Manufacturers on the future of ag technology

Technology in agriculture machinery, like autonomy and precision farming, has undergone exponential growth in recent years to meet the productivity and labor challenges farmers are facing. 

A deeper pool of technology

North American farmers already have widely accepted new technology solutions on their farms, but the depth of that technology will only increase over time, says Eric Raby, senior vice president for equipment manufacturer Claas of Americas.

Raby places technology into two categories, both with the goal of solving labor problems or increasing efficiency. Covert technology makes changes to machinery function behind the scenes. Overt technology is more tangible, like a farm management information software, or an automated driving function. 

“If we have more technology, like on a combine harvester, and it doesn't require an expert, it would turn a driver into an operator just from the use of technology,” Raby says. “Our pool of people to run a combine might be [wider] if we had the technology, and we know we don't have to have that expertise.”

Electrification is often associated with fully battery-powered machinery and the potential drawbacks to farmers, but it also has unrealized potential as a covert technology, according to Anant Jain, senior systems engineer for Danfoss. Danfoss started making components in the aviation industry over 40 years ago, and is now working to create software and hardware to increase efficiency in agriculture. 

Instead, Jain says hybridizing machinery with energy-efficient components is the next logical step for electric technology. 

“If you take a combine with an 800 hp engine, and make it 10% more efficient, that’s 80 hp I can use to put into the ground,” Jain says. This also primes the industry if full electrification becomes a viable option, as these components increase machinery efficiency and reduce strain on a potential battery-powered engine.

Expanding the workforce

Large machinery has its place in agriculture, but it may also share the workload with artificial intelligence (AI) swarm machinery from companies such as Solinftec in the near future. Based in Brazil, Solinftec is developing Solix, an autonomous solar-powered sprayer robot designed to offset the challenges from a reduced workforce. 

Chris Dillard, grain and agronomy product manager for Solinftec, says these sprayers are not only more energy efficient but also more time efficient. The Solix is lightweight, only 1,200 pounds, and operates at 1 mph in the field. On its own, the Solix can’t cover a farm’s full acreage, but 20, for example, can work 20 different fields at once — all controlled from a farmer’s smartphone. 

“You have a time window to go out and spray to hit certain conditions — spray windows, wind, windows, temperature, inversion risk — and the windows shrink every time you have to get on the road and move,” Dillard says. “You're losing hours of the day continuously traveling to fields. If those machines just live in the field, I can hit the ‘go’ button from my phone when the wind conditions are perfect.”

Enhancing farmer efficiency

Curt Blades, senior vice president of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, says technology, such as AI and digital field data, boosts operator efficiency as it develops. Historically, farmers have taken knowledge from previous generations to learn about their fields and different practices, but technology may streamline this. 

“It’s pretty amazing to think about not needing that institutional knowledge, but having artificial intelligence make those generations of decisions for you instantaneously,” Blades says. 

Customers are looking for information about environmental sustainability on the farm, such as how food and grain for ethanol are grown, says Craig Miller, product marketing manager for equipment manufacturer AGCO. Spraying is an area of agriculture benefiting from AI technology. 

“The more that we can cut down on inputs and control where that product is going, the better off we're going to be in the long run,” Miller says. “AI is becoming a big part of agriculture, and these projects are going to make any customer more efficient.”

Reducing time in the field for application translates to more time working in the office, with farmers and end customers seeing benefits. 

The future of agriculture is not set, but Miller expects this technology can help farmers make more informed decisions and take the industry further than ever. 

“This technology has always grown — whether it's in small steps that helps me do one thing differently today, or whether it's a future where we're looking at agriculture in a completely different light and we're not even in the field any longer,” Miller says. “Things are always going to move forward, and it’s about how quickly we can adapt to those advancements and implement them as an industry.”