AGCO to launch autonomous tractor retrofit kits for mixed-fleets in 2025

With autonomous tractor retrofit kits set for commercial availability in 2025, AGCO is preparing to make the next leap to the future of farming. 

AGCO demonstrated a number of its new and upcoming agriculture technologies at its 2024 Tech Day, including autonomous tractor upgrade kits for tillage and grain handling. The autonomous tractor technology is still in various stages of development, as AGCO works to refine the experience before sending them out into the field. 

Autonomous tractor kit

AGCO is focused on a retrofit-first, mixed-fleet approach to tractor autonomy. Their OutRun autonomous system will allow the “continuation of the American farm,” says Dinen Subramaniam, product and marketing manager for PTx Trimble.

“Our [autonomous tractor] system uses quite a lot of the technology stack AGCO has: everything from guidance to autonomy to computer vision,” Subramaniam says. “When we look at the entire crop cycle, we think autonomy will add value throughout simply because of the scarcity of labor in agriculture.”

During research stages of the technology’s development, AGCO met with and observed farmers throughout the whole crop cycle, documenting every job they performed. To achieve full autonomy for tillage functions, for example, the tractor would need to be able to perform 26 different automated processes, says Kevin Jones, senior manager of product management for autonomous operations at AGCO.

Weather events are creating tighter windows for planting. Autonomy is a solution to expand that window, with the possibility of running machinery 24 hours a day until tillage is complete.

“From an agronomic standpoint, [autonomy] is about getting all of your fields prepared with tillage so we aren’t slowing down the planter,” Jones says. “The key is to get that seed in the ground, and in the optimal window, to optimize our yield.”

With expanded operating hours, tractors pulling tillage implements may be able to operate at lower engine load for higher fuel efficiency. During AGCO’s tillage testing, they found an upward of 7% to 8% in fuel efficiency savings by taking engine load from 100% to around 85%. 

“Humans are humans — we get tired, we miss things or something plugs, and we don't catch it right away,” Jones says. “Technology doesn’t get tired. With the autonomous solution, we’re still getting the acres covered. It’s taking us a little bit longer, but we’re going to do it more efficiently with a reduction of errors and poor quality results from running those long hours during the season.”

The kits will first be available for driving grain carts and tillage, with more functions coming to the service in the future. 

“We’re not building different [kits] for each application,” says Jorge Viramontes, senior manager for product engineering at PTx Trimble. “What we’re building here is a retrofit platform for autonomy.”

Grain cart system

Harvest is about operational efficiency, Subramaniam says. Unskilled labor can create bottlenecks during harvest, or create unnecessary compaction in the fields. The autonomous system is designed to be an operator you can trust, and to keep the combine harvester running as much as it can.

One of the first functions the autonomous tractor retrofit kit will serve is to run grain carts alongside combines during harvest to unload the combine’s grain tank. The combine operator will be able to call the autonomous tractor connected to the grain cart to the field being harvested. When the combine is ready to unload, the operator can then call the tractor to drive up alongside the combine, taking a carefully calculated route to avoid soil compaction and crop destruction. When the tractor’s grain cart is full, it can be sent to the truck to unload and repeat the process.

All of this is controlled through a tablet in the combine’s cab. This function will first launch for one tractor pulling a grain cart, but AGCO is working to make this compatible for a multi-cart system to accommodate larger farms. 

Tillage system

AGCO is working to make autonomy as simple and straightforward for users as possible to enable wide adoption.

The farmer will take their tractor and implement to the field and complete the first headland pass as normal, accomplishing a few things to get the autonomous system calibrated. This pass will set up autonomous operational boundaries, give the farmer the opportunity to set up and tune the machinery for their expected tillage performance, and allow the farmer to account for any unexpected field conditions.

Once this initial pass and setup is complete, the farmer will use a mobile app to set the parameters of work, including direction of travel, and speed. The app will then produce a plan, or “mission,” giving the farmer another chance to modify the plan before accepting it. Once accepted, the autonomous tractor will begin tillage. 

From the app, farmers are available to see live data from the tractor and implement instrumentation, as well as a live video feed. The system also takes photos throughout the field so farmers can go back and look at different sections to verify the machinery’s performance. The system can also send notifications to the farmer from the app, so if an unexpected fault occurs, farmers can respond as soon as possible. 

Once the job is completed, the tractor will return to a predetermined location, and then send a notification to the farmer to let them know work is complete and ready for the next field.

Tillage autonomy is not as far along in development as the grain cart system, with more testing taking place later this fall. 

Compatibility and pricing

The technology is being developed for a variety of brands beyond AGCO’s own offerings, to decouple the purchase of a new tractor with the enablement of autonomy, and accelerate the adoption of the technology by farmers. 

The kit is a package of guidance systems, sensors, and instrumentation that sits on the tractor cab’s roof, with some components integrating into the tractor. Connected implements will also require retrofit components, but Subramaniam says they will be brand-agnostic and compatible with a number of types and brands when it launches.

The system will be compatible with a wide variety of the major FMIS services, and does not require constant data connection to operate. Once the required setup data is downloaded to the tractor with the autonomous kit, it will be able to run completely offline.

The company is developing the first version of the retrofit kits for select compatible Fendt tractors, and John Deere’s 8R tractors model year 2014 or newer. More tractor options across manufacturers will become available as AGCO continues development on the system. 

“This opens the door to a huge amount of the industry that can use this technology,” Jones says. Instead of requiring a new AGCO tractor, we can reach people with John Deere and Fendt tractors, and get the most units out there the quickest, and then get feedback back from it so we can continue to develop the solution and make it better.”

The kit itself is a one-time, fixed cost, which includes installation at the dealership, training, and one year of the subscription. The service will then be available to purchase in a variable pricing structure by hourly use, as a package of hours, or unlimited hours for the year. Hours are only counted when the farmer’s equipment is in autonomous mode — only counting when it’s actually delivering value, according to Subramaniam. 

During subscription renewals at the end of the year, farmers will also have the option to cover new upgrades, maintenance, or any other kind of servicing to prepare the system for the next year.

AGCO is not yet disclosing the pricing structure, but Subramaniam says the system was tested and resulted in a positive ROI on a 900 acre, 1,600 acre, and 3,300 acre farm. Farmers in Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa can sign up for an early access program to use the technology for 2024 harvest at outrun.ag.