ROBOCROPPERS: John Deere Planning to Replace Farmers With Fully Automated Farming Vehicles by 2030

Freedom First Network ^ | October 7, 2022 | JD Rucker

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Agricultural machinery company John Deere is planning to manufacture nothing but fully automated farming vehicles by 2030.

Jorge Heraud, vice president of automation and autonomy for John Deere, noted that he sees the company’s future as being a leader in the manufacturing of robotics and artificial intelligence-infused equipment alongside the tech giants of Silicon Valley. (Related: Warehouses turning to robots to fill labor gaps as e-commerce booms.)

John Deere showcased a glimpse of its future line of automated farming machinery last January when it unveiled its fully autonomous 8R farm tractor, driven by an AI rather than a farmer behind the wheel.

According to Heraud, the 8R is the culmination of Deere’s investments in automation, data analytics, GPS guidance, internet-of-things connectivity and software engineering. All of this research and development is a mix of homegrown research as well as the result of acquisitions and partnerships with agri-tech startups.

“This comes from our realization that technology is going to drive value creation and increase productivity, profitability and sustainability for farmers,” said Heraud. “The AI we use involves computer vision and machine learning.”

The science behind this technology was developed by Silicon Valley startup Blue River Technology, which John Deere acquired in 2017 for $305 million. The company’s “see and spray” robotics platform utilizes dozens of sophisticated cameras and processors to distinguish between crop plants and weeds when applying herbicides.

[gundog]

Nope. The most impressive application I’ve seen of GPS guided equipment was a local salmon restoration project. There was a field that flooded every winter, and salmon smolt used it to get out of the main river flow. The field was used to graze cattle, in summer, and was s little uneven. They came in and graded it so it would drain in a manner that didn’t leave pools of smolt-holding water to dry up in the sun.

[crz]

Its got so even the service techs cant fix them.

I would take a Ford 9600 or JD 5020..etc, over any of the new crap.
Those mid 60s to early 80s tractors were good machines.

[ckilmer]

the real question is will those robo tractors be black boxes.

that is tractors you can never fix.

rather you have to take them into john deer’s repair shops?

I’ve seen articles about this for the last couple of years. Farmers do not want the robo tractors to be black boxes.

They want to be able to do bush fixes when needed. The repair shops are expensive

So, what you’ll do with your extra time is learn programming.

Then with your extra time—you can do programming jobs from home—while the robo tractors are out tending the fields.

There are a thousand variations on this.

[Ken Regis]

I’ve never seen a tractor that can clean stalls.

So I guess I’m partially out of the picture, eh?

Then again, I spend more time mowing than most people. I suppose I could still play more golf, right?

[Ken Regis]

Not only will you have to learn to code, but you have to be a “certified technician“ for John Deere.

[Ken Regis]

The new automated equipment will till things…

Fixed it.

[bigbob]

This has been possible for some time but many farmers don’t want it. Deere StarFire is the largest precision ag network in the world.

[wally_bert]

The opposite could happen, think the tractor on Green Acres.

[Hartlyboy]

My 1959 Farmall 560 diesel will bring 3 times what I paid for it if I sold it at a farm auction because it is simple and uncomplicated. When it finally does need a total rebuild that can be done for less than half of a comparable rebuild on one of the newer electronically controlled machines of a similar size.

Yeah, it doesn’t have all the creature comforts like AC, but we mostly never needed that when farming in the last century and the crops still got planted and harvested.

[SES1066]

If you can imagine any way that a robot could eventually take over your job... it will eventually.

I know what you are predicting BUT there are some jobs that will find take longer to be replaced by robots. Just think of the perpetual 'D'onkey Party legislatures and how quickly they would be replaced by automatons and the like!

[wally_bert]

My dad an uncle have about a dozen vintage Massey Ferguson tractors of all sizes. Plus a little Allis Chalmers.

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

Huh? Are they serious?

Even I, who has only a small garden in the backyard, would jump up and down, holler, scream and stomp my feet if some fool came around and said that he would have a machine to take over my duties in the garden! I do not think that farmers would appreciate such machines unless they are solely for giant corporations.

[dfwgator]

I know what you are predicting BUT there are some jobs that will find take longer to be replaced by robots. Just think of the perpetual 'D'onkey Party legislatures and how quickly they would be replaced by automatons and the like!

A just machine
To make big decisions
Programmed by fellas
With compassion and vision

[bigbob]

Actually you’ve described the current generation of tech-savvy young farmers who have grown up with computers and the internet and who have little emotional attachment to driving tractor. They are focused on being able to sustain their legacy farms and technology is the way to do that. New equipment has onboard prognostic software that will text the farmers when something is starting to fail and FedEx will have the repair parts on the way. This is today, not sci-fi.

[dfwgator]

Now I’m a Farmer
And I’m diggin’ diggin’ diggin’ diggin’.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maT0wn6dQd0

[qaz123]

So, what will all those folks...willing to take jobs that Americans don’t want...do? Won’t be any need for them since a machine will do it for them.

John Deere has something where, even if you own the equipment outright, you can’t fix it yourself. JD has to do it. IIRC, there was a lawsuit about it a while back.

[technically right]

Just more sh!t to go wrong at the most critical time and the farmer won’t have a clue as to how to fix it.

I predict there will be a strong market for more traditional human driven farm equipment that is relatively easy to repair by the owner.

[crz]

560s, 706s and the 1066s etc, like all the older tractors were very good machines. Go out in the morning, get in em, start em up and work all day.

The JD R held the best NB field test results for years.

Those Johnny poppers really pulled.

I still love to hear them work and a whole lot of farmers still use them.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Head of Ranch Security is being replaced too...

[Mariner]

I saw a robot pruning grape vines here in the big valley.

It covered 60 acres in 3 days.