vehicle technologies that I saw at CES 2025.

Aptera’s Solar EV car: Its design looks like something straight out of the Jetson’s cartoon, but Aptera says its Solar EV car uses integrated solar panels on the car’s body to harness the power of the sun. The car is equipped with 700 watts of integrated solar cells, which Aptera says enables a user to drive up to 40 miles per day completely off the grid and enjoy 400 miles of range per full charge. Learn more here.

Xpeng AeroHT Land Aircraft Carrier Concept Vehicle: This was certainly one of the wildest concept vehicles on the show floor and it drew a crowd all week. A six wheeled compact van (pictuted top of page) that can store and deploy a two-person fold up eVOTL (electric vertical take-off and landing) drone. The drone automatically recharges when it is docked in the back of the van, which the company says has a 600-plus mile range. Learn more here.

Sambo Motor Group’s eVOTL Air Taxi: The South Korean automotive manufacturer unveiled a two seat, hydrogen-electric air taxi at the show. As much as I love drone technology, something tells me most of us would jump at going around in circles for five minutes in a malfunctioning Waymo ground taxi versus jumping into something like this for a quick ride-share trip back to the hotel. Learn more here.

Manta M4 Lightweight Personal eVOTL drone: the sleek $300,000 flying device uses three propellers to take off from land or water, and can fly at 65mph for up to 30 minutes using its electric battery. And get this: because it only weighs 250 pounds it is considered an “ultra light” craft under FAA regulations and therefore can be flown without a commercial pilot’s license. Manta reps said they will begin shipping units in the next month. Learn more here.

Honda Motor Company 0 SUV and Sedan: These two EVs look like something straight out of the movie Tron, but its not Sci-Fi. Both are real EVs that Honda plans to begin manufacturing in 2026 in my home state of Ohio. The sedan and SUV both feature an Asimo operating system (OS) onboard, which is based off the same AI platform that is in Honda’s Osimo robots. The cars will feature autopilot capabilities rated up to SAE Level 3 – which means they will be fully autonomous with a human in the driver’s seat but still have the option of the human taking over full control if needed. Learn more here.

Bonus Video: This fun soccer playing robot from the Hamilton Beach booth. It’s no Kevin De Bruyne or Messi, but it was fun to have a bit of footy with this little guy in between booth visits. In the words of Dani Rojas, Futbol is Life!

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