John Deere, Kubota and others are showcasing products to make ag better
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas allows attendees to get a glimpse of the new technologies available or in development to support multiple industries, including agriculture.
Over recent years, ag manufacturers have exhibited at the CES to showcase new products and demonstrate how sophisticated the industry is.
Here’s a few examples of the industry’s representation at CES 2024.
John Deere, which has exhibited at CES since 2019, for example, showed attendees what autonomous tractor operation looks like.
In one instance, a person in Austin, Texas, about 1,288 miles away from CES, operated a tractor using an app on a phone.
“What this allows a farmer to do is operate a tractor remotely, but also potentially operate more than one,” James Riswick, senior editor at Autoblog, said during the demonstration. “That's a huge time saver. It's a huge manpower saver. One especially good tractor operator can now use multiple ones at the same time.”
Bridget Carey, a tech journalist with CNET, also took control of the tractor from Texas.
She too acknowledged the benefits of autonomous tractor operation.
“When a farm might be busy with another job or maybe labor is in short supply, this frees up the farmer with their time to do other things,” she said in a video.
Deere also demonstrated automated cotton picking.
The manufacturer brought a cotton harvester equipped with a PRO16 HS row unit and RFID tech embedded in the cotton.
As the harvester picks the cotton, the RFID tech generates yield maps and reads the quality of the cotton picked. The RFID can track the cotton from the field and throughout the ginning process.
Kubota, making its CES debut in 2024, showed off a concept piece.
The Agri Concept is a fully electric, multi-purpose vehicle showing how the company is working to bring autonomous tech and AI together to address challenges like water management and labor shortages.
It has six independent drive motors and a standard three-point hitch. And it can go from a 10 percent to 80 percent charge in less than six minutes.
The vehicle is part of Kubota’s plan to manufacture the next generation of equipment as 2030 approaches.
And two companies are working together to ensure better connectivity for farmers in the field.
Morse Micro, a wi-fi company, and Zetifi, a manufacturer of roaming wi-fi hotspots and other similar products are working collaboratively.
Morse Micro’s Wi-Fi HaLow technology has a 1.5-mile (3km) range. When paired with Zetifi’s products, it can help farmers stay connected when they need to.
"The Internet of Things is revolutionizing farming, and now Wi-Fi HaLow – the first version of Wi-Fi optimized for the IoT -- is helping Zetifi deliver on the promise of smart, connected farming technology," Dan Winson, CEO and founder of Zetifi, said in a statement. "Our collaboration with Morse Micro is a defining moment in Zetifi's mission to bring digital advancements to modern farming through remote-area connectivity."